I. Call to Order:
The meeting was called to order at 9:41AM. The meeting was held by conference call between the two sites, since there were technical difficulties with the video equipment at 823 E. Monroe.
II. Roll Call:
Chairman Rick Velasquez, Commissioners Ben Roe, Rod Ahitow. No Quorum. Staff: Ron Smith, Jeff Bradley, Julie Stremlau, Lin Ferguson. Guests: Sasiya Merchant from the “Chicago Reporter”.
III. Approval of Minutes:
Quorum not present. Minutes from the March and May meetings were deferred to the next meeting.
IV. Coordinator’s Report:
Jeff Bradley reported that he was in Coles County yesterday. Vermilion has been detaining truants due to a lack of resources. Ron Smith and Jeff Bradley addressed this issue and the situation is under control. We need to give the sites further technical assistance concerning detaining truants. Chairman Velasquez added that court personnel are in place but there is nobody that they can identify that is part of that team for alternatives dealing with truants. There is no CCBYS provider or an entity that has responsibility. Chairman Velasquez asked if we have an agreement identifying what we are going to focus on and what we are going to bring to that jurisdiction to what end for what result. We need to formalize our agreement with all jurisdictions. We want to eliminate court involvement with truants. Jeff Bradley would like to see a Truancy Review Board set up which would be a from-petition body to monitor the kids.
Jeff gave an update on the Casey meeting. Rick Velasquez, Ben Roe, Jeff Bradley, Candice Jones, Andi Durbin and Chairman Timberlake met with Gail Mumford and Bart Lebow from Casey to see where the relationship between the Commission and The Casey Foundation is going. Casey has agreed to provide us with past grant money and added $10,000 to our regular funding to be used for reengaging the sites we currently have in Illinois. It is likely the funding will be used for two statewide conferences.
V. Chair’s Comments:
No report.
VI. Compliance Report:
Ron Smith reported that overall we are probably two over where we were last year on status offenders, but we are still in good standing. Kane County has been having some problems, since they have been taking the DuPage detainees. There are some truants being detained there also, but they are working on getting that resolved. Standards draft is finished and going to Beth Compton for review at Juvenile Justice. Hoping to get it to JCAR by the end of the year. We are running a little higher on time limitations, this may be due to over reporting, which we will learn when we visit later this year. Once we have this done, we can go back to Casey and present this to them as a technical assistance piece that they can use. Jeff Bradley reported that he is seeing a lot of confusion surrounding the arrest of 17 year olds charged with a misdemeanor versus a felony. Ron responded that he will be watching for that and if he sees a trend toward it, he’ll get it corrected.
VII. Old Business
A. IJJC Transportation Grant Review
- Data Update: Chairman Velasquez reported that we need to evaluate if there is a need for Transportation grants, and if we need to continue the grants. We need rationale from the sites. The data doesn’t provide the information needed to make this decision.
- Transportation Grant Funding Reductions: Franklin County Detention Center serves the 26 southern most counties in the State. Ron Smith reported that if all of the grants are phased out, Adams County Board would like to close the detention center, due to a lack of funds. Jeff Bradley reported that at the Franklin Detention Center transports can be as long as three hours. There is no other way of moving the kids from the Detention Center to the court than through a transportation grant. Chairman Velasquez questions the accuracy of the risk assessment process. Ron Smith added that there can be under reporting occurring. Chairman Velasquez wants to look at the risk assessment process being used at Franklin to determine if the transportation can be supported by the local jurisdictions. He wants to provide an opportunity for them to meet with us to present their case for continued funding. Franklin will be the first meeting. We will extend a formal invitation to Franklin to have them meet with the Committee to have the discussion concerning grants at their site. We want to have this meeting prior to the September Commission meeting. Chairman Velasquez asked Jeff Bradley to extend the invitation for Committee members to visit their site and discuss the transportation issue with them. We will provide an agenda to them. Jeff will talk to contacts at the sites to invite them to meetings.
B. Casey Funding: Jeff Bradley received the FY12 funding plan from Michelle Arnold. It includes information on how we plan to spend the additional $10,000 funding. The plan is to use the funds on reengagement of sites. We need to get sites communicating with us and with each other. Jeff Bradley proposes that a self assessment form be created using measurable information. He also wants to encourage local Juvenile Justice councils to develop sustainability plans through governance. Jeff would like to have a chat room or blog where stake holders could sign on securely to discuss issues on the web site being developed by YNC for the Commission. This would be similar to the one that currently exists for public defenders. Chairman Velasquez will discuss with Andi Durbin and Chairman Timberlake that the Commission pick up the expenses of the Coordinator’s position. This is reinstating the decision that was made earlier by the Commission.
- All Sites Conferences: Two one day conferences are being planned. One in the northern part of the State and one in the southern part of the State. Jeff doesn’t want to include the sites in the conference planning.
- Funding for data collection: We should have an additional $18,000 out of the other money for data collection, in-depth survey and knock it down to two per site to continue with the original plan.
- New site recruitment
VIII. New Business
A. Inviting Site representatives to Committee Meetings Jeff Bradley suggested that a good way to engage existing sites is to invite them to our meetings. It would also serve as a way of recruiting new sites. This would also provide us with input from the sites. Chairman Velasquez wants to include site representatives as ad hoc members of the committee so they can be involved in discussions concerning contract issues.
IX. Adjourn
Commissioner Roe made a motion to adjourn the meeting. Commissioner Ahitow seconded the motion. All in favor. Meeting adjourned at 10:55AM.