OFVP Firearm Violence Research Group Meeting Minutes, January 21, 2025

Date: Tuesday, January 21, 2025

Time: 9:30 am

Meeting Minutes

  1. Welcome/Roll Call/Approval of Minutes
    • Meeting Called to order @ 9:33am
    • FVRG Members Present: Joseph Hoereth, Dave Olson, Kim Smith, Soledad McGrath, MaryAnn Mason
    • FVRG Members Absent: Andrew Papachristos, Timothy Lavery
    • Other Attendees: Assistant Secretary Bell, Ana Genkova, Roy Rothschild, Kari Branham, Melissa Pfeiffer, Sam Theno, Stephanie Jones
    • Notetaker: Jessica Cortez
    • Meeting Minutes were approved by consensus for December 11, 2024
  2. Public Comment - No public comments received
  3. Discussion and Work Items
    1. OFVP Updates
    2. Open Discussion
      • Life Stability Assessment
      • Illinois Violent Death Reporting System (IVDRS) Presentation and Discussion
    3. Quick Recap
      • The meeting focused on updates from IDHS, including the anticipation of awarding 46 million in Community Violence Intervention (CVI) dollars and the establishment of a Justice Cabinet. The team also discussed the use of self-sufficiency matrices to track the impact of services provided by their grantees and the challenges of implementing metrics beyond the criminal justice system. Lastly, the meeting covered the release of new dashboards by the CDC, the process of data collection for the CDC's violent death reporting system, and the importance of considering non-fatal outcomes.
  4. Next Steps
    1. FVRG Member McGrath to share the CP4P Coalition evaluation survey with Assistant Secretary Bell.
    2. FVRG Member Mason to send Facilitator Hoereth the link to the IVDRS dashboard once it is released.
    3. FVRG Member McGrath to share a redacted version of the street outreach participant surveys with Assistant Secretary Bell.
    4. FVRG Member Smith to follow up with her team and send around the full list of IDPH hospital admission data types being analyzed for the READI Chicago study.
    5. OFVP to develop a new reporting platform by July 1st for grantees to input data more easily.
    6. OFVP to consider implementing a pilot of a self-sufficiency or life stability assessment tool with select grantees.
    7. Facilitator Hoereth and team to review the new IVDRS dashboard once it is released.
  5. Summary
    1. Meeting Update and Quorum Discussion
      • The meeting began with Facilitator Hoereth, the chair, calling the meeting to order and conducting a roll call of the members. Due to the absence of a quorum. He asked the present members to review the minutes to save time later. Stephanie Jones reported that there were no public comments received. Assistant Secretary Bell, then shared updates from IDHS and expressed gratitude for the group's participation. The meeting was expected to continue with the agenda, including a potential update from FVRG Member Mason who was expected to attend later.
    2. OFVP Update and Justice Cabinet
      • Assistant Secretary Bell provided an update on the Office of Firearm and Violence Prevention (OFVP), highlighting the anticipation of awarding around 46 million in Community Violence Intervention (CVI) dollars across all 42 communities designated by the research group. This is in conjunction with intergovernmental gas partners and public funding for CVI. Assistant Secretary Bell also announced the hiring of Joshua Brooks as the Executive Director of the Justice Continuum, housed within OFVP, and the establishment of a Justice Cabinet chaired by Deputy Governors Grace Hall and Bria Scudder. The Justice Cabinet aims to coordinate services for justice-impacted individuals and identify gaps in existing work. Facilitator Hoereth expressed appreciation for the update and FVRG Member McGrath asked about the role and goals of the Justice Cabinet, to which Assistant Secretary Bell responded, explaining that the Cabinet's purpose is to bring together agencies working in silos to discuss justice-related issues, coordinate services, and identify gaps. The conversation ended with the approval of the meeting minutes from the previous meeting.
    3. Self-Sufficiency Matrices for Grantee Tracking
      • Facilitator Hoereth initiated a discussion about the use of self-sufficiency matrices in tracking the impact of services provided by their grantees. He presented the Arizona self-sufficiency matrix as an example, which assesses various aspects of a client's life such as shelter, housing, employment, income, food and nutrition, and community involvement. The team discussed the potential benefits of using such matrices, including understanding the needs of their clients and identifying areas for additional services. FVRG Member Smith suggested that the tool could be tailored for different use cases, such as intake or discharge assessments, and could be beneficial in understanding the broader ecosystem of services needed. Assistant Secretary Bell emphasized the need for a more comprehensive approach to measuring the effectiveness of their services, beyond just numbers. The team agreed to explore the implementation of such matrices with their current grantees.
    4. Capturing Metrics Beyond Criminal Justice
      • The team discussed the importance of capturing metrics beyond the criminal justice system and the challenges of implementing these metrics. FVRG Member McGrath emphasized the need to consider the capacity of the field as a whole and how organizations would implement these metrics. She also highlighted the variability in data quality and capacity among organizations, suggesting the need for clear definitions and implementation strategies. Assistant Secretary Bell suggested the use of pre-and-post surveys to gather insights into these metrics. Facilitator Hoereth shared an example of a tool that could be used to track these metrics but expressed concerns about the practicality of scoring and tracking. The team agreed on the need for a practical and understandable tool for implementation.
    5. Case Management Tools and Grantees
      • FVRG Member Smith raised a question about whether the grantees were already using case management tools or screeners at intake, and whether there might be any overlap in the questions they're asking. Assistant Secretary Bell clarified that each agency has the flexibility to pick their own tool, and some are using software while others use Excel spreadsheets. She mentioned that they were looking to standardize this across the board. FVRG Member Smith suggested that if there aren't any existing tools, providing a capacity building technical assistance program could be helpful. FVRG Member Olson emphasized the importance of understanding which factors to focus on to see changes across these domains. Facilitator Hoereth suggested simplifying the framework to focus on key points like safety and empowerment. FVRG Member McGrath agreed, noting that the field is still trying to answer questions about the most impactful services. Assistant Secretary Bell asked if there have been any studies on participants post-program to identify where they may sit in terms of stability factors.
    6. Challenges in Tracking Violence Program Outcomes
      • The meeting discusses challenges around collecting data on employment and other outcomes for violence intervention program participants. FVRG Member Smith shares that they have struggled to obtain employment data from state agencies for participants in the READI Chicago program, though they have criminal justice and some health outcome data. FVRG Member McGrath mentions they are conducting surveys to better understand employment impacts. FVRG Member Olson notes the trade-offs between comprehensive surveys and more readily available but limited administrative data. Assistant Secretary Bell suggests standardizing what services are included under violence intervention to better track outcomes and costs. The group also discusses the timeline for READI Chicago's 40-month outcome evaluation which is nearing completion. Finally, there is a discussion around framing the goal of promoting stability rather than self-sufficiency for participants.
    7. New Dashboards for IVHS Data
      • Facilitator Hoereth and FVRG Member Mason discussed the release of new dashboards by the CDC, which could be relevant to IVHS's work. FVRG Member Mason shared that the Illinois Violent Death Reporting System (IVDRS) has been collecting data on 98% of violent deaths in the state since 2015 and is set to release a new dashboard. The data set includes 600 elements, although not all are in the dashboard. FVRG Member Mason also introduced a new CDC dashboard that maps injury, overdose, and violence data down to the census tract level. The IVDRS dashboard is expected to be released soon, and FVRG Member Mason will share the link once it's available.
    8. CDC Data Collection and Reporting Process
      • FVRG Member Mason explained the process of data collection for the CDC's violent death reporting system, which includes death certificates, coroner or medical examiner reports, law enforcement reports, toxicology reports, and autopsy reports. She noted that the data is provisional and subject to change as more information comes in. FVRG Member Olson asked about the reporting mechanism and how the data is sourced, to which FVRG Member Mason responded that the data comes from the National Vital Statistics Program and is modeled based on the number of deaths reported. Facilitator Hoereth and FVRG Member Olson expressed interest in accessing the line level data through the CDC's restricted access data process. FVRG Member Mason also clarified that the data is difficult to release due to data share agreements and privacy protections.
    9. New Data Mapping Tool and Dashboard
      • Facilitator Hoereth expressed his appreciation for the new data mapping tool, highlighting its ease of use and the ability to compare data across different areas. He also noted the potential for discrepancies between provisional and final data. FVRG Member Mason confirmed that the data is downloadable and can be used to identify trends and patterns. FVRG Member Olson pointed out the importance of considering non-fatal outcomes and the need to recognize that incidents may not be confined to state borders. FVRG Member Mason shared that the upcoming dashboard will include non-fatal firearm injuries, making it a comprehensive resource for firearm injury and death data. The team agreed to monitor the release of the dashboard and expressed their gratitude for FVRG Member Mason's work.
  6. Proposed Next Meeting Date/Time: Tuesday, March 18, 2025, 9:30am
  7. Meeting Adjourned @ 11:03am