SSAC-Outreach, Engagement, Equity and Policy Committee Agenda 02.26.24

Agenda

February 26, 2024

1:00 PM

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Welcome
Public Participation *
Approval of Meeting Minutes: September 20, 2023
Housekeeping
1. Welcome New Members
2. Preference for 2024 Meeting Dates
Briefing and Discussion with DHS Budget Team: Home Illinois and Welcoming with Dignity with Tiffany Blair, Joe Wellbaum, Kirstin Chernawsky, and Kylon Hooks
Adjournment

* If you would like to submit a public comment, please email your comment to Clare.Fisher@illinois.gov by 8:00 AM on Monday, February 26, 2024.

Minutes

Welcome
1. Committee Members: Niya Kelly, Itedal Shalabi, Maralea Negron, Lauren Wright, Barbara Harris, Jose Marco Paredes, Christa Hamilton
2. DHS Staff: Clare Fisher, Tiffany Blair, Christine Haley, Kylon Hooks, Kirstin Chernawsky, Emerson Wells
Public Participation *
1. None provided
Approval of Meeting Minutes: September 20, 2023
1. Christa Hamilton provided a motion to approve, Barbara Harris-Woodward seconded.
2. Unanimous approval.
Housekeeping
1. Welcome New Members
  1. Lauren Wright, Maraela Negron, Jose Marco-Paredes, and Tony Woods are new members of the committee. They introduced themselves.
2. Preference for 2024 Meeting Dates
  1. No Tuesdays at 10am
  2. Monday-Thursday after 11am
  3. Fridays after 10:00
Briefing and Discussion with DHS Budget Team: Home Illinois and Welcoming with Dignity with Tiffany Blair, Joe Wellbaum, Kirstin Chernawsky, and Kylon Hooks
1. Presentation from Chief Christine Haley on FY25 budget for Home Illinois
2. Chief Haley shared the stakeholders involved in the Task Force focused on ending homelessness.
  1. $200M investment in homelessness thus far.
    1. Increase in shelter funding
    2. Supporting Illinois' guaranteed income pilot for families living in shelter
    3. Rural homelessness pilo
  2. $50M proposed increase in FY25 of General Revenue Fund
    1. $35M for Court Based Rental Assistance
    2. $13M for Racial Equity Roundtable Implementation
      1. Includes Supporting Veterans & Other Target Population
    3. $2M for Access to Counsel
  - Questions and Discussions from the Committee
    - Maralea Negron: To clarify are any of these line items for IHDA's rental payment program? And is the court based rental assistance program the current program that gives tenants financial assistance who are currently in eviction court?
      - Chief Haley: Yes, that is the first line of the budget, for court-based rental assistance.
    - Itedal Shalabi: How do you connect communities with funding? How do you bridge language gaps? Are you using funding to conduct outreach?
      - Chief Haley: I think that many communities have challenges around accessing the resources that are available. That is part of our efforts. We need additional service providers to be able to access the funding. I am interested in hearing ideas around how the state can support new agencies in applying. That is a shared concern and goal
    - Itedal Shalabi: Is there a table that AAFS should be sitting on that would allow us to have access to being heard and seen and then funded
      - What does homelessness look like in your community?
      - Where are these conversations happening?
        
        Christine Haley: Interagency Task Force, Community Advisory Council have open meetings and there are some openings in membership.
    - Barbara Harris: I think my concern is a great deal of access is from shelters, however we have a large population that at not in a shelter, but are definitely homeless.
Presentation from Tiffany Blair and Kirstin Chernawsky on FY25 Budget
1. Niya Kelly: Tiffany is the TANF increase in the budget for increasing in caseload or is there a similar ask from last year to get the grant to 40% of FPL
  1. Tiffany Blair: Just maintenance
2. Welcoming with Dignity Initiative
  1. Proposed budget includes a total investment of $181.7M to provide supports for new arrivals from Souther border
    1. $114.4M in the Welcoming Center GRF Line
    2. $67.3M in the Home Illinois appropriation lin
3. Question and Answer
  1. Niya Kelly: $67.3M are funds that are also reflected in Home Illinois and are not just for new arrivals, will be used broadly across the board for anyone who is experiencing homelessness
  2. Maralea Negron: Given that these line items are massive, it is pretty ambiguous with what it is for, does this group do any follow up on NOFOs
  3. Niya Kelly: One of our charges is to think about communication and how information flows from DHS to consumers. Is there any data on the demographics of providers?
    1. Kylon Hooks: I will look into that and will follow up.
Adjournment
1. Motion to adjourn from Itedal Shalabi, seconded by Lauren Wright.