Will County Committee of the Whole Met Sept. 3.
Here is the minutes provided by the committee:
I. CALL TO ORDER / ROLL CALL
Speaker Mimi Cowan called the meeting to order at 10:43 AM
II. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE TO THE FLAG
Ms. Tyson Led the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag.
III. OLD BUSINESS
IV. NEW BUSINESS
1. Presentation by Problem Solving Courts on COVID-19 Response
(Julie McCabe Sterr/Mitch Crandall)
Speaker Cowan stated the genesis of this Committee of the Whole was that Ms. McCabe-Sterr stopped by the office and let me know of some of the things that her department has been doing; that they were quite proud of. With what has been going on this year some things had to be changed. We thought everyone could use a bit of good news about things that are going right; and we are doing well in the County. We also decided to bring in Ms. McNichol with the Veterans Assistant Commission; we are happy to have them here today. I think they bring us news that we can get out to our constituents and let them know how we are managing in the era of Covid-19; and how we are making progress on important issues.
Ms. McCabe-Sterr thanked the entire Board for letting her speak with them today. As always we try to be forward thinking and innovative; and we want to share with you some of the excited things we that we are doing in the Problem Solving Courts. We will give you a quick history for anybody that isn’t familiar with everything that we do. Right now I am going to turn it over to Mitch Crandall he is my ARI Coordinator and will take over as the Grant and Budget Coordinator when I retire next year.
At this juncture Mr. Crandall reviewed the attached PowerPoint Presentation that included Updates, Covid-19 Response, Community Partnerships and the Mission of the Problem Solving Courts. A short question and answer period followed the presentation.
Ms. McCabe-Sterr stated this new Court House that this County Board has been able to provide for the citizens of Will County will allow us to have a dedicated Judge, a dedicated Court Room, Problem Solving Courts five days a week so that we can separate low risk offenders, the chronic and severe mentally ill, those that are most vulnerable onto a separate trauma docket; and hopefully provide us with a family treatment court. Thank you for giving us that opportunity.
Speaker Cowan stated hopefully you all found my email a couple of weeks ago about putting together a more hardy orientation process for new board members; this is definitely on the list of things to orientate them too.
Ms. Mueller said I am glad we have this service in our county; I think it’s a huge deal. It is one of the things I like to tell people about Will County when they ask what we do on the County Board.
2. Presentation by Veteran's Assistance Commission on COVID-19 Response (Kristi McNichol)
Ms. McNichol stated I’m really excited to give you and update of what he Veterans Assistant Program Commission has been doing through Covid-19. One thing that has been keep constant during through Covid-19 process is we have continued to file for Veterans benefits through the Department of Veteran Affairs.
At this juncture Ms. McNichol reviewed the attached PowerPoint Presentation that included Updates, VA Benefits, Veteran Homelessness and VAC’s role in COVID-19 Response. A short question and answer period followed the presentation.
Ms. Ventura stated you mentioned the emergency beds; you said that is always an ongoing problem. Is that something you need the Counties help with?
Ms. McNichol stated the COC is working on it; and I’m sure just like the County got the $120 million for the CARES. There is tons of money; there is ESG, ESGCV and CBDG money. Through the CARES Funding I think the County could make a huge dent in that need right now; by bringing more beds into the community.
Mr. Tuminello said I want to thank you for all the work that you do with the Veterans; it is an extremely good cause and I know you are very passionate about it. You talked about a shortage of care; were you talking about more health care that there is a shortage of. I thought that they were able to go to the Veterans Hospital and are able to get all of their care taken care of; or was it more mental health care.
Ms. McNichol stated not every veteran qualifies for VA Health Care. Every veteran can go to the VA; yes they can. If they were in a mental health emergency the VA is going to take you but it doesn’t mean that they are going to get any follow up care. If they don’t qualify for VA Health Care they will give you three follow up visits. That is the way you qualify through a tier system.
At this juncture there was a discussion in regards to different examples of health care and family experiences the board members and their families have had with the VA.
Mr. Fricilone stated we have a sizeable amount of money that is being allocated for shelter in the CARES ACT; how are you accessing that. Are you going through CCC or through the United Way?
Ms. McNichol stated at our meeting yesterday through the COC/CCC; I asked that question to the nonprofits that were on the meeting; they all said that the do plan on applying for it. I suggested that they all might get together and collaboratively discuss what the community needs are and who is filling in what gaps. I do know that they all plan on applying for it. The VAC office does plan on applying for some money but not necessarily for emergency shelter beds. The VAC did ask for monies based on our shelter budget so we could put folks in hotel rooms while they are waiting to be picked up by a service provider.
Mr. Moustis stated along those lines the VAC is part of the county budget; even though they have an independent board very much like the Health Department. When it comes to cares money do they have to apply or can we directly give them money as a county agency.
Mr. Palmer stated my understanding is that Ms. McNichol’s request is already in. if it is not in the county bucket we could certainly move it to the right place.
Mr. Moustis stated for those of you who don’t know the county is absolutely required to fund the VAC to meet all of their needs.
Mr. Gray stated as a veteran and the Chief Deputy State’s Attorney I work with Ms. McNichol I want to congratulate her and thank her and her staff for all that they do. She truly treats all the veterans as brothers and sisters of arms. I greatly appreciate that.
Mrs. Tatroe said I just wanted to clarify a little bit on the veteran’s assistant commission’s status because sometime it gets very confusing and it does create some legal headaches when that confusion is out there. It is 100% true that the County is required to fund the VAC. I do want to point out that they are not under the control of the County Executive or the County Board and this was somewhat referenced. I would not characterize them as an agency of the County; they are an independent agency that is governed by the Board of Military Veterans organizations. They are created by State statute.
Ms. McCabe-Sterr said when I talked to the Bonner Group and I asked them about the possibility of funding for the housing fee for our apartment and our housing; for people who have lost jobs or have lesser hours. They told me that I couldn’t replace that income. I haven’t kicked people out of our houses; I have some people who owe thousands of dollars in back housing fees that are not able to pay them. But if there is a way that some of those fees can be replace; it seems to me that it would be counterintuitive for me to make them homeless so that they could access funds.
Ms. McNichol stated we have discussed this in the past; especially since she is under the county budget as will. Ms. McCabe-Sterr is reaching out as a landlord as a county department saying I don’t what these people to become homeless because it is more expensive for the community to have a homeless person than a housed person. I don’t think that is a unique situation for all landlords who would love to get their rent paid. It is just unique to Ms. McCabe-Sterr because she is a county department.
Dr. Burke stated I do have a grant that I use to support people who are short on their rent for recovery homes. In many cases when they go to a recovery home they have 30 to 60 days to get on their feet. Some of these folks have lost their jobs because of Covid-19. Contact me and we can talk about some opportunities for your help with that assistance. I also want you to know there are multiple housing issues in the County not just for the Vets but for people with a substance use disorder, mental health disorder and Covid-19 has exasperated it. I know that Martha is leading up a group that is trying to work with Bonner to come up with a potential solution; that has been meet with some resistance. If the committee is interested in that conversation it is worth bringing up and putting it on the agenda.
Ms. McNichol stated the disconnect between what is needed and what is allowed is a simple way the question is being asked. For the folks that are on the Cares Committee; if they could reach out to Bonner and maybe not ask for money but ask for a way to word the question to have it say yes. That might be the solution to the problem. The problem is we have a shortage of beds in the community. The problem with that shortage equals is more stress on the community as far as funding and community resources to go around. All of that is because of Covid-19. If the Cares money is supposed to be a direct response to a problem because of a problem that came up because of Covid-19; this is a problem and it came up because of Covid-19. The whole hotel process started when Ruth from Ms. McCabe-Sterr office sent an email stating she would hate to send a person to shelter. I said that’s too bad you can’t send them to shelter. We have to find another solution to this problem. We just have to find a way for them to say yes; because it is needed so bad.
Mr. Fricilone stated I think we can find a way to make that work. Perhaps we can put that on our Care’s Agenda for next week. I’ve been on many Care’s Act meeting around the counties around the county and they have found a way to make it work.
V. OTHER NEW BUSINESS
VI. PUBLIC COMMENT
VII. CHAIRMAN'S REPORT/ANNOUNCEMENTS
Speaker Cowan state thank you so much to our speakers today; this has been some really great information we appreciate you all taking time out of your busy day and your important duties to come and update us. If you have other questions or updates please reach out to the County Board Office so we can do this again if necessary. We look forward to having you talk to new Board Members after the first of the year. Keep up all of the great work; I know I appreciate and feel secure in speaking on behalf of the entire Board in saying we all appreciate the work that you all have been doing.
VIII. EXECUTIVE SESSION
IX. ADJOURNMENT
1. Motion to Adjourn @ 11:46 AM
| RESULT: APPROVED [UNANIMOUS]
MOVER: Ray Tuminello, District 12 (R - New Lenox) SECONDER: Gloria Dollinger, District 10 (R - Joliet) AYES: Brass, Ogalla, Koch, Moustis, Tyson, Harris, Traynere, Mueller, VanDuyne, Balich, Fricilone, Brooks Jr., Parker, Ventura, Dollinger, Marcum, Berkowicz, Cowan, Tuminello, Ferry ABSENT: Newquist, Rice, Fritz, Gould, Weigel, Kraulidis https://willcountyil.iqm2.com/Citizens/FileOpen.aspx?Type=15&ID=3864&Inline=True |
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