AGENDA and MINUTES - Interagency Working Group on Poverty Elimination Meeting, June 12, 2024

Interagency Working Group on Poverty Elimination and Economic Security

Meeting Agenda and Minutes

Wednesday, June 12, 2024

1:00-2:30 PM

Recording

Agenda:

Welcome/Roll Call - Administrator Priya Khatkhate (10 min)
Public Comment - subject to written comment in advance (2 min)
Approval of Meeting Minutes: March 13, 2024 (3 min)
IWGP Housekeeping - Administrator Khatkhate (25 min)
1. Membership updates
2. Subcommittee participation
3. FY25 Budget Highlights
4. IWGP Annual Report FY24 Planning
Special Presentation (20 min)
- Legislative Session updates - Andre Jordan, IDHS
- Summer EBT Program - Beth Kenefick, GCFD
FY24 Subcommittee report - Matthew Rodriguez (20 min)
Next Steps (5 min)
- Next meeting - Wednesday, September 18, 2024, 1:00-2:30 PM
Adjournment

Minutes

Attendance:

Statutory members:

Name	Title	Organization	Attendance
Dulce Quintero	Chairperson, Secretary	Illinois Department of Human Services	Represented
Elizabeth Vogt	Senior Policy Advisor	Illinois Department on Aging	Present
Kristi Jones	Deputy Director	Illinois Department of Agriculture	Absent
Jason Horwitz	Deputy Director, Office of Policy Development, Planning, and Research	Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity	Present
Jane R. Flanagan	Director	Illinois Department of Labor	Represented by Anna Koeppel
Marc Staley	Deputy Director	Illinois Governor's Office of Management and Budget	Present
Dr. Janice Phillips	Assistant Director	Illinois Department of Public Health	Present
Krish Mohip	Chief Education Officer - Operations	Illinois State Board of Education	Absent
Alyssa Williams	Assistant Director	Illinois Department of Corrections	Present

Invited Members:

Name	Title	Organization	Attendance
Emily Mueller	AD of Policy and Research	Illinois Housing Development Authority	Represented by Erik Turner
Carrie Thomas	Deputy Director, Business Services	Illinois Department of Employment Security	Represented by Janice Taylor Brown
Dana Kelly	Chief of Staff	Illinois Department of Healthcare and Family Services	Represented by Jenny Aguirre

Administrator: Priya Khatkhate, IDHS-Chief Policy Officer

Guests:

Matthew Rodriguez - Institute of Research on Race and Public Policy (IRRPP)
Beth Kenefick - Senior Policy Advisor, Greater Chicago Food Depository (GCFD)
Andre Jordan - Director, IDHS-Office of Legislation
Benjamin O'Donnell - Intern, Illinois Policy
Larry Han - Intern, Illinois Policy
Chris Coffey - Intern, Illinois Policy
Colleen Mahoney - Senior Policy Advisor, Illinois Department of Public Health
Crystal Bush - UniServ Director, Illinois Education Association
Donna Henry - Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity
Cicely Fleming - Director, Birth to Five Illinois

Minutes

Welcome/Roll Call - Administrator Priya Khatkhate led the roll call. Seven out of nine statutory members were present/represented and all three invited members were present/represented. Quorum was declared.
Public Comment - subject to written comment in advance; none received.
Approval of Meeting Minutes: March 13, 2024 - Dir. Marc Staley moved to approve the March 13, 2024 minutes seconded by Liz Vogt. The group unanimously approved the March 13, 2024 minutes.
IWGP Housekeeping - Administrator Khatkhate
1. Membership updates
  - Ms. Vogt will be the permanent representative of the Department on Aging replacing former Dir. Paula Basta.
  - Assistant Dir. Alyssa Williams will be representing the Department of Corrections moving forward.
2. Subcommittee participation - IWGP members are still encouraged to join any subcommittee related to their agency works and/or invite community partners who can contribute to the work.
3. IWGP Annual Report FY24 Planning - will be published no later than September 1st; work has already started, Administrator Khatkhate will be reaching out to the members to get more on information on activities that member agencies have been doing that needs to be reported in terms of progress and success for FY24.
Special Presentation
1. Legislative Session updates - Andre Jordan, IDHS Director of Legislative Affairs
  - 534 bills with potential DHS impact actively tracked by the Office of Legislative Affairs
  - 7 DHS initiatives passed both chambers
  - 1 DHS initiative passed the first chamber: HB 793 Dignity in Pay Act
  - 1 DHS initiative passed committee
  - Spring 2024 legislative wins: (Awaiting Governor's signature)
    1. SB3648 - DMH: CESSA Amendment
    2. HB5084 - FCS: Benefits Reporting Clean-Up
    3. SB647 - DMH/SUPR: DEI Omnibus
    4. SB3661 - DMH: Background Checks, Waivers
    5. SB3753 - DDD: DDD Transformation
    6. SB0857 - DHS OIG: Facility, Agency Reviews
    7. HB4959 - FCS: VTTC
  - Spring 2024 Legislative Initiatives Ongoing
    1. HB0793 - DDD/DRS: Dignity in Pay
    2. HB5227 - DRS: Increase Asset Limits
    3. SB3444 - DMH: Fitness to Stand Trial
    4. SB0327 - SUPR: Gambling Disorders
    5. SB3701 - OCAPS: PMP Omnibus
  - The signing ceremony for the approved bills will be in summer but no specific date yet.
  - August: Review legislative proposals for Spring 2025 legislative session
  - Veto sessions: November 12-14 and 19-21
  - January 2025: TBD- Lame Duck Session - January 2, 2025- January 7th
  - Dr. Phillips asked about SB647. Dir. Jordan will send the fact sheet.
2. Summer EBT Program - Beth Kenefick, GCFD
  - IDHS and ISBE will be implementing the program; ISBE is collecting data from schools, pass the data to IDHS and IDHS will be distributing the benefits.
  - The Illinois Commission to End Hunger has been helping in raising awareness on the program
  - The pandemic EBT pushed for the passing of summer EBT in the Congress.
  - The summer EBT will provide groceries to families starting this summer when children are not receiving free or reduced-price meals.
  - Eligible children will receive $120 each on an EBT card if they are already on SNAP or TANF and have a link card. If a family has more than one eligible child, each eligible child will still receive $120.
  - If all the 1.1 million children get the summer EBT, the potential economic impact could be up to $247 million for the state.
  - Not all students attending schools that serve universal meals will be automatically eligible for summer EBT per federal guidelines.
  - Students who are not yet on SNAP and TANF but are eligible to the program can start applying in July. Benefits will be distributed in August.
  - Links shared:
  - Dr. Phillips asked what is the likelihood that somebody eligible will not be automatically enrolled and how can people such as the regional health officers play a role in getting the word out about the program.
  - The program has three awareness phases: the first phase kicked off in April with webinars held with CBOs, health departments, etc. telling people that the program is coming, and help is needed. The message was still the same in phase two but also about a screener that will be available for people to use to determine if they are already in the system and if not, there will be an application to fill out. The last phase is in August to tell people that it is not a mistake if they received money on their link card or received a white envelope, and that they can use the money. If there are those who did not receive, there will still be time to apply.
  - The population who might fall through the cracks are the ones who are attending schools like CPS where there are universal meals and they are not on SNAP, TANF or Medicaid, not in the DHS system and have not filled out an application, unless the school has identified them thru some means. They would likely need to apply, and this could include the new arrivals, migrant populations. The program has no citizenship requirement.
  - The other population that may have difficulty accessing the program are children experiencing homelessness, they are found and identified but no address to mail the EBT card if they don't have link cards yet. If they go to school, they can receive the cards through their schools.
  - Administrator Khatkhate added that there are available materials to post and passed out. IDHS has been distributing informational materials both in Spanish and English and other languages in Welcoming Centers to reach families who might be new arrivals. There's also been information shared in school newsletters on the program and about checking eligibility.
  - The benefit amount is technically $40 per month but Illinois chose the one-time payment of $120 given the delays it takes to set the program. However, this may change next year.
  - Ms. Cicely Fleming of Birth to Five asked if the program is capturing the little ones who sometimes only stay half a day in school and are maybe not signed up for free and reduced-price lunch programs.
  - According to Ms. Kenefick, the program comes from USDA and the current rules are, age is the school age as defined by the state if they're found through a qualifying program i.e. if a child is on SNAP or TANF or income eligible, they need to be between 6-17. If the child is enrolled in a National School Lunch Program, then they'll be found outside of 6 and 17. For kids attending school only for half a day would be a question for ISBE.
IDHS FY25 Budget Highlights - Total Budget of $14.6 Billion, an increase of $653 Million+ in GRF over FY24 estimated spending (Administrator Khatkhate)
1. Home Illinois: As part of the efforts to end homelessness in Illinois, DHS' FY25 budget includes a new $90M investment.
  - $75.0M to support State-funded Court-Based Rental Assistance Program
  - $13.0M towards Racial Equity Roundtable Implementation
  - $2.0M for Access to Counsel (total of $5.0M in FY25)
2. Youth Employment
  - $75M investment in youth employment initiatives throughout Illinois
  - Diaper Pilot
  - FY25 budget includes funding ($1M) for a pilot program to distribute diapers to low-income individuals at WIC centers.
3. Early Childhood - Continued support of early childhood initiatives:
  - SMART Start (Increase of $122M - GRF pickup of ARPA)
  - Child Care Assistance Program (Increase of $36.5M
  - Supporting growth of Early Intervention program ($6M)
  - New Department of Early Childhood ($10M)
4. Continued Commitment to Olmstead
  - Annualizes cost of the (Jan. 1, 2024) $2.50/hour increase for DSPs and front-line staff of $100M ($70M new GRF and $30M from other state funds
  - $80M to support the increase of DSP wages by $1.00/hour on Jan. 1, 2025
5. Welcoming with Dignity Initiative - The proposed budget includes a total investment of $181.7M to provide supports for new arrivals
  - $114.4M in the Welcoming Center GRF Line
  - $67.3M in the Home Illinois appropriation line, funds can be used to support individuals in Illinois experiencing homelessness or at risk of homelessness
Working Group Statutory Compliance Updates - Dir. Staley informed the group that the proposed adjustments to the reporting requirements related to poverty reduction efforts were approved in the legislative session.
Refresher on strategic pillars/subcommittees - Administrator Khatkhate gave an overview of the pillars that were developed in the Strategic Plan. Len will be sending a document where members can add the work that their agencies are already doing or planning that are aligned to the strategies.
1. Pillar 1
  - Per Dir. Staley, the income tax credit is going to be set at 20% for 2024 and doubled to 40% of the amount available in tax year 2025, payable in 2025 and 2026, respectively. For families with children 12 years old and under.
2. Pillar 2
  - There's a more recent task force that has come together through the lieutenant governor's office, the Illinois Healing Center Task Force which would be related to strategy 3, invest in interventions that address cycles of trauma and violence in communities.
  - Ms. Colleen Mahoney mentioned that IDPH is getting ready to release a Homelessness Morbidity and Mortality report in July and that she could talk about it in Pillar 2 and share some of the data.
3. Pillar 3
  - Creating a single, accessible platform for benefit enrolment is a huge lift but will be a huge benefit for people to reduce barriers in accessing different programs.
  - Ms. Donna Henry shared that she currently sits in an advisory group for the Chicago Empowerment Fund. The group is wrapping up a pilot Guaranteed Income Program (GI) and is gearing to start the program. Ms. Henry asked how the group is connecting with the city.
  - Administrator Khatkhate added that the state if also participating in a GI pilot program. Ms. Henry is welcome to share highlights from the city program.
4. Pillar 4
  - On addressing barrier to work, the work done in FY24 has focused on some areas but the strategy is enormous and touches on almost every aspect of a person's daily life so there are still a lot of work to be done.
  - Mr. Jason Horwitz shared that DCEO has been deploying broadband grant funding to lay fiber for the last few years thru the program Connect Illinois implemented by the agency's Broadband Offices. The program is ramping up and a lot of the additional federal money will be coming through in the next year or so. Example activities under the program include providing resources to improve digital literacy and meetings with communities to see what is needed and others.
  - The program had an original funding of $400 million in the Rebuild Illinois Plan which is a $45 billion capital plan passed back in 2019. The program received more funding thru ARPA which enabled the program to keep going.
5. Pillar 5
  - Recognizes the family and other folks who are giving care to their families
Next Steps
- Members to think about data/information sharing as stated in the report requirements and statute, how to improve data sharing to expand benefits to get people connected to resources or what paths to take forward considering restrictions in each agency,
- Next meeting - Wednesday, September 18, 2024, 1:00-2:30 PM
Adjournment - Mr. Horwitz moved to adjourn the meeting seconded by Dr. Phillips. The group unanimously agreed to adjourn at 2:05 PM