CESSA - Region 2 Committee Meeting Approved Minutes 02/14/2024

Community Emergency Services and Support Act (CESSA) Region 2 Advisory Committee

Meeting Minutes- February 14, 2024 - 1:00 pm via Teams

Meeting Minutes - Approved by Members 04/10/2024

• Call to Order/Introductions
  • Call meeting to Order by Dennis Duke at 1:02 PM
  • Attendees:
  • Via MS Teams: Dennis Duke, Brian Murphy, Zachary Gittrich, Jamal Simington, Sarah Scruggs, Rhonda Flegel, Jodi Mahoney, Matthew Jackson, Sarah Stasik, Meghan Moser, Darren Gault, Travis Noyd
  • Absences
    • Michael Barr, Todd Noe, Donald Miskowiec, Christopher Watkins, Wayne Gallops, Allen Haeffner, Steve Delis, Latricia Seye, Luke Tomsha, Anthony Walraven, Michael Daley, lmad Khan, Ryan Beck, Brandon Miller-Gus, Julie Lewis
  • Guests:
    • Brenda Hampton, James Harryman, Gene Seamen, Bernard Butler, Stacy Brown, Bobby Leebold, Cindy Hewett
• Open Meetings Act- Read and notified meeting is being recorded.

• Approval of Minutes
  • December 13, 2023 Minutes - were approved with noted bullet point that the Risk Level Matrix was approved by the RAC and by the State.
    • Motion by Member Rhonda Flegel, second by Member Brian Murphy
    • Motion Approved by all members present
  • Next RAC Region 2 meeting will be March 13, 2024 at 1:00 PM

• State Updates - Brenda Hampton
  • Brenda Hampton questioned regarding Risk Level Matrix noting there is one statewide RLM that we're working with moving forward in our discussions with the vendors, changing the PSAPs. To clarify we have one official Risk Matrix that was approved by the SAC.
  • Dennis Duke commented our RAC 2 matrix was mirroring the state, the matrix and recommendations.
  • Brenda Hampton shared yesterday had a face-to-face SAC meeting which focused on continued visioning process for the SAC and the meeting was held in Glenview at the Glenview PSAP. The meeting focused on continuing the visioning focus for the SAC. In attendance at this meeting was the mother of Stephan Watt. He was murdered during an autism episode. He is the young man upon which the CESSA legislation was written. It was a very good meeting and the focus of the meeting talked a lot about what you will hear later on in the hyperlocal regional processes that Dennis will elaborate on. Pushing the work down not to the RACs as the RACs are still very viable but making thatwork local to the community basis where the constituents are, be their townships etc. There were 3 things that came out of the SAC meeting yesterday in terms of State Update: 1 CESSA is extended until 2025. As youknow this work is not quick work. It's very meticulous work and I think everybody understands that in our months (because we're almost coming up to June) all the work that needs to be done with the vendors, scripts and training is not going to be accomplished in 4 months. Next, the change in legislation is that CESSA is written that the medical director, the EMS Medical Director is the Chair/Official Chair of the RACS that has been changed now so that it will be replaced by someone other than the Medical Directors. In many of our regions the Medical Directors are in the emergency room of hospitals doing medical work and so they have not been able to devote the amount of time or energy to the RAC process and falling primarily on the Behavioral Health Co-Chairs. They will try to balance that to identify another person, be it someone from public health in the regional structure to be the Co-Chair with the behavioral health providers for the RAC process. Third was referenced earlier, hyperlocal level planning. The legislation has approved to move the planning down to a more local level.
  • Dennis Duke commented the legislation referenced is pending at this point but it is looking like those things will pass.
  • Brenda Hampton responded correct.
  • Dennis Duke provided more context for the group in terms of getting this up and fully implemented across our region and in our communities. Noting the state has listened to the feedback and has an understanding of the tremendous amount of work that's required and asks that we all recognize what the reality of this situation is, that the state is supporting us in our efforts to get this implemented appropriately and in a timely manner. In our region we have only one Power phone vendor that will be participating in our pilot project and all the work in getting the scripts for the vendors takes time. Throughout all regions we are piloting a response to risk level matrix one calls so lets keep that in perspective that this is a heavy lift and may move slowFuther noted he will be a convener of information to keep this moving forward.
  • Brenda Hampton commented the Power phone is the beginning, then we have to move to priority dispatch, then the app and Independents. So it will move slow until the momentum comes.
  • Dennis Duke shared out of the State updates there was a discussion regarding trainings and concerns about connecting the dots between 911 and the telecommunicators 988 and 590. There has been training approved for each of those: the 911 telecommunicator training, the 988 call center and the 590. There is a tremendous amount of detail to all of that and it was released to the RAC Co-chairs earlier this week. The plan is to get that out following this meeting to allow an opportunity for people to review it and provide feedback. There's a lot of hours of education and training required under all three of these items, I'm certain there will be questions from those areas regarding training requirements and when they must be done.
  • Brenda Hampton will look for the date to supply feedback, but there's ampletime for people to look at the trainings and provide feedback to the RAC.

• RAC 2 Project Plan
  • Dennis Duke shared the pilot focused on the two vendors who have Power phone and in our region we have only one PSAP that has Power phone and that is 911 service in Schuyler and McDonough County with the main population center being Macomb. The pilot is asking us to address the level one calls and being able to redirect those 911 calls that are assessed to be level one risk matrix call and move them to 988 or 590. That is the primary intent of our pilot project not just in our region but across the state with those powerful vendors. Since our last meeting, Chief Darren Gault of the Moline Police Department and I were able to meet in Macomb with the 911service provider as well as the 590 provider North Central Behavioral Health and in attendance was EMS, Law Enforcement, Fire Department etc. Chief Gault provided an overview of the CESSA legislation and the purpose for our pilot. We had support from all entities that were at the meeting to move forward with this and so their next step is to take that to their board for approval to participate in the RAC 2 pilot. We are still waiting tha board approval, but we have had the discussion and the rollout with the entities that would be participating.
  • Chief Darren Gault shared their next PSAP ETESB board meeting is February 27th and anticipate they would vote on our presentation and haven't heard any negative feedback. There is certainly concerns just like we all have with the unknown (training, demands, workload & logistics), but I'd anticipate we'd hear something after February 27th.
  • Dennis Duke recognized Chief Gault for his facilitation with that group. I think there were a lot of questions that he was able to provide answers and help calm the waters. It's nice to have Law Enforcement partner in this work for sure. Jody Mahoney from North Central BH do you have anything to add?
  • Jody Mahoney shared thank you to Dennis and Chief Gault and think everything was covered very well because this was certainly a group that is in his wheelhouse and feel his involvement and ability to converse with that group and convey both the CESSA opportunities acknowledge the challenges, but yet keep the group forward looking was very positive. I left there feeling very positive with the reaction and next steps moving forward with the pilot. Thank you to both Dennis and Chief Gault for including me in that meeting and feel the meeting was very valuable.

• Hyperlocal Regional Implementation
  • Dennis Duke shared the state has termed this hyperlocal regional implementation and today isa day to recognize Chief Gault. The Chief and I had discussions prior to the release of the hyperlocal regional implementation approach and we had come up with our own version of what that looks like. At a high level will introduce it and ask Chief Gault to talk about it. As Brenda mentioned earlier in the call, the RACs are still going to have a role and they're going to be providing information facilitating and being a convener. The work is going to happen at the local level or the sub regions within the region. To help facilitate when this work moves down the road, when all the vendors have been negotiated with the state of Illinois to change their scripting, eventually this will be rolled out in all the different sub regions or the hyperlocal regions.
  • Dennis Duke our plan in the Quad Cities region is to bring together all the players that we're talking about that are connected to CESSA (law enforcement, fire departments, EMS, 911, the 590 providers, hospitals etc.} get everyone in same room with the idea to first provide an overview of CESSA and have a discussion of expectations and what the means for each entity that their providing services/or being responsible for the way that we respond. Second, the benefits as a RAC is we'll have a template of a plan that the rest of the region and/or sub regions can implement in their areas. Then invite others to be part of from outside of our hyperlocal area. The other piece, I think will becritical is it's going to be an opportunity for us to update what the current status is in terms of crisis response in our community or in our sub region. Then talk about what the expectations are going to be as we move forward together. Chief Gault is a big part of this planning and visioning of this and I'd ask him to talk more about how he sees the value of this for the rest of our region.
    • Chief Darren Gault shared there has been quit a bit of time working on this with McDonough County Pilot - traveling and spending some time together and as we were working through some of the logistics that we wanted to convey to McDonough County as well as within the meeting with them, we heard some concerns in our own area. It started to become very apparent we needed to get everyone on the same page and start working together in this localized region. You will need to do this in your own area as what I have available in the Quad Cities is going to be much different than Bloomington or what we found was significantly different in McDonough County (a more rural area). I think prior to the meeting we had last week the 590 provider didn't have a significant presence with the ESTB or the leaders down there. So that was the first step in trying to introduce them because they're doing things much differently than we were doing it in the Quad Cities just an hour and a half away. So we sent out an email to our major players that we identified including obviously 590 providers, our seven or either mental health board, the EMS providers - we have multiple EMS providers in this area in the Quad Cities, some cities have their own ambulance services and some cities are served by hospital ambulance service. There's a private ambulance medical transport system, two different hospitals with two different EMS Medical Directors, two different Chief Medical Officers and two different EMS Directors. There's 11 police departments, 5 PSAPS and all the law enforcement entities. There is one thing that we've noticed in even the level one and maybe level two and as we get into some of the actual response as opposed to just the diverting of calls is there's some significant concern on the fire department and the availability of their resources. The call volume is increasing already in the change in dealing with mental health versus how law enforcement responding. We're all supportive of the concept of removing law enforcement from some of these calls, but if the fire and EMS are seeing a significant increase, they're starting to get concerned about this. Our plan no is to have 40 people on our list that we're going to assemble in a conference center in March to explain things and get everyone on board. I'd encourage you to start gathering those names and players in your area as this will be something you will need to do.
    • Dennis Duke asked if there were any questions or comments about how we can implement this approach.
    • Zachary Gittrich inquired if we have figured out what the hyperlocal regions are going to look like or is that the process we're doing now.
    • Dennis Duke responded I don't know what formula for us is to figure that out. I would open that up to others for input with some of the major population centered areas like Quad Cities, Bloomington, Peoria, LaSalle etc. makes sense but when you get into the smaller more rural areas, I'm not sure what that looks like.
    • Zachary Gittrich shared I think a good idea would be to base these communities where these hyperlocal regions on the 590 teams that exist since its empowering the law. So if you have a hyperlocal region you'd have the 590 in Tazwell and Woodford that handles both of those and then Peoria and McLean County they have their own individual one.
    • Darren Gault responded unsure if the state has defined that but feels it would need to be smaller than that - the problem is that 590 team like in the Quad Cities might have three different hospitals in their jurisdiction and may have 2 plus EMS or fire departments responding to those medical calls so if a EMS provider picks up an individual in East Moline, IL for example and they transfer him to Illini hospital, that is a different hospital system than where Robert Young with the 590 provider is over at UnityPoint and so the processes and procedures are going to have to be very localized, probably within even the sub regions inside the 590.
    • Dennis Duke inquired if there were seven 590 providers within the region.
    • Brenda Hampton responded after looking up the information there are 9 590 providers in Region 2.
    • Chief Darren Gault inquired from Travis Noyd regarding some ambulances operate under a doctor's license or certification. So they get orders and direction specifically from that doctor that governs their protocol?
    • Travis Noyd responded you're exactly right. This is done a lot - we work under Trinity's Medical Center Director, Dr. Barr and that we have to work under those standing orders. If we go to another system or across the river to Genesis in Davenport, then we're following under a different set of protocols. Even though they are very similar they aren't coordinated exactly the same Then our care and procedures can be different than the hospital that we're delivering to. This is something that needs to be figured out.
    • Dennis Duke inquired from Brenda Hampton with regards to the above discussion if there is any direction or anything that the state is thinking in terms of hyperlocal definition?
    • Brenda Hampton responded because it's sodiverse, its how you identify that local level distribution is not going to look the same statewide. Some might be counties, and some may be smaller municipalities within counties. Some may even go down to a level of a 708 board and working with that level of engagement, so it's going to vary and no we have not defined or described how it's supposed to look for each region.
    • Chief Darren Gault commented Brenda brings up a good point about 708 boards in the area. Dennis there are 3 708 boards in your 590 region right? Rock Island, Mercer and Henry.
    • Dennis Duke responded correct.
    • Jody Mahoney shared just North Central alone has three separate 708 boards that work within our service area, so we would add those to the count for region 2. The other thing I started to do while Chief Gault was talking is when we talk about breaking it down to the hyperlocal level, our communities anyway I can speak for our communities. LaSalle County alone has 24 different cities and none of our EMS are centralized, so each of those individual cities have their own fire department, police department and ambulance services within LaSalle County. We begin to look at Bureau County they have 22 different cities located within their county and I'm not sure if this is unique to rural areas, but each of these even if their small communities, tend to have their own fire and most of them are all volunteer. Very few have full time staff. So when we talk about hyperlocal, trying to bring that many people together or entities together that primarily are working off of a volunteer basis. They typically have their own set of parameters and policies that they're all following. Maybe something that we need to recognize and consider about how to go about bringing all of that diversity together.
    • Brian Murphy shared he can get PSAPs contact information and mental health boards through the 590 provider as Woodford County is small. If we're dealing with Warren County, how are we going to actually engage them in the first place.

• Schedule Remaining RAC Meeting
  • Next RAC 2 Meeting Date: March 13, 2024 - this date is tentative due to date coincides with vacations/Spring break time.

Open for Public Comment- Susan Schafer, McLean County Board and shared what you've been talking about regarding hyperlocal information had heard about it at the Statewide meeting when Dr. Jones was talking about it. McLean County for years has had a Behavioral Health Coordinating Council which is a lot of what you are talking about on how to get people together. We actually have a mental health action plan that is more encompassing than just the crisis part. Megan, Rhonda and Chief Simington are quite aware of it and also we have been very active in the National Association of Counties in their familiar faces initiative which a lot of these individuals fall into that category. I have been part of their leadership network in that area. So McLean County has not only just the Behavioral Health Coordinating Council, but the criminal justice coordinating Council and they kind of work together and we have been able

to gather these people together and counties a lot of time and can bring those individuals to the table. Also the State Supreme Court has an action plan and was counting on courts being conveners. Whatever works for your area so that trying to get people to the table to have that conversation, whether it is a county level or a county elected or a court system may facilitate and help get those people to the table and have some of those discussions because they're hard discussions and we've been having them for years and trying to move things forward. So we're pretty much hyperlocal already.

* Motion to Adjourn the meeting by Rhonda Flegal and seconded by Jody Mahoney.

* Meeting was Adjourned at 2:10 PM.