I. Call to Order
The meeting was called to order at 9:15 AM.
II. Roll Call
Chairman Lisa Jacobs, Esther Franco-Payne, Randell Strickland. Chairman George Timberlake and Commissioner George Hill by phone. Staff present: Karrie Rueter, Julie Stremlau, Lin Ferguson, Michelle Arnold, Ron Smith and Candice Jones. Jeff Bradley and Rob Vickery by phone. Guests: Susan Witkin by phone. Quorum not present.
Chairman Timberlake introduced Candice Jones to the Committee. Ms. Jones will serve as Executive Director of the Commission, and she began work on Monday, April 9, 2012. Her office is located at 401 S. Clinton, Chicago.
III. Approval of Minutes
Approval of March minutes were deferred until the May meeting due to lack of quorum.
IV. Status of Funds
Title II and JABG: Karrie Rueter reported that the notice of OJJDP award for FY2012 was posted and was significantly lower than expected. Illinois’ award will be $865,000. Ms. Rueter reported that the cuts were more significant than anticipated because the Department of Justice set a “minimum award” level for participating states. Once those minimum awards were made, the remaining formula funding was much lower for larger states. Prior Title V grants will be fully expended this year and there is no future funding for Title V. In response to these cuts and proposed future cuts, a letter was written on behalf of the Commission to Senator Durbin and was distributed to ICOY and other advocates that addressed the impact of the funding cuts and explained what the Commission has done with this funding in the past. The Committee noted that OJJDP has a new administrator and we need to make ourselves visible to her and understand her priorities and ensure that she knows of the importance of the JJDP Act funds in Illinois. Ms. Jones noted that there is an Illinois site visit with the new administrator in May, which provides an opportunity for dialogue with OJJDP. Commissioner Hill asked if we should meld the JABG funds with the Commission’s funds to maximize impact. Chairman Timberlake responded that we are working on combining the JABG funds.
Next steps are: Communications Committee to advocate through correspondence for the funding of OJJDP funds for Illinois. Commissioners should have received the letter sent to Senator Durbin and each Commissioner should forward that letter to appropriate advocates to promote funding.
V. 3-Year Plan Development
Status and Next Steps: At the Planning and Grants and Commission Meetings in March plans were made to submit the report by the deadline of May 7, 2012. If any Commissioner wants to hand off their editing assignment then let Ms. Jones know. Commissioner Biehl, who offered to be the final editor and write the report with one voice, has handed that responsibility over to Ms. Jones. Ms. Rueter noted a new component which asked states to discuss youth suicide prevention. Commissioner Hill asked if suicide in schools is part of the Three-Year Plan. Chairman Jacobs responded that as Ms. Jones puts the parts of the report together that we include suicide prevention of youth that are in the system rather than a broader public health approach. Ms. Rueter clarified added that Suicide Prevention is not a requirement of the Three-Year Plan, but that states are encouraged to report on their efforts in this area. The Three Year Plan is due to DOJ on May 7, 2012 and must be completed in enough time prior to that date to get it through the DHS approval process. Ms. Jones will develop a timeline which allows enough time for DHS approval and a timely submission to DOJ.
VI. Program / Project Reports: Processes and Timeline
Domestic Battery Sites: Chairman Jacobs reported that there will be a detailed presentation of the work from the DB sites at the May 9, 2012, Planning and Grants meeting.
DJJ Grant: Chairman Timberlake would like to meet, in person, with Ashley Cross, Justin Slaughter and Director Bishop to discuss their fiscal positions and performance to determine how much funding will lapse / be subject to carry over. We can use this as a starting point and invite all Commissioners to the next Planning and Grants meeting for an in-depth discussion. Ms. Rueter requested that Judge Timberlake provide her with funding amounts for next fiscal year, because DHS has a tight timeline for the procurement process for next fiscal year. Options are to set a contract in place to start July 1, 2012, and amend it at a later date or start the contract after July 1, 2012.
DMC Projects: Ms. Rueter reported that the DMC Committee has requested qualitative data from CPRD for the statewide assessment and that the DMC Committee is working on the final report on those projects. Commissioner Franco-Payne wants to put this information in RBA format so in the future information can be extracted for other purposes.
Transportation Grants: Jeff Bradley reported that collection of transportation data is complete. The JDAI Committee chaired by Commissioners Ben Roe and Rick Velasquez have been working with CPRD to finalize data analysis and establish next steps.
VII. Committee Updates/Motions for Consideration
- Communications Committee –
Annual Report: Commissioner Franco-Payne reported that a rough draft of the report should be ready by next week. The report will focus on what we see concerning juvenile justice in Illinois and detail our next steps and priorities.
Parole reforms: PRB, DJJ and the State’s Attorney’s Association have offered perspectives on parole reform strategies. There is progress, but there may be no legislation produced this session. The Committee is revising its overall work plan around this project in alignment with the Public Welfare Foundation Grant.
Commissioner Franco Payne was alerted to some legislation concerning Medicaid and state employee pensions. The concern is that the Medicaid program and State pensions are causing the decrease in funding of other programs in the State. She wants the Commission to explore this and put support in favor of funding programs that support juvenile justice. This will be added to the agenda for the Communications meeting.
Raise the Age Report: A meeting with the AOIC is scheduled to discuss the court, detention and probation data available and we need to complete the report by the end of June with or without the data.
JSO Report: Data completion, probation file reviews and literature reviews are near completion. DJJ file reviews and practitioner interviews are beginning. The Communications Committee will develop a workplan and timeline for finalizing the report during the summer months.
COGFA Proceedings: Commissioner Julie Biehl and Jeff Bradley participated in the meeting. It was reported that they focused their testimony on the decreasing juvenile crime rates, decreasing DJJ commitments and the efficacy of alternatives to incarceration. DJJ is answering questions that arose at this meeting for COGFA.
Youth engagement: YNC continues to look at improving youth engagement and the IJJC. YNC is putting together a plan on how to move forward. Michelle Arnold reported that there is meeting April 18, 202, 3:00, with youth and adult Commissioners. Next meeting: The Communications Committee next meets April 26th.
- BARJ Committee – Chairman Timberlake reported that work has been done on a proposal from Harrisburg. They have a final proposal for the BARJ Committee to consider. Commissioner Strickland and Chairman Timberlake will meet on April 12, 2012, to discuss. Chairman Timberlake will forward the proposal to Planning and Grants Committee for consideration.
- DMC Committee – No report. Next meeting is April 16, 2012.
- Executive Committee – No report. Next meeting is April 18, 2012.
- JDAI / Detention Committee – Jeff Bradley reported that YNC has not yet received a confirmation of funding from the Casey Foundation.
VIII. Reentry Request for Proposals
Status and Next Steps Rob reported that the protest period has been closed with no protests. Services can start as soon as contracts are processed through DHS. We are planning on mid June to start services. Karrie reported that we are looking at April 20, 2012 for start of contracts.
IX. New Business
The Committee discussed the Second Chance/Reentry/Juvenile Demonstration Project grant applications recently released by DOJ and noted that 2nd Chance work in Illinois has been complex, far-reaching and successful to date. The group discussed ways of pursuing the two funding options available: evaluation with continuation funds and / or competing for a “new” award and developed a plan to support the 2nd Chance team in responding to these funding options.
X. Adjournment
Motion to adjourn the meeting was made by Commissioner Strickland, seconded by Commissioner Franco-Payne. All in favor. Motion carries. Meeting adjourned at 10:48 AM.