Illinois Commission on Poverty Elimination and Economic Security Meeting Agenda and Minutes July 13, 2023

Illinois Commission on Poverty Elimination and Economic Security

Special Meeting

Thursday, July 13, 2023

10:00 am - 11:00 am

Recording

Members:

Administrators: Kari Branham, Special Projects Administrator, IDHS

Note taker: Anna Merlinna "Len" Conant, Office Coordinator, IDHS

Guests:

1. Matthew Rodriguez - Equity Imperative
2. Dir. Paula Basta - Department on Aging, IWGP member
3. Anna Koeppel - Department of Labor, IWGP member
4. Carrie Thomas - Department of Employment and Security, IWGP member
5. Asst. Dir. Janice Phillips - Department of Public Health, IWGP member
6. Liz Vogt - Department on Aging, IWGP member
7. Marc Staley - IL Governor's Office of Budget and Management, IWGP member
8. Rachel Hernandez - Office of Rep. Jeff Keicher, Commission member
9. Scott Lichamer - Office of Rep. Jeff Keicher, Commission member
10. Tyler Bohannon - Department of Agriculture, IWGP member

Agenda:

1. Welcome Roll Call/Introductions
2. Public Comment
   • Subject to written comment in advance.
3. Housekeeping
   • Required state trainings
4. Approval of March 16, 2023 Meeting Minutes
   • Roll Call Vote
5. Subcommittee Presentation of FY24 Actionable Goals
6. Discussion/Approval of Subcommittee Goals
   • Roll Call Vote
7. Next Steps and Adjournment

Minutes:

1. Welcome Roll Call - Len led the roll call. Out of 18 Commission members, 8 were present during the roll call. Quorum was declared when two more Commission members joined a few minutes after the roll call.
   • Representative Jeff Keicher informed the group that Representative Lamont Robinson Jr. became a Chicago Alderperson between the time that the Commission last met and today. A legislative replacement will be needed.
2. Public Comment
   • Subject to written comment in advance. None received.
3. Housekeeping
   • Ms. Branham reminded the group to complete the IDHS mandatory trainings for 2023. Len will be sending reminders.
4. Approval of March 16, 2023 Meeting Minutes
   • The approval of meeting minutes was done towards the end of the meeting. Rep. Keicher moved to approved seconded by Pastor McKinnies. The group unanimously approved the March 16, 2023 minutes.
5. Subcommittee Presentation of FY24 Actionable Goals
   • Co-Chair Diaz introduced Mr. Matthew Rodriguez of Equity Imperative as the facilitator who guided all the subcommittees in their brainstorming sessions that resulted with the recommended FY24 actionable goals.
   • Mr. Rodriguez thanked all subcommittee members for their dedication and commitment and time and efforts spent in crafting the goals. He mentioned the fact that there was a tension across the 5 subcommittees that members felt with coming up with goals for one fiscal year instead of casting a broader vision for each of the pillar. There is a strong desire to cast a broader vision that is not just for one year but for 3 years or even 5 or 10 but ultimately, will move into the direction of the ultimate goal of the Commission to eliminate and eradicate poverty in Illinois.
   • The subcommittee chairpersons, except for Pillar 1 subcommittee, presented their FY24 actionable goals namely, Senator Fowler for Pillar 2 subcommittee, Ms. Maehr for Pillar 3, Ms. Groce for Pillar 4 and Dr. Montorio-Archer for Pillar 5. Mr. Rodriguez presented the goals for Pillar 1 as Ms. Wilson is absent.
   1. Pillar 1 - Illinois is Best in Nation for Raising Families
      1. By June 30th, 2024 Pillar 1 members will design an advocacy strategy toward the continuation of funding for the WIC food package prescription (federally funded) at a level of $25/month per child, to purchase fruits and vegetables thus securing increased purchasing power towards a healthy diet.
      2. By June 30, 2024, Pillar 1 will analyze the findings of the year-long study conducted by the Commission to End Hunger, identifying strategic points of collaboration across commissions to reduce barriers that prevent families from taking advantage of WIC and other benefits.
   2. Pillar 2 - Stabilize Homes and Communities
      1. By June 30, 2024, IHDA will fund or support the development of at least 300 supportive housing units through its various programming (Permanent Supportive Housing Development Program (PSHDP), Statewide Referral Network (SRN) units financed through LIHTC, etc.), an increase to its recent annual average unit production of approximately 25%.
      2. By June 30, 2024, Pillar 2 Subcommittee will research the existence and impact of different rent control models and document their findings for future advocacy efforts.
      3. By June 30, 2024 Pillar 2 subcommittee will design an advocacy strategy to influence legislation that will limit the impact of credit checks for rental housing.
      4. By June 30th, 2024 Pillar 2 subcommittee will create a map of housing affordability and availability for three prioritized regions (using the IDPH regions as a reference), and comprehensively analyze the map to identify gaps, with special attention toward availability for individuals with a disability, mental illness, or substance use disorder, and the extent to which those gaps need to be addressed. Lessons learned from the focus on these three regions will then be applied in future efforts to build this same kind of map, state-wide.
      5. By June 30th, 2024 Pillar 2 subcommittee will craft a vision with clear goals and strategic action for each area of work within Pillar 2 beyond FY-24, with special attention dedicated to the areas of: a) investment in high-quality, specialized supports for persons experiencing mental health and substance use related crises, and b) investment in interventions that address cycles of trauma and violence in our communities.
   3. Pillar 3 - Ensure Just and Equitable Access to Economic Security Programs
      1. By June 30th, 2024 Pillar 3 subcommittee will develop an interagency map that links eligibility criteria across benefit options provided to help inform future work to enhance access to benefits and reduce barriers to all state benefits.
      2. By June 30th, 2024 Pillar 3 subcommittee will collaborate with IDoR to include the basic elements for confirming EITC eligibility in the ABE application to analyze current deficits in uptake and create a simplified filing process in order to increase the number of people in deep poverty who receive their state and federal EITC (Currently federal EITC uptake is 77.6% in IL, highest is 84% in Rhode Island, lowest is 70% in Alaska. National average is 79.3).
      3. By June 30th, 2024 Pillar 3 will design an advocacy strategy toward securing guaranteed income programming beyond FY-24.
      4. By June 2024 Pillar 3 will coordinate with the Commission to End Hunger to develop/support a dissemination strategy to amplify the impact of designed materials so as to increase the uptake to important programs and benefits, especially those where gaps are most evident.
   4. Pillar 4 - Address Barriers to Paid Work, Education, and Advancement
      1. By June 30th, 2024 Pillar 4 will create a state-wide map of childcare availability and their services along with a map of the regional demand, and comprehensively analyze those maps to identify the highest need areas with the largest service gaps.
      2. By June 30th, 2024 Pillar 4 will design an advocacy strategy to address the highest need areas to ensure the increase of the number of high-quality (using NAEYC definition of quality, compensation, and affordability) childcare providers who offer flexible hours of service to meet the needs of a modern workforce.
      3. By June 30th, 2024 Pillar 4 will expand the funding and reach of DHS' Employment Barrier Reduction program by at least 25% - now serving 38 counties through 14 Action Agencies. Extra funding to expand to at least 18 community action agencies will increase the statewide reach of the program.
   5. Pillar 5 - Support Trusted Community-Based Providers to Serve the Needs of Those in Deep Poverty
      1. By June 30th, 2024 Pillar 5 subcommittee will create an integrated network of trusted community-based providers who serve those experiencing deep poverty to ensure ongoing stakeholder engagement, practice sharing, and regular dissemination of opportunities.
      2. By June 30th, 2024 Pillar 5 subcommittee will continue scheduling meetings, having conversations, and increasing the awareness of key decision-makers to ensure sustained caregiver funding, as well as securing COLA to community-based providers to ensure wage increases for frontline human service workers, who serve those experiencing deep poverty directly.
      3. By June 30th, 2024 Pillar 5 will support IDHS in beginning to comprehensively assess state contracts and recommend increased equitable funding to community-based organizations serving underrepresented communities.
6. Discussion/Approval Subcommittee Goals
   • Co-Chair Diaz asked for a motion to move the recommendations for a vote before opening it up for discussion. Ms. Maehr moved to approve seconded by Senator Fowler.
   • Co-Chair Diaz suggested to rope in the 211 system in the State of Illinois when thinking about mapping eligibility and services since it provides an individual what services are available when they dial 211.
   • Ms. Maehr agreed on Co-Chair Diaz's comment and she will make sure to include 211 in their goals on the communication side. She also explained that the mapping in Pillar 3 is more about interagency mapping for two groups who have developed two systems with exactly the same criteria. They need to map it to bring those systems together so that a family doesn't have to fill out paperwork twice for two benefits that ask for the same requirements.
   • Chair Groce commented, with regards to mapping and other types of inventory work, that it might be helpful to have a meeting of representatives from each pillar group to discuss strategy, sources and tools because there is likely to be duplication of data sources.
   • Co-Chair commented that it didn't seem like there was a lot of overlap with the goals, which was good, and raised a thought that if it were weaved all together would it represent how the Commission want to move forward.
   • Since there were no other questions or comments, Co-Chair Diaz called for a vote to approve the FY24 goals. The group unanimously approved the FY24 actionable goals through a voice vote.
7. VII. Next Steps and Adjournment
   • Co-Chair Diaz announced that she will be leaving her role at Hartland Alliance effective September 1st this year. Thus, she can no longer serve as the Co-Chair of the Commission effective August 1st since the statute requires a representative of an anti-poverty organization. The DHS team is working on filling in the vacancy as well as the other vacancies in the Commission.
   • Co-Chair Diaz also announced that the next Commission meeting will be in October and subcommittees will be giving updates on the progress toward achieving their goals.
   • Ms. Davidson moved to adjourn seconded by Ms. Maehr. The group unanimously agreed to adjourn at 10:53 AM.