March 16, 2015 Racial and Ethnic Disparity (RED) Committee Meeting

Audience

Illinois Juvenile Justice Commission Racial and Ethnic Disparity Members and Staff. The public is welcome to attend.

Date/Time

March 16, 2015, 9:30 a.m. to 11:00 a.m.

Location

• 21 South Clark Street
  Suite 4301
  Chicago, IL.
• 823 E. Monroe
  Springfield, IL
• Call in: 888-494-4032 Code: 5329547331#

Agenda

1. Call to Order
2. Roll Call
3. Approval of Minutes
4. Project Updates
   1. CASP
   2. DMC Newsletter
   3. Youth Advisory Board
   4. DMC Data Collection
   5. Bridging the Divide
5. DMC Committee Workplan
   1. Community Awareness
   2. Mental Health/Public Health
   3. School to Prison Pipeline
6. New Business | Public Comment 
   
   • Letter from Senator Grassley Re: OJJDP Compliance
7. Next Meeting Date
   April 13, 2015
8. Adjourn

Minutes

1. Call to Order
   Meeting was called to order at 9:39am.
2. Roll Call
   Chairman Esther Franco-Payne, Shelley Davis. No quorum. Guests: Stephanie Kollmann, Kanako Ishida, Keyria Rodgers, Ada Skyles, Vanessa Westley, Elizabeth Alexander, Christine Head, Sarah Yousuf, Kathy Bankhead, Francisco Reyes, Vanessa Weaver. Staff: Robert Vickery, Stephanie Kollmann, Erica Hughes, Susan Witkin, Julie Stremlau, DMC Coordinator-Karima Douglas.
3. Approval of Minutes
   Unable to approve minutes, due to lack of quorum.
4. Project Updates
   1. CASP
      Macon and Peoria juvenile justice council representatives were present for the meeting. Councils continue to meet and have begun setting priorities based on identified local needs. Macon County representative, Keyria Rodgers communicated an interest in bringing the Bridging the Divide project to her county. Their council is also planning a series of mini forums on data driven priority areas throughout the spring and summer. Peoria County representative, Vanessa Weaver reported that the Peoria JJC has a new member in the new juvenile court judge. They have also prioritized a new "School Challenge" program to address truancy and poor grades among youth on probation.
   2. DMC Newsletter
      The Newsletter was sent out last week to grantees and partners. The Coordinator focus was on the arrest decision point highlighting JJI's spotlight report on Cook County.
   3. Youth Advisory Board
      The board is at a standstill due to key leaders leaving the group for jobs or moving out of the area. Karima Douglas explained that they will continue to try to attract more youth and to get the board moving again.
   4. DMC Data Collection
      Data collection for Calendar Year 2013 is ongoing with the help of the DMC Coordinator and ICOY intern Mukhayyo Azamova. Requests for access to county level data have been sent out and have been slowly but consistently coming in.
   5. Bridging the Divide
      Officer Vanessa Westley, an officer associated with Bridging the Divide program and CAPS (Chicago Alternative Policing Strategy) gave presentation of their current work and progress, thus far. The presentation also focused on a long term strategy for expanding throughout the city and eventually, statewide. Officer Westley fielded questions for all in attendance and offered technical assistance to Macon County for future partnership.
5. DMC Committee Workplan
   1. Community Awareness- The Committee decided to begin brainstorming a summer DMC forum on the three workplan priority areas. Liz Alexander presented a series of action steps for the Committee around public awareness including social media and community briefings.
   2. Mental Health/Public Health- Christine Head presented a series of action steps around the overlap between Mental Health/Public Health and DMC. Such steps include the development of one pagers on the issue that would be circulated to stakeholders.
   3. School to Prison Pipeline- Karima Douglas proposed research on formal MOUs between public school districts and police departments. She also expressed interest in researching the racial impact of alternative discipline practices in schools (eg. restorative justice circles).
6. New Business | Public Comment
   The group discussed the letter from Senator Grassley concerning OJJDP Compliance. Illinois was noted as one of the states found out of compliance and they allege IL should not have been put back in compliance although IL did every necessary follow up and task as directed by OJJDP. The Committee and Executive Director will continue to monitor this issue.
7. Next Meeting Date
   April 13, 2015
8. Adjourn
   DMC Chairman Franco-Payne ended the meeting at 11:06am.