I. Call to order
Meeting was called to order at 1:05 PM.
II. Roll Call
Chairman Rick Velasquez, Commissioner Eugene Griffin, Commissioner George Hill, Barb Shipp. Guests: Dr. Miquel Lewis, Terrence Simms, PhD candidate.
Staff: Karrie Rueter, Julie Stremlau, Lin Ferguson, Jeff Bradley, Ron Smith and Dick Walsh. Quorum declared present.
III. Approval of Minutes
Commissioner Griffin made a motion to approve January 24, 2011 minutes. The motion was seconded by Barb Shipp. All in favor, minutes approved.
IV. JDAI Coordinator’s Report
Jeff Bradley presented the Coordinator’s Report. Statewide screening Instrument issue was discussed. Jeff believes that our best role is to foster the collaboration between this Committee, AOIC and the Detention committee of the IPCSA. Barb Shipp provided historical information to Jeff that outlines where JDAI has been and where we need to go. Future of JDAI in Illinois: Page four of coordinators report details what the Committee needs to accomplish. Overall recommendation is that to create a strategic plan for JDAI in Illinois. It was suggested that the Communications Committee be involved in creating social demand for detention reform and justice reinvestment. Jeff will submit a clean copy of this report. Jeff wants this initiative to go deeper into the population than the usual people that are interested in Juvenile Justice issues. Barb Shipp recommended engaging county boards who are deferring current detention costs by developing a strategy on how they can best spend their funds rather than secured detention. Karrie Rueter added that to start this process it would be helpful for the Committee to identify what they want to promote around the State prior to moving forward. Chairman Velasquez suggested looking at what other states are doing to promote issues of Juvenile Detention. He agrees that presenting to local boards of government is a good way to promote this. Chairman Velasquez suggested looking at what other states are doing to promote issues of Juvenile Detention. He agrees that presenting to local boards of government is a good way to promote this.
Jeff will do research on social marketing to see what strategies are out there. Barb Shipp suggested that using the Principles of Social Marketing is one way to start moving forward. Commissioner Griffin asked if any detention centers have closed due to funding. Karrie Rueter reported that Franklin County has averted their shut-down and nothing more has been said. Barb Shipp added that AOIC has had to reduce funds to detention centers; therefore, centers are cutting staff and reducing the number of beds in their facilities. If they haven’t closed, they may have reduced in size. We should also look at the condition of the facilities. Ron Smith added that there has been a reduction of 48 beds statewide.
Karrie Rueter addressed Item #2 and suggested that the Committee first take a look at the standards the Commission paid DJJ detention to develop and move forward through JCAR. Karrie Rueter presumes that Item #5 is referring to the nine decision points within JJ as a whole. Data statewide is only available on 3 decision points. It has to be obtained at the local level manually. Barb Shipp asked if the Commission updates the data package annually. Chairman Velasquez responded that there is not a regular update of data annually. He noted that in the Annual Report prepared by ICJIA there is only one paragraph about detention. ICJIA reported at the last Commission meeting that they are willing to work with the Commission in preparing reports based on the available data sets. It was noted that data is a larger issue for the Commission on several levels.
The Commission expects local communities to look at their own data and analyze it. The court information does not get reported to the state. DMC sites are required to collect data to report to the feds. There is not a mandate to enforce the collection of data statewide. Barb Shipp noted that there is a need for strong technical assistance in order to collect the data. Karrie Rueter responded that we have access to free technical assistance from the feds. We pick the subject area/topic and tell them who we would like to provide the technical assistance.Commissioner Velasquez questioned if we can get help from the feds in identifying a state that has a uniform data collection system.
It can be to the communities or to the Commission. We can access information from other states with successful data collection. Primarily this is a Title II and Title V TA group. This project may or may not dovetail into the Shay Bilcheck activities. Commissioner Hill suggested that AOIC has to make a directive to force this, otherwise why would the communities do this. Jeff will work on these suggestions.
Chairman Velasquez brought up the issue of Jeff’s contract, which ends June 30, 2011. By mid-April Jeff should provide a document listing his accomplishments and work plan for the future. This will be on the agenda for the next JDAI meeting, and then it will be presented to the Executive Committee or the full Commission. Karrie will discuss this issue with Chairman Timberlake and will provide sufficient funds in the Youth Network Council budget for the new contract.
V. Illinois JDAI Application
The draft of this document was discussed at the last meeting. Chairman Velasquez expressed thanks to Barb Shipp for her work on the project as well as others that have worked on it. The revised version was distributed to all members last week. Dr. Miquel Lewis asked if he thought we are on the right track to submit to Casey. Dr Lewis thinks that this follows the JDAI principles but we should add data to support the application and include race, ethnicity factors and community support. He thinks that the application is a strong showing of Illinois’ intentions concerning JDAI. Chairman Velasquez asked who will serve on the committee for this application and asked Jeff if this was his role or Chairman Timberlake’s. Jeff will coordinate with Chairman Velasquez and IJJC Chairman Timberlake.
VI. DSO/Jail Removal Compliance
Chairman Velasquez has asked Ron Smith and Dick Walsh to serve on the JDAI Committee. Karrie Rueter spoke concerning raising the standards of confinements. Casey self-assessment strategies should be completed. It would be very beneficial for detention centers to run their own assessments. JJ standards are minimal but centers can exceed those standards. Ron and Dick will be reporting more information to the committee about detention practices. Commissioner Velasquez does not think Raise the Age legislation is a good idea.
VII. Committee Charter
Priority Areas/Discussion
Communication is an area of focus. We need to be able to talk to a larger audience about JJ and maintaining safety in the community. The need for relevant statewide detention data. It was suggested to reach out to ICJIA, since Mark Myrent said they will report on the data we deem necessary. We need to find out what local jurisdictions have in terms of data and where technical assistance is needed. We need to find if the AOIC’s office will share information with us. Per Margie Groot, the AOIC will work with us to provide the data we need. Susan Witkin and CPRD are changing JMIS data to include staff secure but not other sanctions involving youth supervision and detention centers.
Commissioner Hill suggested that we can approach counties from the standpoint that we are going to help AOIC and inventory the services per county. Jeff will proceed with contacting Margie Groot to see if he can inventory services provided and gaps in services to provide a more cost effective process. We may be able to get information from programs to add to what we get from AOIC. Jeff Bradley and Ron Smith will be happy to meet with Margie either by conference call or in person. Chairman Velasquez will identify the priority areas and rewrite the Charter in the next 30 days.
VIII. New Business
Annie E. Casey Foundation funds. We have not received $25,000 from FY10 because the agreement was not signed when Youth Network Council moved to their new location. Financial and progress reports have been sent to Casey. Youth Network Council is working on getting this resolved including the $25,000 for FY11. Chairman Velasquez wants to use this money as soon as possible. We can use the money for an RFP process and/or to hire someone. The meeting schedule was discussed. Currently the meetings run a week to two weeks after the full Commission. For next Fiscal Year Chairman Velasquez would like to move the meetings to at least two weeks before the Commission meeting. This will enable the Committee to provide a better report at the Commission Meeting. Proposed dates will be submitted.
IX. Adjourn
Commissioner Griffin made a motion to adjourn, Commissioner Hill seconded the motion. All in favor. Motion approved. Meeting adjourned at 2:35 PM.