AGENDA and MINUTES - Pillar 4 Subcommittee Meeting Agenda September 28, 2023

Commission on Poverty Elimination and Economic Security

Subcommittee on Pillar 4: Address Barriers to Paid Work, Education, and Advancement

Thursday, September 28, 2023 3:30-4:30 PM

Recording

Members:

Appointment	Member	Affiliation
Chair	Jennifer Groce	Director of Community Promotion, Northern Illinois University
Commission Member	Senator Kimberly Lightford	Illinois State Senator
IWGP Member	Jane Flanagan	Director, Illinois Department of Labor
IWGP Member	Anna Koepel	Legislative Director, Illinois Department of Labor
IWGP Member	Jason Horwitz	Deputy Director, Office of Policy Development, Planning, and Research, Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity
IWGP Member	Carrie Thomas	Deputy Director, Business Services, Illinois Department of Employment Security
Public Member	Erion Malasi	Director of Policy and Advocacy, Economic Security for Illinois
Public Member	Heather Becker	Region 12 Chairperson, Illinois Education Association
Public Member	Crystal Bush	UniServ Director, Illinois Education Association
Public Member	Amy Evans
Public Member	Gina Harris	Member, Illinois Education Association; Board member, Oak Park and River Forest High School
Public Member	Jeremy Rosen	Director of Economic Justice, Shriver Center on Poverty Law
IDHS SME	Jennifer Gentile	Deputy Director, Bureau of Clinical Services, Division of Developmental Disabilities
IDHS SME	Dan Lyonsmith	FCS Associate Director, Office of Workforce Development

Administrator: Dana Kelly, IDHS-Associate Secretary of Disability Services and Education and Facility Operations

Agenda

1. Introductions/Welcome Roll Call
2. Public Comment - subject to written comment in advance
3. Housekeeping
4. Approval of Meeting Minutes: July 12, 2023
5. Discussion - Implementation of FY24 Action Goals
6. Next Steps and Adjournment

Minutes

Subcommittee members in attendance:

1. Jennifer Groce - subcommittee chairperson; Commission member
2. Anna Koeppel - IWGP member
3. Carrie Thomas - IWGP member
4. Crystal Bush - public member
5. Jennifer Gentile - public member

Administrator: Dana Kelly, IDHS-Associate Secretary for Disability Services and Education and Facility Operations

Facilitator:

1. Matthew Rodriguez - Equity Imperative
2. Ni'Shele Jackson - UIC

1. Introductions/Welcome Roll Call - Chair Groce led the welcome and roll call. Out of 12 voting members, only 5 were present. Quorum was not attained.
2. Approval of Meeting Minutes: July 12, 2023 - approval of previous minutes was tabled for the next meeting due to no quorum in attendance.
3. Public Comment - subject to written comment in advance, none received.
4. Housekeeping
   • Administrator Kelly informed the group of the upcoming full Poverty Commission meeting on October 24, 2023 which is open for everybody.
   • Chair Groce also announced her intention to resign as the chair of the subcommittee partly due to her limited expertise on the focus of the subcommittee particularly on childcare. She believes somebody who knows the subjects well and can attend meetings on its current cadence should lead the group. This will be the last meeting that she will serve as the chair.
   • Anybody who is interested to be the chairperson of the subcommittee can reach out to Administrator Kelly.
5. Discussion: Operationalization of FY24 Action Goals
   • Chair Groce gave a recap of the FY24 Action Goals of Pillar 4 which have been approved during the special full Poverty Commission meeting in July. Mr. Rodriguez shared the online working document where the goals are outlined.
   • Ni'Shele discussed some completed and ongoing works that are related to the actionable goals of Pillar 4 as highlighted in the working document.
     1. 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.
        • IDHS has contracted IECAM to produce a map on childcare availability. The map is not on the IDHS website so there is a need to promote it. Early Care and Education Services Map for Illinois | IECAM
        • Birth to Five organization has a comprehensive report on the regional demands for childcare which may be can be transformed into a map. B50723_DataReport_FINAL (squarespace.com)
        • Ni'Shele has a meeting with both IECAM and Birth to Five next week and will discuss how these data can be put on the IDHS website.
     2. Design an advocacy strategy to address the highest need areas to ensure the increase of the number of high-quality childcare providers who offer flexible hours of service to meet the needs of a modern workforce.
        • Example of advocacy that can be replicated or enhanced: Standard and Evidence Requirements - ExceleRate Illinois (excelerateillinoisproviders.com)
     3. Expand the funding and reach of DHS's Employment Barrier Reduction Program by at least 25%.
        • Mr. Rodriguez reached out to member Jason Horwitz who referred two colleagues from IDHS who can provide work that is already going on with regards to this goal.
        • Administrator Kelly suggested to invite the IDHS people referred by Mr. Horwitz to the next subcommittee meeting to talk about employment-barrier reduction program.
        • For the resources identified for goals 1 and 2, Administrator Kelly suggested that the next step for whoever will focus on those goals can use the resources and come up with the list of highest need areas with the largest service gaps and bring that information to IDHS for action.
   • Mr. Rodriguez mentioned the gaps that were also outlined on the online working document and reiterated that one of the goals of today's meeting is for members to identify the goal that they would like to help with and recommend experts who can be subject matter experts on the gaps.
     1. No attention being dedicated to address the barriers of transportation, paid leave, broadband, legal aid, reentry services, caretaking, and immigrant and refugee support;
     2. No explicit attention being dedicated to the investment in apprenticeship and work-based learning programs;
     3. Not explicit attention being dedicated to expanding access to legal counsel for Illinoisans.
   • For the gaps, Administrator Kelly suggested doing an inventory across the interagency partners on the work that they have committed to do in relation to the gaps.
   • Member Crystal Bush will look into organizations that might be able to provide information on low cost/no cost legal services.
   • Member Carrie Thomas recommended reaching out to Matt Bruce, Executive Director of Chicagoland Workforce Funder Alliance (CWFA) and invite him to be a subcommittee member. CWFA wants to develop a strategy and a set of pilots around helping people purchase cars as way to reduce transportation barriers.
   • Still in relation to transportation barrier, Ms. Thomas also mentioned the "transit table" which is aimed to reduce instances of losing driver's license due to failure to pay tickets, etc. There is work at the City level on a state legislation and Ms. Thomas can find out what happened about it.
   • Ms. Thomas also mentioned the Restoring Rights and Opportunities Coalition and Safer Foundation which can be invited as members of the subcommittee.
   • For the second gap, Ms. Thomas mentioned the program Apprenticeship Illinois which is led by DCEO who built an infrastructure on workforce development system under the program. She also mentioned that the US Department of Labor has made available to the states a dedicated set of funds for the local workforce area specifically for apprenticeship. There is a need to engage DCEO to determine the extent on how apprenticeship can be used as a tool to answer the 2nd gap.
   • Administrator Kelly and Len will work with Ms. Thomas to reach out to these people and organization and send out an invitation to join the subcommittee.
   • Mr. Rodriguez shared another online working document and asked members to put their names on the goal and/or gap that they would like to be part of the workgroup. For the gaps, the work will be to identify subject matter experts or organizations that can support filling in the gaps.
   • Administrator Kelly will reach out to the Division of Rehabilitation Services and the Department on Aging with regards to barriers on caretaking especially for adults.
   • None of the goals stand out for member Anna Koeppel so she signed up for gap 1 in which the Department of Labor are doing related works such as enforcement of Paid Leave for All Workers Act (to begin January 1st) and outreach to newly arrived immigrant community in Chicago particularly around the issue of child labor protections but helping them find income as the same time. They have been distributing posters on child labor which are in English and Spanish versions.
   • In relation to member Anna Koeppel's statement that none of the goals stand out for her, Administrator Kelly said that even though there are goals already laid out for the subcommittee, additional goals can still be added especially if there are good work at the Department of Labor that is already being done out there.
   • Ms. Koeppel will get a recommendation from a colleague who is an expert on early childhood advocacy.
6. Next Steps and Adjournment
   • Administrator Kelly can be included in the meetings being set up by Ni'Shele with Birth to Five and IECAM.
   • Administrator Kelly will follow up with member Jason Horwitz and IDHS SME Dan Lyonsmith with regards to goal 3.
   • The next round of meetings will be in November.
   • Administrator Kelly motioned to adjourn the meeting seconded by Ms. Bush. The group unanimously approved to adjourn at 4:20 PM.