CESSA - Region 6 Committee Meeting Approved Minutes 07/17/2023

Community Emergency Services and Support Act (CESSA) Region 6 Advisory Committee

Meeting Minutes - July 17, 2023 - 1:30-2:11 PM via Zoom

Meeting Minutes - Approved by Members 02/20/2023

  • Welcome and Call to Order
    • Meeting called to order at 1:30 pm by Lisa Rhodes.
  • Open Meetings Act
    • Members were advised that the meetings are subject to the Illinois Open Meetings Act.
    • Meetings are recorded and you have the option to switch your camera off if you choose to.
    • A copy of this recording and minutes will be posted to the Illinois Department of Human Services/Division of Mental Health Open Meetings Page.
    • All participants are muted to reduce interference of background noise.
    • Please make note of the raise hand feature. Appointed Committee Members wishing to contribute to the discussion will be asked to raise their hand and then will be unmuted to speak. Public members will raise their hand and comment during the public comment section to provide input.
  • Roll Call
    • Attendees:
      • Via Zoom: Lisa Rhodes, Jim Russell, Allan Axelrod, Dustun Rhea, Megan Cambron, Andrew Quarnstrom, Greg Chance, Steve Bennett, Dustin Heuerman, Melissa Pappas, John Phillips, Jennifer Brown, Betsy Smith, Michelle Nelson, Peter Eckart, Irene Wadhams, and Sheryl Baumeister
      • Absent: Kurt Bloomstrand, Lt. Cory Koker, Jeffrey Kiesling, Jeffrey Ray, Amy Marley, Dr. Scott Pasichow, Joe Burton, Michael Smith, Ursulla Idleman, Shelley Peelman, Steve Peters, and Mike Schwenke
      • Public Attendees: Gabriela Vo, nshotton, Samuel Jones, and Jeonghun Kim
  • Approval of Minutes
    • No comments/corrections to the 6/26/23 Minutes.
    • Motion to Approve June Minutes made by Andy Quarnstrom. Seconded by Dustin Heuerman.
    • Motion approved by all members present.
  • State Updates
    • Formally announced the Legislation was signed into law on June 27th extending our work forward to June 30, 2024.
    • The State Advisor Committee was charged with submitting a quarterly report to the General Assembly on July 1, 2023.
      • One of the things that the SAC is rolling out is an opportunity to take a little time to do visionary work, strategic planning and evaluate where we are so far.
      • Peter indicated that a copy of the report would be distributed to Kurt Bloomstrand and Lisa Rhodes for review and further distribution. Within the report, the status of implementation for all the deliverables is described. One of the biggest opportunities/challenges is the fact that our systems are diverse. There's a lot of different players in this system and not all of whom have had the opportunity to work together in the past, so there is some degree of unfamiliarity between different parts of the system.
  • Committee Questions/Comments
    • Peter was asked about the next steps in the visionary process, how do you see that going forward, and affecting the RAC's? 
      • The short version answer is you all know the deliverables didn't change when the legislation extended the date. So, you can continue to work on the existing deliverables as you have been. We'll be coming back to you with an approach that we're going to recommend creating a little more thoughtful space for you all. Do we have the right voices at the table? Are we all working together towards the same common approach? Does that make sense?
    • Alan stated in conversation with disabled activist about the risk matrix, one concern has been expressed if is the matrix has been deviated from when police would be sent as in the circumstances when Stephon Watt was killed. (Also, noting that the CESSA is know as the Stephon Edward Watts Act) What is the breakdown between co-responder vs all responders
      • Peter responded, the heart of the legislation is to move us from the current state to future state. To reduce the participation of law enforcement in response to crisis. That's why the 4 tiers exist on the Interim Level Risk Matrix. The work of CESSA isn't complete, so the recommendations that will form the official response assessor are still being worked on. It's a delicate balance between the systems we want to exist in the future. Your recommendations will define what that future looks like. How does the system implement those changes? That's one of the reasons the deadline was extended because this is such complex work. And again, going back to diversity. It's not just that it's diverse racially, but in terms of rural, suburban, and urban. The systems that each of our responder use are individual to them, there hasn't been a way to connect them to each other. That is some of the seamlessness we would hope for in the future.
  • Progress on RAC recommendations for the Interim Risk Level Matrix and PSAP Landscape Analysis Survey
    • We reported in our last meeting minutes that we took action to accept the Interim Risk Level Matrix as presented, although that hasn't been submitted to the state yet. We'll review that one more time.
    • Non-aggregated data will be sent to Dr. Mary Smith by July 31, 2023.
    • Aggregate Landscape Analysis summary sheets will be sent to Crisis Hub liaison by July 31, 2023.
  • Meeting Dates for the remainder of the year
    • August 21, 2023
    • September 18, 2023
    • October 16, 2023
    • November 20, 2023
    • December 18, 2023
  • Public Comment
    • None
  • Next meeting will be August 21, 2023, from 1:30 PM to 3:00 PM
  • Adjournment
    • Lisa Rhodes called for the meeting to adjourn at 2:11 PM without any opposition.