November 28, 2012 IJJC Meeting Minutes

I.   Call to Order:

The meeting was called to order at 9:10 AM.

II.   Roll Call:

Chairman George Timberlake, Commissioners Rod Ahitow, Julie Biehl, Esther Franco-Payne, Eugene Griffin, Lisa Jacobs, Patrick Nelson, Pamela Rodriguez, Ben Roe, Shelley Davis, Randell Strickland, Rick Velasquez, Dana Weiner, and Veronica Dixon.Quorum declared present.

Staff present: Julie Stremlau, Rob Vickery, Jeff Bradley, Ron Smith, Dick Walsh, Lin Ferguson. Guests present: Erica Hughes, guests by phone: Jim Bray, Susan Witkin. Chairman Timberlake introduced Shelley Davis, who is a new commissioner, and Heidi Mueller, the new Executive Director of the Commission.

III.   Approval of Minutes:

Commissioner Velasquez made a motion to approve the minutes of September 19, 2012. The motion was seconded by Commissioner Roe. All in favor. None opposed. Minutes from the September 19, 2012, Commission meeting were approved.

IV.   Project Reports:

        A.  Raise the Age:

Stephanie Kollmann presented the proposed recommendations for the study and explained the data used to develop and support the recommendations. Chairman Timberlake stated he wants the results of the study to be in the hands of the legislators by the January session, and asked the Commissioners if there were any changes they wanted to make to the proposed recommendations. Commissioner Griffin made a motion to recommend that Illinois should immediately adopt legislation to raise the age of juvenile jurisdiction to 18 (thus including felony-charged 17-year olds) and that the juvenile court is the vehicle for processing their violations. The motion was seconded by Commissioner Roe. All in favor. None opposed. Motion carries. The Commissioners then discussed in detail the suggestions put forth in the study regarding the implementation of this recommendation. Commissioner Velasquez made a motion to have the Communication Committee rework the proposal document to reflect this discussion and bring the document to the Executive Committee for final approval. The motion was seconded by Commissioner Griffin.All in favor. None opposed. Motion carries.

        B.  Juvenile Sex Offender:

The results of this enormous project were presented by Professor Anita Weinberg including registration, research, outcomes and treatment. Recommendations were presented to the Commission.  Commissioner Jacobs made a motion to give the Executive Committee the authority to approve the proposed recommendations. The motion was seconded by Commissioner Griffin. All in favor. None opposed. No abstentions. Motion carries.
A notice will be sent to all commissioners inviting them to attend the December 19, 2012, Executive Committee, when the vote on Juvenile Sex Offender recommendations will be taken.

        C.  Parole Study Update:

No report.

        D.  Reentry Update:

No report.

        E.  Youth Engagement:

No report.

        F.  IJJC Website:

No report.

        G.  IJJC Membership:

The Commission has vacancies in its enrollment due to the resignation of Vice Chairman Straza. The Commission also has asked that inactive members be contacted and if no response received, the Chairman has been asked to remove them as members. The Chairman approved the removal of 3 youth members due to their inactivity: Marcus Cammon, Demarco Diggs and Karina Martinez. The Governor’s office will continue to process recent applications to fill these vacancies.

        H.  IJJC 2013 Calendar:

The meeting time for the full Commission meetings  was changed to 9:00AM-3:00PM.

V.   Data Liaison

Commissioner Dana Weiner gave a report on the grant with Northwestern University and the three positions. A data technician and a business analyst have been hired. A programmer has not been hired. Chairman Timberlake reported that Commissioner Weiner is being paid under the grant. She was not a part of the discussion to put this grant in place and did not vote on the decision. The grant is not issued to Dana Weiner, but a small percentage of her salary is funded through this grant by Northwestern University. The Commission discussed that this issue could be handled by following ethics guidelines mandating disclosure of any possible appearance of conflict, and examination of the issue by the Commission with the potentially interested Commissioners removing themselves from discussion and vote. Commissioner Weiner left the room for final discussion and the vote. Commissioner Hill made a motion that IJJC sees no conflict of interest with the issue and recommends that we maintain the contract as it stands. Abstentions: Commissioners Griffin, Biehl, and Weiner. All in favor. None opposed. Motion carries.

VII.   Status of Funds: Title II and JABG

         A.  DJJ Funding Update:

Budget revisions are necessary because of a change in expenditures. Reentry has to be added.  Commissioner Strickland made a motion to modify the 2009 and 2010 budgets to reflect the current spending trends. The motion was seconded by Commissioner Pam Rodriguez. All in favor. None opposed. Motion carries.

         B.  2nd Chance Demonstration Continuation Grant:

No update.

         C.  JJ Reform & Reinvestment Demonstration Program

Application-IL: was not awarded.

VII.   Program Updates: Process & Timeline

        A.  JABG Transfer Update:

Meetings have been ongoing and it was determined that the IJJC and DHS would accept 2009 grant funds and forward currently held by ICJIA. The 2008 grant has to be spent within a week, and we will not accept those grants. We will look for a waiver of the formula grants based upon the percentage of the JJ system costs funded by the state. If we can demonstrate that the state bears 50% of the JJ system costs, we can apply to for a waiver of 50% and 50% be passed through. This will allow greater control over the JABG funds.

        B.  Domestic Battery Program:

No report.

        C.  Transportation:

Jeff Bradley recommended that we come prepared to the next Commission meeting to discuss this topic.

        D.  DOC/Compliance:

No report

VIII.   Committee Updates/Motions for Consideration

        A.  Communications:

None noted.

        B.  JDAI:

None noted.

       C.  DMC:

IL response concerning Non-Compliance was sent to OJJDP and we have not had a response.The DMC Coordinator position has been posted. A large number of applications have been received.Pam Rodriguez and Heidi Mueller will be involved in going through the applications to select candidates for interview.

       D.  Executive:

None noted.

       E.  Planning and Grants:

None noted.

IX.   Legislative Update:

None noted.

X.   Non-Commission Funded Program Updates
(Redeploy, JCEC, EUDL, NRI)

XI.   Federal & National Committee Update (FACJJ, FCC, CJJ)

No update.

XII.   Other:

Rob Vickery reported that the IJJC website is very close to going live, probably the end of December. Commissioners will be receiving instructions on how to access the website to test it and navigate through it before it is active.  The design elements have been approved by the Communications Committee. Youth Engagement work is ongoing. They are being educated on how the Commission works and committee work. Wayne Straza, who was the Vice-Chairman of this Commission, has resigned. It is the duty of the Commission to nominate and elect a new vice-chair. Commissioner Biehl nominated Commissioner Lisa Jacobs. Commissioner Griffin seconded the motion. All in favor. None opposed. Motion carries. Lisa Jacobs is the new Vice Chairman of the IJJC.

XIII.   New Business:

None.

XIV.   Adjournment:

Commissioner Strickland made a motion to adjourn the meeting.  Commissioner Franco-Payne seconded the motion. The meeting was adjourned  at 1:31PM.