AGENDA and MINUTES - Pillar 2 Subcommittee Meeting December 12, 2024

Commission on Poverty Elimination and Economic Security

Subcommittee on Pillar 2: Stabilize Homes and Communities

Meeting Agenda and Minutes

Thursday, December 12, 2024 2:00-3:00 PM

Recording

*Members of the public are invited to attend. For those who would like to make public comment, we request that those comments be submitted in advance of the meeting to Priya Khatkhate via email at Priya.Khatkhate@illinois.gov. Please send all comments by 8:30 AM on December 12, 2024.

Agenda:

1. Introductions/Welcome Roll Call
   • Introductions of new members
   1. Hon. Kevin T. Lee
   2. Rev. Dwight Ford
2. Public Comment - subject to written comment in advance
3. Approval of Meeting Minutes - August 23, 2024
4. Development/Review of FY25 Goals
5. Establishing a regular cadence of meetings
   • Proposed: every 2nd Wednesday of February, June, August and December from 1-2 PM
6. Next Steps
7. Adjournment

Minutes

Subcommittee members in attendance:

1. Senator Dale Fowler - Subcommittee chairman; Commission member
2. Kimberly Tate - representative of Senator Kimberly Lightford, Commission member
3. Juan Calderon - Commission member
4. Dr. Janice Phillips - IWGP member
5. Marc Staley - IWGP member
6. Jason Horwitz - IWGP member
7. Erik Turner - IWGP member
8. Keesha Reedus - public member
9. Hope Babowice - public member
10. Kevin Brown - IDHS SME/Public Member
11. Felicia Gray - IDHS SME/Public Member

Administrator: Priya Khatkhate, IDHS-Chief Policy Officer

Guests/Facilitators:

1. Matthew Rodriguez - Institute of Research on Race and Public Policy (IRRPP)
2. Kaitlin Devaney - IRRPP
3. Nancy Toure - IRRPP
4. Julia Strehlow - Learning Renewal - Social-Emotional Lead, Safe and Healthy Climate Center, ISBE

Proceedings:

1. Introductions/Welcome Roll Call - members and guests introduced themselves in the chat. Eleven members were present out of 18. Quorum was declared. Senator Fowler welcomed everybody to the meeting.
2. Public Comment - subject to written comment in advance; none received.
3. Approval of Meeting Minutes: Senator Fowler moved to approve the four sets of minutes, September 29th, November 21st, February 14th and June 5th, 2024 seconded by Ms. Felicia Gray. The group unanimously approved the four sets of meeting minutes.
   1. September 29, 2023
   2. November 21, 2023
   3. February 14, 2024
   4. June 5, 2024
4. Special Presentation: Trauma-informed Training for Teachers and Schools, Julia Strehlow - Learning Renewal - Social-Emotional Lead, Safe and Healthy Climate Center, ISBE
   1. Social-Emotional Learning or SEL Hubs
      • SEL is a type of instruction that students can receive in Illinois. It provides guidance on how to teach students about relationships, self-management, self-awareness, etc. ISBE is about to update SEL.
      • ISBE used some its funds to create seven hubs across the state that are funded to do free professional development and administer trauma-informed schools program called REACH.
      • Chicago Public Schools is not a regional office of education, they are a district and they have their own money to do their own SEL hub work.
      • SEL hubs provide professional development to teaching communities including educators and school support personnel such as school social worker, school psychologist, school counselor, school nurse, speech language pathologist, etc.
      • The topics are locally designed to fit the communities' needs and are delivered either thru webinar, conferences, universal district PD, individual school coaching and TRS-IA and action planning.
   2. REACH - Resilience Education to Advance Community Healing
      • Designed by the Center for Childhood Resilience at Ann and Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago.
      • REACH is targeted to schools and students living with higher rates of trauma. Such schools are prioritized to ensure that the environments are better informed to be a place of healing.
      • The main partner of the program is the Center for Childhood Resilience at Lurie but there are also partners throughout the state. One big partner is a counseling center in Carbondale and Eldorado. There are over 900 school districts that have enrolled in the program in the last three years and it is expected to grow.
      • One method used by ISBE on needs assessment is called Trauma-responsive Implementation Assessment (TRS-IA) that helps school hone in on what they need to do to learn to be more trauma-informed and be able to develop an action plan. The TRS-IA can be a big part of the 2nd phase of a REACH program for a school and a big part of the action plan as well.
      • ISBE has paid for the REACH program to develop an online hub (learning and resources hub) that has a ton of free trainings that any school can join before they join REACH or if they've already joined REACH. The portal is also accessible to the public. Resilient Kids. Stronger Communities. Brighter Futures. (learningwithccr.org)
      • The hub offers free continuing education credits for people who hold professional educator license in Illinois (PEL) and those who hold IDFPR license.
      • The program has received funding for FY25 and ISBE put in additional funds as well. ISBE is hoping to develop a more expansive roadmap that includes more information about SEL equity and mental health.
5. Discussion
   1. How can the subcommittee support ISBE's SEL and REACH programs?
      • Share the learning and resource hub with regional networks and systems that serve children. Ms. Strehlow can provide a one-pager or other materials that the subcommittee can share. There is an upcoming large conference put on by the SEL hubs in April 2025 tentatively in Bloomington and ISBE would like engagement e.g. speaker session.
      • Subcommittee members are welcome to join or invite people to join a diverse team of people that schools engaged in REACH will need to form/develop and where community members are encouraged to join.
      • Share the impacts of the programs and that the need for these programs still exist across the state.
   2. Ms. Felicia Gray asked if there's any data available that supports progress made by the programs. Ms. Strehlow can connect with Ms. Gray separately to discuss the data/research.
   3. There have been two evaluations done by Dr. Kimberly Kendziora from the American Institutes for Research. One is an intimate project with Lurie Children's Hospital on some of their outcomes and the other is a larger scan, with ISBE as her partner, on all of the programs that ISBE created in their portfolio of pandemic recovery programs.
   4. The research has shown statistically significant improvement on six of the eight domains (related to trauma-informed care and SEL) across the multiple administrations of the TRS-IA. There is also data on students who have been evaluated and questioned anonymously and there's data that show impact as well as the still existing need across the state which made program implementers and advocates demanded for funding for these programs to continue past the deadlines of the federal pandemic relief funds.
   5. The projects are spanned three years, and the research team would have to wait until the coming fall to get some comparison data from the state about how the last school year went. The published research may come out in 2026. There is also not a lot of research on equitable access to SEL.
   6. Ms. Strehlow will be sharing the slides to the group.
6. FY24 Recap
   • Senator Fowler reported on what's happening in Cairo, Illinois.
   • Alexander and Pulaski counties are two of the poorest counties in the state. Two hundred thirty (230) families were displaced a couple of years ago in Cairo, Illinois due to housing complexes getting demolished. The families moved to other states such as Missouri, Kentucky, Indiana and probably in the northern part of Southern Illinois.
   • A housing project was then announced which is the construction of a 3D printed duplex. The 3D printing machine is the 1st in the state and there are currently only seven in the entire nation. It can build up to 20,000 sq. ft structure. The project is the first residential housing development project in Cairo since 1978.
   • Senator Fowler has worked with the company who owns the machine to have the machine delivered to Cairo. Printing the duplex has started over the weekend and was witnessed with over a thousand people from Southern Illinois. Senator Fowler's foundation also received a grant from Archer Daniels Midland which was used to distribute food during the event.
   • The first duplex that is being printed/built is a donation from the company and the two families that will move in are among those displaced during the housing crisis in Cairo. The duplex is projected to be completed within 10 days - the house structure- and plumbing, cabinets, and such within 25 days. After which, the keys will be handed to the two families.
   • The piece of property where the duplex is being built can accommodate 30 duplexes and they are currently working with Alexander County to be able to keep building while the machine is on site.
   • There are discussions on the possibility of purchasing additional machine due to its capability to rapidly construct one structure and due to the huge interest from all over the region.
   • The machine uses a concrete substance that goes in a mixer and is fed to the machine that prints the structure. Reinforcing materials are not needed, the product is completely hurricane-proof and energy efficient.
   • The machine is very mobile and can be brought anywhere even in a residential area or downtown, it could build a small house on a small city lot.
   • Ms. Hope Babowice requested for the links to the press release as she would like to share it with the Mundelein High School geometry in construction educators and their career guidance counselors.
7. Development/Review of FY25 goals
   1. By June 30, 2025, Pillar 2 subcommittee will create and implement an advocacy strategy to increase appropriations for permanent supportive housing services and housing subsidies for high-risk populations as outlined in the Home Illinois Plan to Prevent and End Homelessness. The advocacy strategy will include but is not limited to:
      1. Clear appropriations targets at both the state and federal levels with a rationale;
      2. Clear outline of prioritized communities based on increased need;
      3. Timeline of activities in order to draft and implement the advocacy strategy.
   2. By June 30, 2025, Pillar 2 subcommittee will design and implement a collaborative work plan with the Illinois Office to Prevent and End Homelessness (OPEH) to engage in the following:
      1. Build the data infrastructure through supporting state agencies in tracking housing status within mainstream service programs;
      2. Support data matching activities between local Homeless Management Information Systems and applicable databases to identify target populations for housing and services;
      3. Create statewide homeless dashboard to understand population needs and trends;
      4. Explore feasibility and capacity for a Statewide HMIS system
   3. By June 30, 2025, Pillar 2 subcommittee will produce a summary report on local and federal land use policies and how the loosening of restrictions can increase land availability for affordable housing. This report will be to help inform policy recommendations for local and state-level land use policies across the state of IL.
   4. By June 30, 2025, Pillar 2 subcommittee will produce a report documenting the existence and effectiveness of specialized employment programs focused on reaching individuals experiencing mental health and substance use related crises as well as individuals impacted by trauma and violence. This report will include, but not be limited to:
      1. Data on successful models;
      2. Funding mechanisms;
      3. Program outcomes;
      4. Key partners across the state; and
      5. Policy recommendations for continued support.
8. Discussion
   • Mr. Kevin Brown asked whether the developer community could be involved particularly for focus area one on reducing homelessness as they may share the goal about increasing housing affordability.
   • Ms. Babowice can help on goal number 1 as well as Mr. Juan Calderon.
   • Mr. Juan Calderon raised the issue of displacement of long-time residents who are no longer able to afford housing particularly in Humboldt Park among the Puerto Rican and African American communities. There is a need for appropriations to increase supportive housing services and subsidies particularly in the cultural designated districts. He stressed that it is important as well to target the different communities across the state that have different needs such as the immigrant communities, new migrants, long time migrants who are experiencing different forms of homelessness.
   • Ms. Keesha Reedus and Ms. Gray will work on goal number 4.
   • Ms. Reedus can also help on goal number 2.
9. Next Steps
   • Matthew and team will be following up with members with potential next steps and what involvement might look like throughout the course of the fiscal year.
10. Adjournment - Senator Fowler moved to adjourn the meeting seconded by Dir. Staley. The group unanimously agreed to adjourn the meeting at 11:30 AM.