I. Call to Order
Meeting called to order at 9:16 a.m.
II. Roll Call
Chairman Timberlake, Commissioners Lisa Jacobs, Julie Biehl, Gene Griffin, Pam Rodriguez by phone. Staff present: Karrie Rueter, Julie Stremlau, Lin Ferguson.
III. Approval of Minutes
Commissioner Griffin made a motion to approve the minutes. Commissioner Biehl seconded the motion. All in favor. None opposed. Motion passed.
IV. Status of Funds
Karrie will have reconciled FY11 expenditures and present an updated report at the next Planning and Grants Meeting. This will provide a balance forward report for moving forward.
A. Title II: Will start working this afternoon on the no cost extension request and budget revision request. The extension request is due at the end of the month. Chairman Timberlake asked if grantees have unspent funds does that put us in a lapse position. Karrie responded that if we get the extension the answer is no, if we don’t get it the answer is yes.
B. Title V: No update
V. Juvenile Justice Training, Technical Assistance and Support RFP
The RFP was sent via e-mail in “pdf” format. It is the version that Commissioners have reviewed previously. It is important to understand that because we have requested something be done in this application it doesn’t commit us to fund it. We have the option to fund pieces by other means of funding. This RFP was also sent to the Redeploy Oversight Board. The due date is September 5, 2011.
VI. RBA
Commissioner Jacobs gave an update on RBA. The next step is for Phil Lee to work with Committee Chairs and identify each Committee’s goals/strategies that will help project future needs. Direct technical assistance will be scheduled with Phil. Rob Vickery has accepted contractual position to be the Reentry Project Coordinator and will work directly with Phil to put together proposed measures on projects. As individual projects are funded he will be working with each site to develop goals, strategies and identify measures that help us advocate for better policy and practices on Reentry. Commissioner Jacobs will start a direct e-mail between Phil and Committee Chairs. Rob will start to work with the RBA software and will be able to present it to the Commission.
VII. Virtual High School
Chairman Timberlake reported that we are in a position to decide what to do with the five concept papers presented by Joan Brody. Commissioner Biehl asked if we have money to move forward with any of the concepts. Commissioner Griffin asked if this is a role of Planning and Grants. Commissioner Pam Rodriguez asked that we remember that that the role of the Commission is to develop policy and give support for other entities to seek funding. Commissioner Jacobs reported that at the Planning and Grants Committee the discussion was on several options: 1) to inquire of the Commission how they want to proceed; 2) to not fund any of the concepts; 3) and others wanting to look further into some of the concepts. DJJ and the Governor’s office expressed interest in discussing the Virtual High School. The meeting has not yet occurred, and Chairman Timberlake hopes to get some direction from that meeting. Roseanna Ander had a meeting with the Governor’s office and suggested that they seek interest of private funders. Kye Griffin, the new superintendent of DJJ was present at the meeting and is very familiar with Virtual High School, especially the one in Florida. Commissioner Biehl stated that she thinks the amount of money required for Joan Brody’s proposals are high and we might be able to achieve the same results for less money. Commissioner Jacobs said that it would be best to sit back and see who takes the lead on this, whether it’s foundations, ISBE, etc.
VIII. Committee Updates
Commissioner Biehl reported for the Communications Committee. They are working on the Juvenile Sex Offender issue and want a different project name. They have been meeting with Anita Weinberg at Loyola to develop a work plan for this project. Commissioner Jacobs presented a document that will be used for the public to explain what the statute says we have to do, and it identifies our goals and methodologies. The project oversight piece explains that this is the Commission’s report and the Commission will be overseeing all aspects of it and will seek out the practitioner experts for their input. We need a literature review and a profile of the juvenile sex offender population in Illinois. Chairman Timberlake added that educating the general population is an important component. Commissioner Biehl invited all Commissioners to participate in this endeavor and would like their participation now in the beginning of the exercise. She asked the Chairman to appoint Commissioners Griffin, Roe, Weiner, Velasquez, and Crigler to the committee to include them in talks with Loyola. Chairman Timberlake asked Julie Stremlau to send a memo to each of these Commissioners to participate in this committee. Commissioner Jacobs added that it was signed into law last week. Commissioner Biehl will invite staff from Northwestern, Loyola, and Rob Vickery to participate in the meetings and send an e-mail to Commissioners with date of next meeting.
Raise the Age Study is progressing and will be done on time.
IX. DMC Assessment/Compliance
Commissioner Timberlake appointed Mike Rodriguez to the DMC Committee. Commissioner Pam Rodriguez reported that we received notification that we are out of compliance with DMC regulations mainly due to lack of data collection in the nine decision points concerning race and ethnicity. They used a new instrument to measure states’ latest submission and developed to measure each state’s DMC plan on a level playing field. If we are truly found to be out of compliance, 20% of our Title II allocation will be frozen and unavailable to spend. We need to know which year this applies to. We won’t be penalized and will be receiving a letter in September explaining the details. As a result Illinois and six other states were randomly selected to pilot a new tool. This may involve quarterly reporting. A meeting is scheduled Oct. 10, 2011 as a pre-conference meeting to the OJJDP Annual Training Conference for the six states and technical assistance staff. Commissioner Pam Rodriguez added that the racial and ethnic data collection commission that Senator Hunter sponsored brings together efforts on a statewide basis to address this issue. She further added that this information will be collected through the DMC Assessment which will give us more information on how we can better collect data. Race/ethnicity is a real issue at arrest because they are not reported accurately. As soon as the letter is received, she will let the Committee know the details.
Commissioner Pam Rodriguez reported that the assessment is moving along. She wants the Committee to understand that part of the money will be used for data collection and hiring and training students. They will also be looking at automated data. The plan is to use RBA to work with ICJIA and CPRD to do the analytical part of the assessment. The other half of the money will be used to train staff and oversee data collection and make recommendations. The Committee’s recommendation is to expedite the completion of the assessment by capitalizing on our research and data analysis working relationships with ICJIA and CRPD. Chairman Timberlake suggested NIU as another possibility to do the analyzation, since they have experience in DMC. Interaction with JDAI will be helpful with Commissioner Velasquez on the Committee. The report is due in March 2013. Commissioner Pam Rodriguez suggested that we convene a steering committee to make recommendations on how to leverage support across the state.
X. Reentry RFP
Karrie will have a draft ready to share by the first week of September, prior to the next Planning and Grants Meeting. She would like Chairman Timberlake and Commissioners Jacob and Rob Vickery to review it prior to sharing it with the Commission on August 30, 2011, 10:30.
XI. Youth Membership
Chairman Timberlake asked for input on the report presented at last Commission Meeting and do we want to apply resources to it? Commissioner Jacobs stated that we need to decide at what level we want to engage youth. Planning and Grants Committee did not reach a consensus on what kind of participation and what level of funding is appropriate. Chairman Timberlake suggested that we develop a RBA framework to determine level of involvement and a budget to go along with it. The discussion will be put on the Commission’s September Agenda.
XII. New Business
Commissioner Biehl raised her concern about Commission membership with the recent resignation of Commissioners. She has talked to several people about submitting their names for membership. Commissioner Griffin has also discussed membership with prospective members. Chairman Timberlake has presented names to Toni Irving and will discuss issue further. We currently have two openings plus Toni’s position and the youth members.
The BEP Goal was raised from 20-30% on the RFPs which is put in place to assure that we fund minority providers.
XIII. Adjournment
Motion to adjourn made by Commissioner Biehl seconded by Commissioner Griffin. All in favor. Meeting adjourned at 10:42.