I. Call to order
The meeting was called to order at 9:18am.
II. Roll Call
Commissioners: Roseanna Ander, Julie Biehl, Edith Crigler, Debra Ferguson, Esther Franco-Payne, Eugene Griffin, George Hill, Toni Irving, Lisa Jacobs, Patrick Nelson, Pamela Rodriguez, Randell Strickland and George Timberlake. Quorum declared present.
Staff: Karrie Rueter, Julie Stremlau, Rachel Sipes, Jeff Bradley, Miguel Millett, Dick Walsh.
Guests: Eileen Suback, Mark Myrent, Erica Hughes.
III. Approval of Minutes
Commissioner Griffin moved to approve the minutes. Commissioner Crigler seconded the motion. All in favor, minutes approved.
IV. Status of Funds
Karrie Rueter provided a handout to the commission. The end dates for Federal grants have been updated to reflect the extensions. Karrie reported that we will expend Title II 2008 Funds. At the upcoming Planning and Grants meeting we must address the need to spend 1.7 million before September. An extension request of the FY 2009 Title II grant could be submitted. The Title II FY 09 money needs to be expended before September 30, 2011. An extension must be requested 60 days prior to the end of the grant. It is expected that the rest of the Title II FY 08 grant will be expended by December.
V. Compliance Update
Dick Walsh provided the compliance report. DSO violations totaled 11 in 2010 in comparison with 29 in 2009. Jail removal violations were from January through September 2010, 33 county and 163 municipal lockups securely detained juveniles. Of those, 11 county jails and 15 municipal lockups exceeded the six hour limit resulting in 124 violations (33 in county jails and 91 in municipal lockups). Violations would have to exceed 270 (new de minimis figure) or constitute a pattern and practice to jeopardize our de minimis compliance status.
Public Act 89-0646 and the new Juvenile Justice Reform Law that allows minors to be held in lockups in excess of six hours for serious offenses and for lineups is significantly increasing violations. Both of these are violations of the Jail Removal mandate. Commissioner Hill asked if the retention of youth beyond 18 years of age was still an issue for Illinois. Karrie Rueter explained that the current reauthorization language will help keep us in compliance whenever the bill is changed. Reauthorization has not been passed yet. If we are found with violations we then have to submit a plan to get back in compliance. This cuts the Title II federal dollars by 50% as we are required to use that money to address and fix the issue. Karrie Rueter explained that Illinois and many other states are pushing for a change in the OJJDP Act.
Commissioner Jacobs noted that Illinois is pushing for a better interpretation of the OJJDP Act in this instance. Best Practice should be considered. The youth are receiving services they need rather than being sent to the Department of Corrections. Commissioner Jacob’s added that we need a statement from IDJJ about this being Best Practice as to why we are not transferring the 18 year olds. Commissioner Hill proposed to send a letter to the Department of Justice stating the Commission’s position. Chairman Timberlake also suggested that the Commission send a letter to Congress and the legislators to inform them of the issue. Chairman Timberlake motioned to send letters explaining the issues under the current bill. Commissioner Griffin seconded the motion. All in favor, motion passed.
VI. IJJC Committee Update/ Motions:
a. Communications Committee Reports: Committee has not met since August.
SB 1725 and HB5914 Report
Commissioner Biehl gave the update. The 400 files needed for review is an enormous task. To date, 260 have been reviewed. A letter will be sent to the legislators about the difficulty in completing this report. Commissioner Rodriguez and Commissioner Hill commented that the report was overdue and the letter needed to be sent. The report is also assessing best practices so the process will improve for future reviews. Commissioner Ander requested to see the results thus far. Commissioner Biehl will provide a flow chart and analysis for the next meeting.
Age of Majority
The Communications Committee has chosen to address the Annual Report and will address this issue when that is complete. The Department of Juvenile Justice will be a large part of this report. JDAI and ICJIA will help with the Age of Majority Report. The Committee will work to get this completed by the end of this fiscal year.
2009-2010 Annual Report:
The Planning and Grants Committee will be recommending Reentry funding. This report could guide the RFP’s. Commissioner Rodriguez stated the Commission should define what it wants to accomplish before opening up to broader areas. Commissioner Franco-Payne explained the Communications Committee is to meet in December. The Annual Report is in process.
b. DMC Committee:
Miguel Millett gave the DMC Report. He discussed his recent attendance at the DMC National Conference in New Jersey. The initial phase of the conference was training. Miguel spoke with other states about how they implemented and gathered information for the Comprehensive DMC Assessment. This assessment must cover 102 counties in Illinois. It was noted that some states do not have the problems Illinois has because of their size and the information required is available. Some states have partnered with local universities to assist them in their task to acquire the data. They have partnered with NTAC National Training and Assistance Center. An update is due this year and a final plan is due in 2012. Miguel stated he is in favor of pushing the school and DMC pipeline as there are so many issues that coincide and can be addressed. Commissioner Rodriguez mentioned the policy and systems change concerning funding. It is a priority that we promote a transparent and public process. The DMC Committee will continue to work toward a resolution of these topics.
c. JDAI Committee
Program Coordination
Jeff Bradley has been appointed the Redeploy and JDAI Coordinator. Mr. Bradley is a former States Attorney in Jefferson County. Mr. Bradley is working on making past connections and reengaging the former JDAI jurisdictions. The JDAI Coordinator position will expire December 31, 2010. The JDAI Committee and Illinois Juvenile Justice Commission (IJJC) must evaluate and address this position and future planning for JDAI.
Annie E. Casey Annual Report
Mr. Bradley and the JDAI Committee will submit this report to the IJJC for final approval.
AECF National Conference
Four IJJC Commissioners and a total of eight attendees from IL attended the JDAI Conference in Kansas City. Non-Commissioners attending the conference were Ben Rowe, States Attorney in Ogle County, and Greg Martin, Ogle County Probation; Arthur Bishop, Director of IDJJ; and Jeff Bradley.
d. Planning and Grants Committee
Funding PrioritiesFunding ProcessFunding Decisions
There is 1.7 million of FY 2009 grant money to expend by September 30, 2011. Commissioner Jacobs stated the Planning and Grants Committee want to focus on the initial funding strategies established.
Commissioner Jacobs reminded Commissioners that the Planning and Grants committee had been charged with developing recommendations for initial funding activities which could support pilots of youth and family-serving approaches and which could enhance juvenile justice stakeholder capacity to improve policy, practice and programming. She stressed that these were to be initial strategies which focused on allocation of funding, with the understanding that there may be other strategies which should be developed to advance the Commission’s overall priorities and principles and that there will also need to be other funding priorities developed as the Commission progresses.
In its meetings, the Committee initially identified a large number of potential funding activities which could advance the Commission principles and then began to prioritize them and also to identify one-time or targeted expenditures which would be most useful to advance system improvement. From this discussion, the Committee identified initial funding recommendations, as follows.
The Planning and Grants Committee recommends that the Commission issue a Request for Proposals for a total amount of up to $500,000 per year for each of three years to support development of effective reentry and aftercare strategies for youth leaving the custody of the Illinois Department of Juvenile Justice.
One-time / non-repeating expenditures: The Committee reiterated the need for a well-designed strategic planning process to help develop the Commission’s short and long-term efforts and recommends the allocation of funding for professional services to provide research on and guide a process for IJJC’s development of a practical, short and long term plan for our activities and system improvement efforts.
IJJC Research and Reports: Professional services to provide research and support preparation of studies and reports required of the Commission, including (but not limited to) the “raise the age” analysis and an annual Commission report to juvenile justice stakeholders.
Results-Based Accountability: Professional services to present and assist in developing a “Results-Based Accountability” approach to the work of the Commission, grantees and systems improvement partners.
Effective Messaging: Professional services to present research on and assistance in developing effective communications and messaging strategies to accelerate the Commission’s system improvement efforts in Illinois’ political, economic and social contexts. This work should include a particular focus on public awareness and public engagement on DMC reduction.
Financial Mapping: Professional services to utilize “financial mapping” strategies to identify the funding available in Illinois to support juvenile justice system improvement, infrastructure and services. Sources would include all federal funding and all state funding. Mapping would include also include the allocation, expenditure and impact of these various funding sources
Youth Engagement: Research and professional services to develop and implement strategies for meaningful engagement of youth in the work of the Commission and its juvenile justice / systems improvement partners.
Educational Issues: Researching and professional services to identify and present evidence-based and / or promising strategies to reduce the unnecessary flow of youth from schools to the justice system, to a) keep at-risk youth connected with schools and school supports, b) re-connect youth expelled, leaving out of home placement etc. with school and school supports.
What Works and is Working: Research and professional services to identify and present promising practices for intervention with and services for youth in conflict with the law. This may also include a summit or other conferences to examine emerging models for systems improvement from communities across the state.
Community-Based Supervision Models: Research and professional services on the design of effective, evidence-based, community-based supervision models for youth on parole or probation.
Other / Capacity-Building: Other research, consulting and assistance in building the capacity of the Commission and its partners to undertake sustainable systems improvement as envisioned by the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act.
Commissioner Rodriguez voiced her concerns over processing a multitude of RFP’s and the ability to sustain these funding priorities.
The Virtual High School was previously presented and reviewed by the Commission. This request was for $35,000. Commissioner Griffin moved to approve with the request with the amendment of an additional $10,000 and the Executive Committee will have final decision making power on this request. Commissioner Rodriguez seconded the motion. All in favor, motion passed. Commissioner Ander abstained.
Commissioner Jacobs motioned to allocate up to $500,000 for reentry for those leaving IDJJ and a plan for initial funding support for the RFP and a Reentry Summit over a three year period. Commissioner Rodriguez stated that if we commit to this project we need to follow it through with the intent to partner with the communities. The Planning and Grants Committee will review the applications and refer them to the Commission as necessary. Commissioner Biehl moved to approve the $500,000. Commissioner Rodriguez seconded the motion. All in favor, motion passed.
It was recommended that all funding requests go through the Planning and Grants Committee. Specific requests will be referred to the full Commission. It is likely that the IJJC will receive many requests. Commissioner Hill added that Chairman Timberlake can approve emergency request without member input. Julie Biehl motioned to allow the Planning and Grants Chairman be allowed to refer proposals to others for review. Consider adopting this process and updating the Bylaws. Commissioner Ander seconded the motion. All in favor, motion passed. Commissioner Jacobs abstained.
Chairman Timberlake appointed DMC Co-Chairman Rodriguez and Co-Chairman Ferguson to the Planning and Grants Committee.
The next P and G meeting is December 16th, 2010 at 10:00am. The Executive Committee will meet at 2:00pm on the 16th at the same location.
VII. Legislation
No legislative update.
VIII. Youth Services Medicaid Pilot Update
Medicaid Pilot is currently on hold. There were many issues with change in Medicaid and how the mental health agencies were to process claims, etc. This process of becoming Medicaid eligible was very difficult for many agencies. There were some changes in the laws that required training. The need to retrain the pilot sites on the new law was just not feasible. There was a need to bring mental health services to youth but no resources available to pay for it. It was not cost effective for the many agencies to become a Medicaid model. The cuts to the mental health system also caused many issues.
IX. Governor’s Neighborhood Recovery Re-Entry Initiative
No update
X. Second Chance Grant
Karrie Rueter updated the group on the status of the Second Chance Grant. The target date is still February. There will be people on the board and training completed. This is an eight week process. Youth Outreach Services and One Hope United are the only providers who have a certified MST Team. Each team member will carry a caseload of six, with maximum of 24 for each team. Commissioner Ander’s team will complete the evaluation of the Second Chance programs.
There were concerns about the youth being treated outside of the IYC Chicago facility. Karrie Rueter explained they are aware of the transportation issues and there is a procedure in place. IYC Chicago is the facility the youth will be transferred to and IYC will provide the services for their mental health and substance abuse issues. If the treatment needed is not available at IYC, the youth will be treated in the community.
XI. EUDL
Commissioner Griffin and Karrie Rueter have concerns regarding EUDL programming. In the past, depending upon how EUDL is used it can cause spikes in our compliance data. EUDL and compliance together have caused data increases before. There is a need for EUDL to share their strategies and planning with JDAI. Chairman Timberlake asked JDAI Coordinator Jeff Bradley to speak with the EUDL staff. Commissioner Rodriguez asked if there was EUDL data available by race. Karrie Rueter responded that there should be data available. Data will be requested for arrests and citations and if possible separated by ethnicity.
XII. JCEC
Chairman Timberlake attended the JCEC meeting. There was discussion about existing funding. Commissioner Straza and Commissioner Ahitow are members of this group.
XIII. ICJIA Reports Update
There was a lengthy discussion of ICJIA and their duties to the Commission. Mark Myrent explained there is a plan to establish a statewide juvenile plan but there is not a plan about allocating the juvenile justice dollar and priority areas for federal expenditures. There is a need to determine what the key strategic issues are and look beyond funding recommendations. Changes are needed in the juvenile justice process and policies. This will require additional research and anyone on the IJJC that would like to take part in this research initiative is welcome. Commissioner Ander noted that ICJIA could be beneficial in assisting with the Age of Majority Report. Commissioner Jacobs explained that the Illinois Juvenile Justice Commission (IJJC) wants to be the voice of juvenile justice. We need to think about how our authorities work together and that the IJJC is not a program to the justice system.
Mark Myrent explained that ICJIA received the National award for Juvenile Justice Presentation for their 2008 report. ICIJIA will work with Karrie to be clear about ICJIA’s role. Commissioner Irving stated we need to look at what is going on with the state and what questions we have with the data. Mark explained ICJIA can pull together a report for January IJJC meeting. There was a question as to linking IDJJ risk factors and outcomes to certain topics. Mr. Myrent responded that they were not capable of that at this time. They can make connections across different areas. Chairman Timberlake asked if ICJIA was in coordination with other areas. Mr. Myrent responded that in the 1990’s they were in collaboration but Illinois has not adopted any system yet. He explained that currently the Commission pays $60,000 for the ICJIA Position. There are currently five research activities. The Commission will assess current activities and advise for future projects. Commissioner Rodriguez stated that the Commission’s approach to ICJIA must change. We need a strategic plan to address the data needs and achieve consensus on how to move forward.
XIV. Coalition on Juvenile Justice- DMC Conference
When reports are available Commissioner Rodriguez will share them with the Commission. Commissioner Rodriguez moved to adopt CJJ Council packet/minutes. Commissioner Hill seconded the motion. All in favor, motion passed.
XV. Federal Advisory Committee on Juvenile Justice
No update
XVI. Federal Coordination Council
Commissioner Rodriguez state that the FCC is coordinating. DMC and transitions to adulthood are being addressed.
XVII. Other Business
Commissioner Rodriguez motioned to give the final decision to the Executive Committee in reference to the JDAI Coordinator Position and the IDJJ positions. Commissioner Nelson seconded the motion. All in favor, motion passed.
2011 Meeting dates were discussed. A list will go out for review and final approval at a later date.
XVIII. Adjourn
Commissioner Strickland motioned to adjourn. Commissioner Crigler seconded the motion. All in favor, meeting adjourned at 3:30pm.