Call to Order
Meeting was called to order at 9:14 AM.
Roll Call
Commissioners: Rodney Ahitow, Julie Biehl, Patricia Connell, Edith Crigler, Demarco Diggs, Debra Ferguson, Esther Franco-Payne, Kurt Friedenauer, Eugene Griffin, Pamela Rodriguez, Vice Chair Wayne Straza, Randell Strickland, Chairman George Timberlake. Quorum present.
Staff: Ron Smith, Dick Walsh, Jim Reynolds, Barbara Shipp, Julie Stremlau.
Guests: Erica Hughes, Michelle Arnold.
Approval of Minutes
Patricia Connell moved to approve the minutes as reviewed. Debra Ferguson seconded the motion. All in favor, motion passed.
New Commissioner Updates
Chairman Timberlake welcomed the newest Youth Member, Demarco Diggs, to the Commission. There are three young ladies whom have applied to be Youth Members. Their appointments are not finalized at this time.
Status of Funds Report
Deferred by the Commissioners. The members plan to meet and review the current budget, programming and grant monies. This stratgic planning meeting date and time will be posted at a later date but is anticipated to be in June.
Title V Grant Application
Chairman Timberlake reported that the Planning and Grants Committee received three proposals for Title V funding. Those proposals were reviewed and approved by the Executive Committee April 26, 2010.
Title II Grant Application
The Title II Grant Application was approved by the Commission at the March meeting and the application was submitted.
Compliance Update
Ron Smith gave the Compliance Update. The IJJC sponsors a monitoring grant with the Illinois Department of Corrections. This money provides for the continued monitoring of jails and municipal lock ups in Illinios. $21,000 is the additional amount requested for approval by the Commission that will bring the budget amount up to $250,000.00. Ron Smith explained that the reviews completed by the Compliance Officers keep Illinois within the guidelines as set by the OJJDP Act. Pamela Rodriguez motioned to approve increasing the IDOC Compliance contract by $21,000. Randell Strickland seconded the motion. All in favor, motion passed. Julie Biehl and Debra Ferguson abstained.
Ron Smith also reported that Madison County has not been in compliance. Madison has a Transportation Grant and is a Redeploy site. Madison will be getting a penalty. Many of the violations have to do with SB 2275, which raises the age of juvenile court jurisdiction from 17 to 18 for misdemeanor offenses. Madison will be working with the Madison County State’s Attorney to avoid future sight and sound violations. Vice Chair Straza recommends the Commission send a strong message to them that the Commission is aware of their violations and the Commission will revoke their grant if they do not eliminate the violations. Vice Chair Straza moved to continue a focused review of Madison and that Madison keep in compliance. Gene Griffin seconded the motion. All in favor, motion passed.
Executive Committee Updates / Decisions
The Executive Committee met April 8th and April 26th. The Executive Committee approved the Communications Committee letter to the Governor in reference to the proposed budget. DHS requested that IJJC distribute their letter to the Governor, the Secretary and the legislature without the assistance of DHS Commission Staff. Also, DHS will not allow the IJJC letter to be posted on the IJJC website as this website is sponsored by the Department.
The Planning and Grants Committee presented the following proposals to the Executive Committee for approval:IAJJC approval of $35,000 for initial outreachCJJ July 2010 Conference Request up to $15,000First Defense Legal Aid proposal, additional $25,000 for remainder of current fiscal year.Approval of DMC Conference as amendedDomestic Battery Proposals 3 @ approximately $50,000 each
The Executive Committee approved all requests listed above on April 26th.
Planning & Grants Update / Requests
The Planning and Grants Committee met April 26, 2010. They reviewed and approved three Domestic Battery Proposals for Title V funding. The Illinois Juvenile Justice Council requested a one time funded amount of $35,000 from the Commission for outreach, regional seminars and the creation of detention alternatives guides and information for councils. Planning and Grants approved the funding and presented to the Executive Committee for final approval.
First Defense Legal Aid presented their original proposal to the Commission in March 2010. The Commission wanted further information and deferred the group to the Planning and Grants Committee. FDLA was approved for continued IJJC support through June 2010. Lisa Jacobs will convene the Planning and Grants Committee and they will sit down with FDLA to better define what the Commission expects from the FDLA’s programming. That document will be presented to the Executive Committee for review.
The Coalition for Juvenile Justice is requesting up to $15,000 from the Commission for its 2010 Conference. The Conference will be held July 9 through the 11th in Chicago. The Planning and Grants Committee approved this funding and presented this to the Executive Committee.
DMC Committee Update / Requests
Debra Ferguson and Pamela Rodriguez are the Co-Chairman’s of the DMC Committee.
The DMC Conference will be held June 17th and 18th in Oak Brook, IL. There is a reception at 5:00 PM on the 17th with Legislators and Representatives.
The DMC Committee presented the following to the Commission for final approval:
Travel compensation for the DMC sites attending the Conference. One combined expense report is requested from each site for travel expenses.
Presentation of a plaque to recognize Reverend Charles Collins for his dedication and service to DMC.
A letter, written by Chairman Timberlake, in recognition of Reverend Collins’ service on the Commission.
Edith Crigler motioned to approve. No need for a second, as this is a Committee motion. All in favor, motion passed.
Erica Hughes asked how the local areas measure disproportionality. Co-Chair Debra Ferguson stated that Ogle and the 2nd circuit are working with a uniform data system. It is an efficient form not specifically for DMC. Miguel Millett also added that the issue of homogeneous areas has been raised at the Federal level. There is a protocol being developed and will be sent out by the end of year.
Communications Committee Update / Requests
The Communications Committee met March 25, 2010.
Annual Report – Pending
Budget Review – The Communications Committee edited and finalized a letter to the Governor and Legislators concerning the proposed budget. The Executive Committee approved the letter and its distribution. DHS Commission staff were directed not to distribute the letter for the Commission. To date the letter has not been sent to the Governor but will be sent by the Commission.
Re-Entry Report (1725)
Meeting to be scheduled. The Commission is to determine the number of youth confined in DJJ for revocation based on technical parole violation, length of time spent on parole prior to revocation, nature of the committing offense as the basis for original commitment, demographic information and underlying offense and conduct leading to the revocation.
In addition SB 1725 requires the Commission to:
Ensure effective reintegration of youth
Develop a tracking system for quarterly Statewide reports on youth released from DJJ
Develop appropriate measures that will assess the performance of the State’s youth offender reentry programs. Outcome measures of education, employment, homelessness and recidivism.
The following Commissioners will assist with review of the Parole Board Hearings: Pamela Rodriguez, Debra Ferguson, Patricia Connell, Chairman Timberlake, Edith Crigler, Rodney Ahitow and Randell Strickland. Erica Hughes will assist with data collection and review. Dick Walsh will also assist in the Parole Board Hearings.
JDAI / CBA Committee Update / Requests
No report. Randell Strickland will start recruiting Non-Commission members to the JDAI and BARJ committees from the South Suburbs.
Randell Strickland informed the Commission of the opportunity to fund a Mediation and Diversion program in the South Suburbs. This program was started but funding ran out. Models for Change considered participating in this program but did not pursue it as they felt it was outside the scope of their funding priorities. Please add this topic to the agenda for the Commission meeting in July.
Overview of Retreat
Sally Wolff faciliated the Retreat. The morning session was a “get to know one another” session. The remainder of the day was used for establishing a mission statement, goal setting and overall planning for the future of the Commission. The group reviewed the Principles document created by Lisa Jacobs. This document will be edited and resent via e-mail to all Commissioners.
Committees (Membership & Work Assignments)
Committee membership continues to change. A new and updated list of Committees and their Chairs will be sent to the Commissioners.
The deadline for committee charters is the end of the month. Send those to Julie Stremlau.
Committee Meeting Schedules
Remember to notify Jim Reynolds and Julie Stremlau when you have your Committee Meetings scheduled. The Open Meetings Act requires the agendas be posted 48 hours prior to the meeting. The agenda must include the date, time and location of the meeting.
Federal Site Visit
Chairman Timberlake reported that the Federal site visit took place at the end of March and was a success. Our State Representative recommends the juvenile accountability block grant (JABG) funds be administered by the Commission.
CJJ Midwest Regional Conference Update
The CJJ Conference will be held July 9th, 10th and 11th in Chicago. The Conference is being held at Northwestern University and the Allerton Hotel is available for accommodations at $99 dollars a night. The Executive Committee approved to fund the CJJ Conference up to $15,000. Chairman Timberlake made the motion to sponsor the conference expenses for the new youth members. Wayne Straza seconded the motion. All in favor, motion approved.
Prison Rape Elimination Act Update
Patricia Connell reported that there is currently no plan in place to address PREA issues in Illinois, as the Federal guidelines/standards have not been finalized.
Legislative Update
HB 5914 passed both houses. It amends the Unified Code of Corrections. It eliminates the provision that permits the Prisoner Review Board to revoke parole for persons committed under the Juvenile Court Act or the Juvenile Court Act of 1987 and to recommit them until the age of 21 for violations of parole.
Gene Griffin reported that HB 6129 passed. It provides that: A statement, admission, confession, or incriminating information made by or obtained from a minor related to the instant offense, as part of any behavioral health screening, assessment, evaluation, or treatment, whether or not court-ordered, shall not be admissible as evidence against the minor on the issue of guilt only in the instant juvenile court proceeding.
ICJIA Reports Update
Erica Hughes gave the update. The Gender Specific report is available online. The Mental Health report is also available. They are still awaiting Governor approval for the Commission-funded position. The report on the “Walk Through” is in editing. This document takes the reader step by step through the juvenile justice system and identifies areas where decisions are made to divert youth, continue with them through the system, etc. It includes information on youth rights at each stage as well as what to expect. This document could be helpful to children and parents who are involved at some stage in the system. This document could be available in police departments, state’s attorney’s offices, schools, community centers, etc. The DMC conference would be a good place for ICJIA to distribute such materials. Please let Erica Hughes know if any subcommittees want data collection developed.
Redeploy Illinois Update
The Redeploy Oversight Board wanted to see monthly data from the funded sites.
Erica Hughes developed a data report to collect all of the necessary information.
The user (sites) completes the report and emails the report to ICJIA. The data gets dumped directly into a database for analysis. Basically, using this program eliminates multiple data entry, which in turn allows for fewer data entry errors and more consistent monitoring of data. This will be available soon. Chairman Timberlake remarked that this technology is very exciting and is a huge hurdle for data collection. Redeploy sites are dropping out due to lack of available funds. This means there will be a lack of interventions out there and core services will be lost. Miguel Millett added that many sites even without funded services are keeping their numbers down. Cook County will have Redeploy.
EUDL Update
No update.
JCEC Update
No JCEC update.
Federal Advisory Committee on Juvenile Justice Update
No update.
Federal Coordinating Council Update
Patricia Connell has served her time on the Federal Coordinating Council. Esther Franco-Payne will be the new member and Randell Strickland will be the alternate. No further updates.
Other Business
Kurt Friedenauer intends to request funding from the Commission for FY2011 to continue to address compliance monitoring/detention standards as well as continued funding for the Department’s Behavioral Health Administrator. The request will be for the Commission to continue funding for the Office of Audits and Detention Services, which is essentially (*NAME REMOVED FOR PRIVACY*) position. This funding will allow the Department to continue to meet its statutory obligation to monitor Detention Centers throughout the State for compliance with required detention standards.
Patricia Connell motioned to have DJJ present their proposal to the Planning and Grants Committee and for the Executive Committee to make the final decision. Vice Chair Straza seconded the motion. All in favor, motion passed.
The Commissioners voiced their concern over the complicated budgeting issues. They recommend a separate strategic planning meeting in June to address the funding issues. Esther Franco-Payne moved to approve this meeting. Patricia Connell seconded the motion. All in favor, motion passed.
Adjournment
Vice Chair Straza motioned to adjourn. Pamela Rodriguez seconded the motion. Meeting adjourned at 12:14 PM.