July 11th, 2024 - Agenda and Meeting Report

Audience

Open to the general public

Time

9:30 am to 1:00 pm

Location

This meeting will be held via Zoom teleconferencing as well as in-person at the iHotel in Champaign, Illinois. To participate via Zoom teleconferencing, please utilize the link below provided by Illinois Early Intervention Training to register for the meeting.

IICEI Registration: Thursday, July 11th, 2024

Once you register, you will be provided with an immediate confirmation, that will indicate Zoom participation information will be forthcoming. You will receive an email with specific access instructions and your unique Zoom link closer to the meeting date.

Agenda

  • Call to order
  • Introduction of council members
  • Approval of May 30, 2024 Draft Meeting Report
  • Message from a parent
  • Advocacy Update
  • Public Act 102-0926 - Substantiated Abuse/Neglect Auto Eligibility
  • Department of Early Childhood Agency update
  • Modified service delivery update
  • Council Workgroups
  • Bureau Updates
    • Bureau Staff
    • FY25 Budget Outcome
    • PDG
    • Data Management System
    • Family Complaint Process
  • Upcoming Council Meeting Location
  • Public comment period
  • Adjournment of meeting

Attendees

IICEI Members In Attendance
Alison Liddle, Provider Representative/Chairperson Yes
Aasma Tariq, Parent Representative No
Anastasios "Taso" Michalopulos, Provider Representative Yes
Angel Williams, Illinois Department of Child and Family Services Yes
Benny Delgado, IDHS, Chief, Bureau of Early Intervention Yes
Brittni Monreal, Parent Representative Yes
Carol Muhammad, Child & Family Connections (CFC) 10 Manager, Urban Representative Yes
Chuck Farr, Child & Family Connections (CFC) 13 Program Manager, Rural Representative Yes
Donna Emmons, Head Start Representative Yes
Ginger Mullin, IL Dept. of Public Health No
Jennifer Gentile, IL Dept. of Human Services, Division of Developmental Disabilities Yes
Kate Ulmer, ISBE, McKinney-Vento, Homeless Representative No
Kesha Harris, Parent Representative Yes
Kristy Doan, IL State Board of Education Yes
Lisa Betz, Child and Adolescent Services Div of Mental Health Yes
Lisa Karp, Parent Representative Yes
Lynnette DeGraffenreid, Provider Representative Yes
Margaret Harkness, IL Council on Developmental Disabilities Yes
Matthew Pickett, IL Dept. of Insurance Yes
Meredith Barnes, Parent Representative Yes
Michael Garner-Jones, IL Dept. of Human Services, Bureau of Subsidy Mgmt. (Child Care) Yes
Rosa (Amy) Milagros Santos, Personnel Preparation Representative No
Shelly Roat, IL Division of Specialized Care for Children (DSCC) No
Zareen Kamal, Advocate Representative Yes
Zee Parton, Provider Representative Yes

Council Packet Contents

  • Agenda
  • Draft Council Meeting Report - May 30, 2024
  • Workforce Workgroup Update
  • Early Intervention Caseload Summary Report

Minutes

1) Call to Order

Alison Liddle, Illinois Interagency Council on Early Intervention Chairperson, called the meeting to order at 9:30 AM

2) Introductions of Council Members

Members introduced themselves and stated their agency/role on the Council. Quorum established.

3) Approval of the Draft Council Meeting Report - May 30, 2024

Lynette made a motion to approve the minutes. Meredith seconded. Motion passed.

4) Message from the Parent

This parent first came to EI due to her son's speech delay. As awareness grew of further developmental challenges, services were increased. He received a diagnosis of autism while in EI. Overall, this family's EI experience was very good and were very appreciative of the support provided to them. However, in retrospect, it has been six years since her son transitioned from EI, more family support would have been a big help. Community supports, family activities, and respite would have been welcomed. Transition was difficult. There was very little support during this process. Discovering that the school system was not able to offer her child the support he needed was not anticipated by these parents and private therapies were not an option for this family. Extending EI services to 5 years of age would have been ideal for this family. Not possible, they chose to home school. Navigating through homeschooling and finding community supports for her son and family was without much guidance and stressful. Her son, now 9 years old, is doing well. This parent shared that she believes more family support through the transition process is needed along with more opportunities for families to learn how to deal with the many challenges of caring for a child with disabilities, ADA accommodations, parental rights and their child's rights.

Discussion followed with Council Member sharing:

  • Parents' need for respite is critical. Extended family/friend support is not an option for a lot of EI families. Families for Children was mentioned as an option for respite care.
  • Parent rights are often difficult for families to navigate and comprehend. The Parent's Right booklet given to families is tedious and overwhelming.
  • There continues to be many challenges for early intervention families transitioning to EC that are not able to receive services through the school system.
  • The need for better transitioning from EI to EC that continues to support the complex needs of a child and family. There are big differences between supports provided through early intervention and those provided through the school district. Any works that can better prepare and support families through this process as well as provide continued services to the child are needed. The school system is not always the better option for transition for many families.
  • There are too many families that transition from EI to nothing because there is nothing the school system provides for those children who need continued support.

5) Advocacy Update: Zareen Kamal

The extensive parent/family advocacy efforts made by the many EI Communities to bring awareness and increased funding to early intervention were highlighted. Projects included:

  • Letter writing campaign to legislators through an Online Call to Action with approximately 650 letters sent.
  • More than 3,600 signatures on a Change.org petition.
  • Child Advocacy Day held in Springfield this past April with many in attendance. Babies Can't Wait postcard campaign that included families' EI stories was also presented to legislators at this time.
  • A Rally organized by early childhood collabs in Peoria was held in Central Illinois.
  • An intensive media campaign resulted in coverage of early intervention across the state. Perspectives from families, EI providers, the medical field, and advocates were represented both online and in print. WGN news featured a live segment with an EI family.

These efforts took place after the State's Budget Address. Grateful for State funding increases to early intervention announced, it is not enough to address the many disparities presented in our Cross State Research Project. Advocacy efforts need to start now to impact FY'26 budgeting and financial supports. Anyone interested in joining these efforts are encouraged to reach out to Zareen.

Zareen also reported on another piece of advocacy work this group is engaged in related directly to ensuring that families understand the state mandated timeline from referral to ei, to receiving an evaluation and service plan, and the initiation of services.

Equip for Equality and the Grassroots Alliance are working to support parents navigate through the process, understand their family rights and the right to file a complaint. They are co-hosting an online event to be held on be held on July 23rd at 7:00 pm to support families who would like to file a complaint. This will be presented in real time and both English and Spanish.

Zareen encourages all to take a moment to share information with families, helping them have the resources and tools needed to be able to advocate for themselves.

Discussion followed with Council Members sharing:

  • It's important that families understand their rights and that their voices are heard. Considering the current issues of provider and service coordinator shortages and the challenges of meeting the needs of lengthy waitlists, concern was raised of the impact a large influx and increased volume of complaints could potentially have on the system. Will this attract providers or turn them away?
  • The purpose of the July 23rd event was questioned as to whether the intent was family rights awareness or to file complaints. CFCs work hard to connect families to the services and resources they need as efficiently and expediently as possible. How will a surge in complaints impact the status of providing services to families have at the CFC level? Some of the challenges and negative impact of the tremendous increase in children and families coming into the system CFCs are faced with were also mentioned.
  • Council Members working closely with family/parent advocacy projects reported their work is to draw awareness to a broken system that mandates early intervention services be provided but does not do enough to support the process of implementation or the workforce providing said services. The funding sources do not meet the growing needs for early intervention services.
  • Also mentioned was the need for family education, not only on their rights, but also options for service delivery is also a key piece of helping to meet the challenges of service delays. LVV does not work for all families nor does the public school system work for all families.

Benny summarized by acknowledging and validating the many perspectives shared in this discussion. Illinois along with many states in the nation is experiencing unprecedented challenges in early intervention. The Bureau is addressing many issues that came to light because of our cross-state research. Using a comprehensive approach the Bureau has been engaged in conversations with multiple members of the EI community looking for opportunities to collaborate and explore options. There is much work to be done that requires the collective efforts of not only this Council, but all levels of the EI community with the common desire to make sure families are able to access the services they are entitled to.

6) Public Act 102-0926 - Substantiated Abuse/Neglect Auto Eligibility Workgroup: Benny

Bureau meets with DCFS weekly to work through recommendations made by the workgroup and to continue updating policies and procedures. Currently in draft form are updates to the Standardized Referral Form. To align with recommendations of the Substantiated Abuse and Neglect Workgroup updates include:

  • Updates to the child contact information portion of the form include options for ethnicity and a family email address contact field.
  • The status of the child indicates whether the child is in custody of the parents or in care.
  • The Referral section now includes a yes/no option reflecting whether there has been any previous child welfare involvement and ability to indicate custody of the child.
  • The Referral Source Contact information now has an option to include DCFS contacts.
  • A section for a Summary of History and Concerns and checkbox to note consents exist have been added.
  • The Authorization to Release Information language is being updated to make it easier to exchange information between Referral Sources and Early Intervention and then Early Intervention and DCFS.
  • Consents to include other, i.e., caseworkers/social workers who may be involved with families experiencing homelessness or housing insecurities have been added.
  • Update the DCFS website with language that is parent friendly and concise regarding auto-eligibility with description and services available through early intervention along with initiating a referral.

It was asked if there is a timeline as to when to expect updated forms to be implemented. Benny reports that there is no timeline as there are many forms in the process of updates and review. However, this work is priority and continues weekly.

Clarification was made to the question if automatic eligibility means automatically receiving services. Automatically eligible for early intervention means that you have access to services, but the need for services is to be determined through the assessment and IFSP process. Families eligible for early intervention services can also elect not to accept them.

7) Dept. of Early Childhood Agency Update

Benny shares update - Senate Bill One authorizing the development of the Department of Early Childhood, effective July 1st, was signed by our Governor. Working on a 2-year timeline to build the new department to capacity, transition is underway. A national search to fill the position of Secretary of the Department of Early Childhood is in process. Senate confirmation is required to officially fill the position. In the meantime, the Governor has approved several interim positions to be filled.

  • Irma Martinez Snowpeck from the State Board of Education will serve as Interim Secretary.
  • Marjorie Moore from the Department of Children and Family Services will serve as the Interim General Counsel.
  • Jose Ponce of Grants Administration at DHS will serve as Interim CFO
  • DHS will officially serve as Fiscal Agent supporting human resources and other operational activities working towards the new Department of Early Childhood being fully operational in July of 2026.

8) Modified Service Delivery Update: Kristen Schraml/Shameka Brown

This Project was introduced at the May Council meeting. A short review of the Project's history and purpose was presented. Still in the planning stages, the information presented is in draft form yet to be finalized.

Strategy #2, Support, Promote, and Strengthen Local Leadership was reviewed. To align with the recommendations of the Equity and Access Workgroup, this piece of the project currently contains six components:

  • Implementation Teams: Teams could include CFC leadership service coordinators, CFC specialized roles providers, family members and other relevant community programs representatives interested.
  • Reducing Caseloads: To align with recommended practice, it is recommended that the service coordinators piloting the project have no more than a caseload of 45 families.
  • Survey Professionals: To co-create supports that fit the unique culture and needs of the pilot sites, the onset of the pilot includes surveying professionals at the CFC level about their perceived needs.
  • Reimagine CFC Specialized/Support Roles: Results from local needs assessment could indicate the need for redefining the specialized roles within the pilot sites to fully leverage and capitalize on the expertise of that specialized role to better support families, particularly underserved families and their communities.
  • Professional Development Plan: 5 Components of the plan were briefly discussed and included the following.
    • Support & Technical Assistance includes regular meetings and check-ins with the pilot sites with the purpose of sharing information, getting feedback, assessing and providing technical assistance. This also includes implementing specialized leadership support that provide safe work spaces, foster curiosity, inclusion, and growth for employees along with vital support to our workforce. Pilot sites will have the opportunities to learn from each other as well.
    • Asynchronous Learning Opportunities provide more foundational and theoretical information to support additional learning.
    • Synchronous Learning Opportunities will be more practice based. At this point, four live, linked series, covering various identified content areas have been outlined.
    • Reflective Process includes reflective practice groups through the "EI Collective". These groups provide professionals the opportunity to build their reflective capacity through a series of guided sessions in a supportive environment that encourages reflection, compassion, and growth. The Reflective Process includes reflective practice groups specific for CFC Managers and Assistant Managers and Office Hours hosted by IECMH Consultants for anyone in the system needing some individualized support.
    • Resources & Additional Learning Opportunities provides curated resource lists related to this work to the pilot sites with access as needed to support and expand learning.

Comments from the Council included gratitude for the progress being made as this work continues to grow from the recommendations made by the Access and Equity Workgroup.

It was asked if Pilot Sights have been identified. Sights have been recommended. The selection is in review with the Bureau.

9) APR/SSP Clarification Results: Chelsea Guillen

Chelsea presented a comprehensive summary State Determinations. Federal Law, IDEA, requires each State to have a State Performance Plan (SSP) that evaluates their efforts to implement the requirements of IDEA and how the State will improve its implementation. IDEA mandates that each State is required to submit an Annual Performance Report (APR) reporting on its performance indicators measuring a state's results and compliance progress towards a variety of targets established in it SPP to the Federal Department of Education.

This Council plays an integral role in setting these targets for Illinois and helping determine strategies to meet them.

The APR, based on information gathered through monitoring visits, and other public data, is reviewed by the Council every January then submitted to the Department of Education for detailed review in February. Once reviewed, the Department determines if the State meets its requirements, needs assistance, needs intervention, or needs substantial intervention. Failure to meet targets at the State level could result in focus monitoring request for additional data or other actions by the Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP)

Chelsea further explained the details and complexities of the SSP, tying the significance of the Child Outcomes Process and data collected to our APR and its impact on Department's review process and determinations.

The Current RDA Determination shows that the State of Illinois falls in the category of 'Needs Assistance" with the recommendation of capitalizing on all sources of TA related to the noncompliant indicators. Further explanation of "Needs Assistance" category and what that means for Illinois moving forward to meet requirements.

Before addressing any questions or comments Benny thanked Chelsea for helping us gain a better understanding of the complexities of this required process that impacts us all. Though the data collected comes from the CFC Level, CFCs cannot be expected to do it all. System-wide support is needed. Because Illinois Early Intervention as a collective unit works toward meeting those indicators, Council Members are encouraged to learn more about this process and its relationship to the EI Community as a whole.

Questions and Comments included:

  • What is the high-level implication of the program begin in needs assistance? Does this impact funding? Yes, this can impact funding. This determination is made by OSEP. At this point that action is not being taken in Illinois. Technical assistance will continue to be provided. But that can change. Illinois must be diligent moving forward.
  • More frequent data pulls are helping to address areas of non-compliance much sooner than in the past.
  • Discussion on the relationship between all moving parts of the Early Intervention System and the impact on child outcomes continued.
  • Full funding and resources at the CFC level will help to address these issues. It is anticipated that the new data system will be a tremendous benefit towards more accurate and detailed reporting.
  • Is there enough data collected to reflect the number of families exiting the system receiving no services? That information is not easily reflected. The Billing System carries that information. The Bureau is working to be able to incorporate all of this data together in the new data system.

10) Council Workgroups: Alison Liddle

Alison opened the floor to the Council to consider how the council can engage in the work as a Council and explore further opportunities to support the Bureau in the work that it is doing. Suggested workgroups included:

  • Finance Workgroup - Taso is interested.
  • Transition Workgroup -
  • Reinstate the LVV Workgroup - Taso is willing to provide insight and help. Zareen is interested in equity implications and disparities for access to LVV, additional training and support for team members.
  • Substantiated Abuse and Neglect Workgroup at the CFC Level to provide continuous feedback on how the families that this law addresses are being served - Angel is interested.

Comments regarding the implementation of effective workgroups consider the need to be mission driven with a purpose. To be effective, Workgroups need boundaries with intentional action plans and outcomes.

Workgroups need to be in collaboration with the Bureau to guide through the political barriers. Other comments include the need for diverse representation on workgroups.

Moving forward, conversations about workgroups and addressing the priorities of the Bureau and this Council will move forward. Outreach to individual members to further discuss their interests will be made.

Benny will work to share information through MS Teams and define the workgroups recommended with LVV a priority.

A comment in the Chat asked if there were ways other than workgroups to engage in the work, perhaps surveys, or focus groups.

11) Bureau Updates: Benny

  • Bureau Staff - New staff on board. Staff includes:
    • Katie Jacobs, Administrative Unit Manager
      1. Cassandra Squires, Contracts and Grants
      2. Lisa Cave, Fiscal Manager
        1. Jeremiah Kibe, Accountant
    • Charlotte McAnany - Services Manager
    1. Ellen Johnson - CFC Specialist/Southern Region
    2. CFC Specialist TBD
    3. CFC Specialist TBD
    4. CFC Specialist TBD
    5. Sara Han - Data Manager
    • Kelly Spencer - Admin Assistant to Benny
    • Karen Lewis - Admin Office Staff
    • EI Strategic Planning Unit - TBD
  • FY25 Budget Outcome - 6M budget increase to address increased families and approve cost modeling Recommendations
  • PDG (Pre-School Development Grant) Bureau did not apply for grant. Focus has been onboarding new staff and current Projects, Cross State Research, Cost Modeling. It was asked whether there are options to reintroduce application for this grant. Benny will further investigate.
  • Data Management System -complex pieces with billing, Medicaid, integration continue to be addressed. Critical that this project moves forward.
  • Family Complaint Process - Looking into options to make this process streamlined (electronic) and more efficient.

12) Upcoming Council Meeting Location: Alison

The chair thanked those who attended in person today. Considering the resources and challenges related to coordinating a Hybrid meeting it was recommended that the practicality of such be reconsidered. October's meeting will be virtual.

Plans for a Council retreat are under consideration.

13) Public Comment Period -

No requests for public comment.

14) Adjournment

Meredith motioned to adjourn. Lynette seconded. Motion passed. Meeting adjourned 12:56 pm.

Contact Information

Katie Jacobs

IDHS - Bureau of Early Intervention

823 East Monroe Street

Springfield, IL 62701

Ph: 217/299-7158

Email: Katie.Jacobs@Illinois.gov

If you are in need of special accommodations, please email or call Katie Jacobs.