Will County Committee of the Whole Met April 21.
Here is the minutes provided by the committee:
I. CALL TO ORDER
II. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE TO THE FLAG
Ms. Winfrey led the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag.
III. ROLL CALL
Speaker Mimi Cowan called the meeting to order at 9:02 AM
| Attendee Name | Title | Status | Arrived |
| Sherry Newquist | District 1 (D - Steger) | Present | |
| Judy Ogalla | District 1 (R - Monee) | Present | |
| Amanda Koch | District 2 (D - Frankfort) | Absent | |
| Jim Moustis | District 2 (R - Frankfort) | Present | |
| Raquel M. Mitchell | District 3 (R - Bolingbrook) | Present | |
| Margaret Tyson | District 3 (D - Bolingbrook) | Present | |
| Kenneth E. Harris | District 4 (D - Bolingbrook) | Present | |
| Jacqueline Traynere | District 4 (D - Bolingbrook) | Present | |
| Gretchen Fritz | District 5 (R - Plainfield) | Absent | |
| Meta Mueller | District 5 (D - Aurora) | Present | |
| Donald Gould | District 6 (R - Shorewood) | Present | |
| Joe VanDuyne | District 6 (D - Wilmington) | Absent | |
| Steve Balich | District 7 (R - Homer Glen) | Present | |
| Mike Fricilone | District 7 (R - Homer Glen) | Present | |
| Herbert Brooks Jr. | District 8 (D - Joliet) | Present | |
| Denise E. Winfrey | District 8 (D - Joliet) | Present | |
| Annette Parker | District 9 (R - Crest Hill) | Present | |
| Rachel Ventura | District 9 (D - Joliet) | Present | |
| Natalie Coleman | District 10 (D - Plainfield) | Present | |
| Tyler Marcum | District 10 (D - Joliet) | Present | |
| Julie Berkowicz | District 11 (R - Naperville) | Present | |
| Mimi Cowan | Speaker | Present | |
| Frankie Pretzel | District 12 (R - New Lenox) | Present | |
| Tom Weigel | District 12 (R - New Lenox) | Present | |
| Mica Freeman | District 13 (D - Plainfield) | Present | |
| Debbie Kraulidis | District 13 (R - Joliet) | Present |
Present from State's Attorney's Office: M. Tatroe.
IV. PUBLIC COMMENT FOR AGENDA ITEMS ONLY
Mrs. Adams announced there were no public comments.
V. OLD BUSINESS
VI. NEW BUSINESS
1. Presentation by Franklin County, OH on Family Stabilization Unit Program - Attachments Added
(Franklin County, OH)
Speaker Cowan stated I know this past year has been exceptionally difficult for lots of people and in lots of ways, but as Board Members you continue to step up and attend these extra meetings. Thankfully, we are able to do them virtually, so that provides some scheduling relief for people. I know you are dedicating your time to solving some tough problems and you are putting in the time and the work. You are all here to serve your constituents and that is what you continue to do; so thank you. As we return to in-person meetings, we will be more cognizant of keeping the week after the Board meeting free. This is an important meeting and we wanted to get it in before the end of April, as this is a topic we are discussing with the American Rescue Plan funds and ways we can be proactive about investing this money in our community. We had some Board Members aware of the good work Franklin County is doing and they thought they might be able to be leaders and role models for us in our movement forward. I want to thank Commissioner Kevin Boyce for joining us today. We appreciate your time and that of your staff you have dedicated, not only this morning, but to the time it takes to prepare a presentation. We appreciate that and see it as a gesture of friendship that will not be forgotten. Welcome to Will County and thank you for being here. I would like to turn this over to NACo Second VP Winfrey for a formal introduction of our guests.
Ms. Winfrey stated good morning everyone. Mr. Boyce and I have been talking about him talking with us for over a year. We started with the overall Columbus Plan and now we are at the Family Stabilization Plan. I am excited to have him here to talk with you. Mr. Boyce has spent 25 years in government. Ten years on the Columbus City Council; then to the Ohio House of Representatives and Ohio State Treasurer. He is now President of the Franklin County Commissioners. He is a friend and I am very glad to have him here with me this morning. He will introduce his team. Mr. Boyce, thank you for being with us this morning. Welcome to Will County and I look forward to hearing from you today.
Mr. Boyce stated good morning, Speaker Cowan, Majority Leader Mueller and Minority Leader Fricilone and members of the Board and staff. I am Kevin Boyce, President of the Franklin County Board of Commissioners. I am honored to share an insight on the work we have been doing in Central Ohio. I would like to begin with my earliest memory in life. When I was seven years old, I came home and there was a knock on the door. It was my aunt, my mom answered the door and they quickly ushered themselves into the kitchen. We lived in the housing projects, commonly known as Uzi Alley in Central Ohio. A few minutes later my mother came back into the living room where my sister and I were sitting and sat my sister and myself on her lap and she shared that my father had just been murdered. Here is a man who did two tours in Vietnam as a Marine. He came back to his neighborhood and community and had his life taken by somebody who looked just like him. As I think about how things played out in our nation yesterday, with the Derek Chauvin case, I think all too often my story and stories just like it exist all over the country, no matter where you come from and there is something we have to do to change the narrative. Yesterday, as the verdict in the Derek Chauvin case came down, there was a police shooting on the south side of Columbus. Officers arrived to the scene of two teenagers fighting, the officer got out of his car and shot a 16 year old, African-American, little girl, three times and she died. I share these stories because as I think about our work in poverty and the elimination of racism there are so many pillars we have to get at as a Country. In 2018, I was in the second year of my first term as a Member of the Board of Commissioners and we starting having conversations about families like little seven year old Kevin Boyce, the George Floyd family and the young lady shot yesterday and we asked how can we change the narrative so that as central Ohio grows and becomes a bustling community. Franklin County has over 1.3 million residents and one of the fastest growing counties in the Midwest, if not the Country. We are predicting growth of another 1 million people in the next 20 years or so. While all of that growth was positive, our poverty was also growing. Our unemployment rate before the pandemic was 4%; but our poverty rates in some areas was upwards of 25%. We started to peel back these levels to zero in on what was happening in these communities versus other communities. In 2018 we launched an effort to come together and start to own the conversation around poverty. We are going to move the needle one way or the other and we are not going to stop until we do. We started by hiring some consultants that came in and helped us think through and organize our thoughts. They were helpful; but once we collated the data, what we saw was at the heart of poverty, at the core of why we were unable to shake it as a community, was racism. As we began to peel back the layers for how we were going to address this and create a plan, we had yearlong, roll up your sleeves meetings, we required all the Commissioners to be at; turn off your cellphones and let’s zero in and focus on our challenges. Then we said we have this book that tells us all the things we want to do, but now what. So I challenged the group to say we need an opportunity for big ideas; things that move the needle for that seven year old’s family. Almost 75% of black families are led by single parents, of which 95% are single females. So we asked, how do we zero in on that family knowing each family is unique in its own structure, its own challenges and its own needs. We created an innovation center, to be a hub where we can take big ideas to address poverty and racism; vet them, pilot them and replicate them to scale. We dedicated $30 million over the course of 10 years to taking those ideas and using them as something that can move the needle. We wanted the wildest of ideas to help that little seven year old that statistics says won’t make it. Those statistics say is on the pathway of trouble and destruction that will carry on from your generation to the next and to the next and to the next. How do you break that cycle? We wanted to take those ideas and apply them to those families so they can have the same kind of help my family had and somehow, kids able to make it and go on. I am really proud and excited for the innovation center and the work we are going to do. Because they are as different as we are people. What works for Family A, may not work for Family B. My Deputy Administrator was the head of our Jobs and Family Services before she was promoted to Deputy Administrator. She asked, how do we zero in on each family as they come through our system and how do we address their problems and peel back the layers? She asked to create a Family Stabilization Unit so when they come through the County doors, whether it is the court system or the welfare system or whatever, how do we get at their problems. It could be a simple transportation issue causing truancy for a 15 year old. Maybe, it is food access here and childcare there. Whatever it is, let us have a Family Stabilization Unit that can attack the problem with that family with their unique and special ways and we created the Family Stabilization Unit to do just that. The idea is around creating economic mobility. I told you about my father being killed, but my older brother spent a vast majority of my childhood in prison. He was a gang member and we grew up in poverty. The greatest moment of my life was when my oldest son was going to college and we were on the campuses of Harvard, Yale, Brown, Cornell, and Emory and in two weeks he will be graduating from Brown University. The greatest moment for me was seeing the next generation doing better than the last. Isn’t that really what we all want for our family? I think everyone would agree that we all want the best and better for the next generation. The Family Stabilization Unit is about that; how do we break the cycle of poverty, address the needs of the family and apply a unique response to every situation; I am honored we are moving the needle. We are not here for pats on the back or accolades, because we have serious work to do. The young lady killed yesterday was in our Franklin County Foster Care system. Our challenges are still great. How do you address that need before the system fails the family and the child? I believe we failed that family and that child, because of what law enforcement did, it breaks the cycle. What are we doing when they are in our hands and in our system to get to that young lady and provide a shell or cushion from all of society’s ills and challenges in her life? She was mentally challenged and we have to do more for those families. For all the good work we are doing, we have a ways to go. Here is the best part and what I challenge Will County to do; just be committed to the cause. That is really what I think our strength is; we are dedicated to the cause to see weaknesses along with our strengths and apply the work we can do. It gives me great honor to introduce my colleagues and professionals; Deputy Administrator, Ms. Joy Bivens, Deputy Director, Walter Dillard, Case Manager, Christopher Hunnicutt and my staff Tamara Howard and Jessica Sullivan. We can’t do the day-to-day work without the front line people. These are the folks who see the real scenarios play out. Mr. Dillard and Mr. Hunnicutt are two young men that take this work to the heart. They take it deeply and they are truly on the front line. The Franklin County Family Stabilization Unit is a new initiative that engages opportunities for young men and their families to provide holistic intervention and comprehensive services to bridge gaps within our social service safety net to eliminate the barriers, silos and uplift the most vulnerable families the best way we can.
Ms. Bivens stated I am challenged today. I am challenged anytime we lose a young person. Even though I am not a blood relative to the young person we lost yesterday, I represent myself as a mama, auntie and a mentor to someone in our community that has an impact on young people’s lives. When we lose young people, I take it personally. I had this very eloquent presentation for you today, however, I think this is an opportunity for us to present what we have and at the same time be real and for you to understand not just our wins, but our challenges; not just in Franklin County, but as a community. Even when we hired a consultant, we went to people in the community to talk about how poverty impacted them and not just those who are considered stakeholders and suits in offices, we went to single mothers, single fathers, new American citizens, the jail system, the aging population, our youth and spoke to our residents there. We went anywhere and everywhere asking people three different questions; what are we doing wrong, what can we do more of and what can we do to move you up the economic mobility ladder? Out of over 200 conversations, we developed the plan that was sent to you. We flushed those conversations out and there were five overarching things; unemployment or a workforce, transportation, affordable housing, education, youth and education, but what continued to rise to the top was the issue of racism. The Franklin County Commissioners invested over $2 million to bring in the Racial Equity Institute to provide training to our large system leaders; not just in government. We brought in CEOs, nonprofit leaders, faith leaders and community leaders into those conversations. It did not just talk about the bias, but about the 400 years of slavery and the policies we have developed over the years that we continue to build upon, but they continue to shut people out. There were a lot of tears in those conversations and a lot of how do we fix it. What can I do? I said before you go out and try to change the world in the community, look at your own influence and policies. Do your policies impact single women who are working within your system? Are you shutting them out? Where are you located? Does your location shut off a community that does not have access to equitable transportation to get to your job center? We challenged them to say I get it, we are all emotional, we are upset about what has happened over the years and this is how we got here. Take your influence to change your system; that is the influence you have and own it. There were a lot of questions in the room and people said I am not doing that. Then I said in Franklin County, 63% of the homeless population and residents are black mothers. I asked the CEOs and leaders who have influence; when you are looking at your C-level suite or your management level for a promotion, do it not because they are black or a woman, but because they are just as qualified as someone else. Did you make those decisions based on what you were comfortable with; a person who speaks like you, talks like you, goes to the same restaurants or plays golf; did you make the decision looking at each person from an equitable standpoint; saying this person can do the job and not from the standpoint of our implicit bias. If your leadership does not reflect the community you service, then you are perpetuating a system of racism and oppressing people. Just as diverse as your communities are; our boards, our C Suite levels and our management should be the same. As more people move up, we break the cycle. When we started the Family Stabilization Unit that is where the conversation started. Then, I said to the Commissioners, does a silo system perpetuate racism. If we know that 17% of the population is made up of people of color, black and brown, but they make up 31% of the arrests. We have to stop using those as sound bites and become very intentional about addressing those issues. Out of that, the Franklin County Commissioners said from now on, we are going to be very intentional on the contracts we put on the street, working with our partners to ensure their core values are those that reflect the Franklin County Commissioners and our own programs. The Franklin County Family Stabilization Unit aligns all of our social service agencies. We have never done before versus saying we know that people of color are going through our systems and they will ping low on their social pendulums, we are going to be very intentional of when they can engage in our system and wrapping around them. Not just those coming through our doors, but whoever lives in those households. With that, we developed the Family Stabilization Unit and I was very intentional about finding young men who reflected the population we needed to save and being intentional about who understood some of the challenges that young men and women face in our community.
Mr. Dillard stated I am the Deputy Director of the Family Stabilization Unit and Strategic Initiatives for Franklin County. I want to preface what I am going to present with this. There is a change in lieu of what has happened over the last 24 hours and I may become very unapologetic and passionate in what I am about to present, because the time for what I am about to present has been overdo. Now that it is in the focus, it is important for a lot of counties take this call to action and pick up things such as this.
Mr. Dillard reviewed the attached PowerPoint presentation.
Ms. Bivens stated our Jobs and Family Services, is the agency who administers food and cash assistance and childcare benefits. I took the case managers and cross trained them on aging, mental health and drug addiction, child support enforcement, justice policy and program, which works with our reentry population so we would no longer have a mom who has a situation with her aging mom and we give her a phone number to call. These specialists are responsible to be that person until completion; whatever their stabilization looks like. They are the practitioners and contact person working with those agencies so people are not calling 1-800 numbers and being on hold for up to an hour and twenty minutes. We found many of the families they are working with are already Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) customers. This is a two year pilot program. I asked the Commissioners for $3 million over three years. I wanted to add how we are paying for that. A bulk of those dollars are already being compensated through their employment of being FTE and TANF employment. For those who are not, I asked the Commissioners for $200,000 to work with the families who were not in TANF, but were on the benefits cliff level. In addition to the contracts, after school programs, enrichment services; we already have contracts with those organizations and human service organizations. That was not additional money, those contracts are already there.
Speaker Cowan stated thank you for preparing and putting this information together, especially in light of what has been going on in your community over the past 24 hours. I saw it this morning and was not sure how to address it. I appreciate you addressing it and bringing it up. Our hearts are with you and your community. We know this is difficult. Unfortunately, it is all too common in all of our communities.
Ms. Winfrey stated I wanted to say Mr. Dillard, Amen. I appreciate we are willing to start doing this work. We need to understand it is not an overnight things, it is not a check off the box. We just started to get onboard with a D&I consultant, which is one of the steps you did early on. That is a beginning and it is a long process. I look forward to using some of our ARP money and other things so we can do things that uplift, change and move the needle. I encourage each of us to own our piece in it. It is not a black or brown problem, it is a people problem for all of us and each of us have some responsibility in it.
Ms. Ventura stated this looks like a great program. I wanted to highlight the case management touch system. For anyone who has dealt with poverty, mental abuse, PTSD or any of those, sometimes getting to work for a poor family is difficult. When someone says just call this number, it sounds like an easy solution, but the reality is many people struggle to do just that. Waiting on hold for 30 minutes does not help the situation; nor is being told to fill out a form. This is one of the things we definitely need in every level of government, a little more hand holding, making sure people get through to completion, patience and understanding. I think that builds a lot of much needed compassion into our system and fosters humanity. Those are things I would like to do and pull together some of the systems we have in Will County already. We really need that. We heard from Dr. Burke when it comes to trying to deal with substance abuse, that once they get out of the hospital they don’t always have follow up care, unless someone is touching base with them, helping them get the appointments and going through the programs that exist. I like that you highlighted talking to members of the community. Everybody knows I have advocated for creating a Board of people who have been impacted by these policies so they can be the voice of this. You said you talked to over 200 families from every community. That is one of the things I am advocating for; a government by the people can only represent the people when they know what is happening. Too often we spend money doing case studies and looking at data, but we don’t sit down and understand the stories of how these things are happening. Ultimately, the data will help drive policy. I have been advocating for hearing from these families and seeing what can been done on a yearly basis. I have been advocating for dollars to create policies to create the upward mobility and be the economic driver. Those goals align with the goals I have to better every family in Will County. You talked about starting work with people who interact with the juvenile system and yes, that is definitely needed. The fear I have though is if we stop there we miss a huge plethora of people who are impacted by the economics of not have a good job, not having healthcare, being underemployed, working three or four jobs because their children may never go into the legal system. They need just as much help to change their generational outcomes and their generation poverty level so they have a chance at being successful in creating the generational wealth we have seen in middle and upper class families. Do you have a secondary step or program where you look at families outside of the legal system or who have been touched by that? What does that look like? I am definitely interested in helping to shrink the wealth gap in Will County. We have some programs that reach families in the legal system, but there are so many more who can be approached.
Ms. Bivens replied the answer is yes. This was a pilot and they have only being doing this since September. Mr. Dillard has worked with over 3,000 people so far. Mr. Dillard came up with an idea to do the same model with our preschool population. In Franklin County, 75% of kids are not kindergarten ready when they enter into kindergarten and that starts in preschool. We are going to pilot some of this with our preschool population. Last week, we were approached by our community college and we are putting together an Education Stabilization team that will work with students entering into community college. When we look at that data, they are not completing school. They will start college and incur debt but they don’t complete school. We are looking at a model when you enroll you are now assigned to an education specialist who, just like the FSU team gets involved in your life and those living in your household. This way, when a car breaks down, grandma gets sick or someone needs assistance, this team steps in and works with you so you do not miss classes and drop out. We are going to be presenting two models to Commissioner Boyce and we will be asking for more money. Ms. Ventura, if you would like to talk more about this, we can make an appointment off-line and Mr. Dillard and I can present that to you.
Commissioner Boyce stated I am on a NACo team that has travelled the country looking at poverty and racism and the best programs. I have seen some really good stuff happening in some counties and they are tackling some tough issues. There is no cookie cutter approach to a good program or a good impact. We were able to take morsels or pieces of what others have done and make it fit to Franklin County. We had to start somewhere. We thought it was important to zero in on those coming in our juvenile system. We wanted to capture them because they are showing signs of vulnerability and maybe we could right the ship at that point, is how we approached it. I am excited we are expanding the net. Part of the challenge is where do you start? Where do you zero in? What Will County does will be unique to Will County. You can take any of our stuff, but I encourage you to fit it to the Will County family needs. It may look a little different than Franklin County; you may start somewhere else and that is okay.
Speaker Cowan stated in order to make sure we are being respectful of the time of our guests, please limit your editorial comments. Those are important and we want to have those conversations, but that can be done when we have our meetings about how to structure this. I would ask you to get to your question, front and center, so our guests can address everyone’s questions in a timely fashion.
Mr. Fricilone stated Mr. Dillard it was your presentation at NACo that inspired me to bring it forward to our County the next day. I said we have to get on this right away and start moving forward. The money out there right now, will allow us to put some of these things together. With the makeup of those in in the Family Stabilization Unit, how many families can you deal with, with the staff you have? As the families you work with come out of the program, will they be mentors to the future families you will be dealing with?
Mr. Dillard replied the plan we adopted from our consultant, Economic Mobility Pathways has mobility mentors who work with a singular person in regards to all of these things on the bridge to self-sufficiency. The most we believe we can do without missing opportunities for other families is for every specialist to cap out at 15 families. Keep in mind, these families’ average 5.7 members; with six people per family and we are looking at 90 people per specialist. In regard to the families that complete the program mentoring to other families, it is not something we have done. However, we are going to share the success stories of previous families to create the buy-in for the new families we are bringing in. What we can do is share the success stories and say there was a family in a very similar position to where you are right now, this is what they did with this program and look at where they are now. If you give us a little buy-in, if you give us eight to ten months we have a chance of making your picture look very similar.
Mr. Fricilone asked how many specialists do you have now?
Mr. Dillard replied we have seven; I just added three more to the staff. Mr. Fricilone asked are they full-time?
Mr. Dillard replied yes.
Ms. Bivens stated we have 14 in the budget. Jobs and Family Services is the largest agency. I asked the Commissioners if they would create ten new positions specific to this unit. They were amenable to doing that. The bulk of those dollars, 85% to 90% come from the TANF funding because these specialists can still administer food and cash assistance.
Mr. Dillard stated Ms. Ventura brought up a really good point. I told our Deputy County Administrator, when me and Mr. Hunnicutt see these black men on the path of adjudication or not set up to successfully complete the diversion program because there are no resources uniquely catered to the black circumstance, it hurts me. I don’t want the Family Stabilization Unit to become a reactive unit. When a youth has been picked up and is on the path of adjudication or is involved with the juvenile justice system, here comes the FSU to save this black boy or black girl. That is not what we want FSU to be; that is not the vision of FSU, our next part is the preemptive work. We talked about the high percentage of youth that are not kindergarten ready, not able to spell their name, tell the difference between blue and red, know left and right; those are things they are not prepared for. We want to be preemptive and proactive in our work. That is why they are the next part of the journey FSU is going to take on, as well as middle school, high school and even into the community college.
Ms. Bivens stated as you do this in your county, find people who can lead an initiative like this, not just because of their education, but they have an authentic connectivity and are proximate to the issue. I spent a lot of time vetting Mr. Hunnicutt and Mr. Dillard for these roles. It went beyond having cases you can process to what do you know about social services, healthcare, human services value curve; we did all of that. It was true, authentic conversations and many times it was things I did not want to hear as a leader. I know I needed to lead this because I am a momma and an auntie and they have a different perspective on this work than I do.
Ms. Tyson stated Ms. Bivens you listed three things we need to do. What are we doing wrong? What can we do more of? However, I did not get the third piece.
Ms. Bivens replied what are we doing wrong? What can we do more of? What can we do to move you up the economic mobility ladder? When we took those conversations to our stakeholders, we had CEOs of our hospitals, Fortune 500 companies and our human service agencies to flush all of those conversations out. But, most importantly, we had people in the room who lived in poverty and were impacted by the issues, assisting us. They were elbow to elbow with those same stakeholders. That is why we call the plan, the People’s Plan.
Ms. Tyson stated I am looking forward to working with you, especially when you talk about the educational pieces with preschool and community colleges. Many times children go to school, they get discouraged, they shut down and they quit. We need to move them forward.
Ms. Bivens stated anything you need, please reach out. We can do a technical in service with you where you take us through what you have and we can show you the simulations and how you can piece those things together. I can also show you how the money works in that regard.
Mrs. Traynere asked do you have township government in Ohio?
Ms. Bivens replied our Commissioners are over all of the municipalities and the townships as well.
Mrs. Traynere asked do your townships supply emergency assistance, rental and utility help to people in a crisis situation?
Ms. Bivens replied if you are a resident of Franklin County you have access to all of the services.
Mrs. Traynere continued I am trying to figure out how a county program would overlap with a township program.
Ms. Bivens stated the agencies overseen by the Board of Commissioners are agencies that service the entire county and that means the townships as well. If the residents within the townships qualify for the services, they have access to the services. For this particular program, even if they don’t, they are on the benefits cliff bubble and they live in the township within the county where the dollars are designated, they can still get help.
Mrs. Traynere stated we have lots of layers of government in Illinois and I wonder how this would work. My experience has been they don’t all communicate with one another.
Mr. Brooks stated you have done an excellent job on the presentation; it is all inclusive. I saw a movie a couple of years ago called Miles Ahead. It was about a dad by the name of Miles and in the movie, he was ahead of his time. Franklin County, I want to compliment you, you are all inclusive and you are ahead of your time. You are doing something, right now, that is proactive and not reactive. You are including Franklin County not only in the events going on there, in the State of Ohio, but all across this Country. Thank you for your presentation, what you have done and what you are currently doing in Franklin County.
Ms. Freeman stated I echo Mr. Brooks’ comments; what an excellent presentation. Can you tell us what some of the roadblocks were that you saw and how you worked through a couple of them? How often do you meet at a roundtable to have these discussions?
Ms. Bivens replied hen we started this way before George Floyd and Brianna Taylor, but the country and our community was on heightened alert. Some of the roadblocks were patience. People wanted a quick fix and they want me to create something that was going to immediately boil the ocean, but we needed to pilot something to see if it even worked. If you want to address racism and the systemic issues, you need patience. It has been here for a long time, we are not going to undo it overnight and you need to be intentional. Educating people on that was a huge roadblock. As I created the jobs through Jobs and Family Services, there were a lot of case managers saying sign me up. But, it was a process. It was not just an interview. I sat with Mr. Dillard for months and had intrinsic conversations with him because I wanted to know his thoughts on a lot of things. If he was going to be working with these families, I needed to make sure his core values matched to those families he was assisting. It was that, in addition to the dollars, making sure the Commissioners understood I was not guaranteeing this would be the silver bullet for all things of ill will. However, we had to give it a try in convincing them this is a safe thing to do for the community. People have a lot of distrust in a lot of systems. If there were barriers, it was trying to convince people that I know what has happened in the past, but just trust this new thing and see if this works. It was going to take patience to look at the data. We had to make data driven decisions versus emotional decisions and make sure everyone felt included. For people who are not black or brown many times they feel attacked and it was not from the perspective of I am attacking them, it was this is what the data says. The data says if you go 5, 10 or 20 years it is the same demographic of people being impacted by racism and poverty. I am asking you to not feel attacked but join arm in-arm with us as we create this thing to see if we can be very intentional about addressing some of the issues you are seeing.
Ms. Freeman asked how did you get that message out? Did you send flyers or phone calls?
Ms. Bivens responded I had one-on-one meetings with a lot of people. There were days when I started at 7:00 a.m. and did not end until 8:00 p.m. I had one-on-one conversations with the CEOs because I felt we needed intimate conversations so people understood what the Commissioners were trying to address.
Mr. Dillard added in this initiative we wanted to make sure that this was not, here’s the issue, this is how you can address it and we will check back in in 24 months. We have intentional conversations all the partners at the table, monthly. We let them know these are the pain points and this is what we are seeing. How can your agency be a solution to this pain point? We have these conversations monthly to make sure we are covering everything to assist residents.
Ms. Bivens added it is about building relationships. That is why I felt having those one-on-one conversations were important.
Ms. Ventura stated I am interested in the plans you have. When do you meet? What type of data are you collecting? What type of policies do you have and did they need to be changed? How do you look forward to those things? As lawmakers, we want to make sure policies have longevity and create systematic change. What happens to these neighborhoods when you are lifting people out of them? Is there a plan to transform these neighborhoods? Often we hear children go off to college and not come back and invest in their communities, they just find a better community. Then, what is left is people who continue to struggle. For the long term prospects, how do you plan to implement those policies?
Ms. Bivens replied we started seeing people last September so they are still gathering data for policy. We said to our corporate stakeholders and Commissioners; if infant mortality and housing instability was an issue before COVID, it is 20 times the issue now. I said to Mr. Dillard and Mr. Hunnicutt, the families you are working with were not omitted from the issues and policies we are seeing now. The moratorium on housing evictions was to cease on March 31st. We told the Commissioners they need to ask federally and through our NACo partners to extend that moratorium and provide flexible dollars to the homeowners so they don’t go into arrears trying to assist the population we are now servicing. The other policy we are looking at is eligibility; why do we look at gross income when we should be looking at net income because that really impacts the benefits cliff level? We are not trying to lift people out of their neighborhoods, but invest in those neighborhoods. That is why I would like to have a one-on-one with you so I can show you. Not just through this initiative, but through economic development and through all of our other agencies we have garnered dollars for affordable housing to be built in those neighborhoods. The Commissioners have invested $2 million for every childcare center in Franklin County to be star rated so every child has an opportunity for a quality preschool education. This is just a small piece of a multi-pronged approach in order to stabilize the entire community.
Mr. Balich stated I am listening to this conversation and there is a big part of this that is missing; that would be economic slavery. It is not just about black, brown or white people; it is about all people. If a person is making too much money and on welfare or aid from the government, our government will say you no longer qualify. So if a person has a couple of children in daycare and the boss says you are a great worker and I want to give you a better job. When the person goes home they find if they take that job they will lose free daycare and then won’t be able to afford it. There is a problem with that. There is a problem with our educational system. The education system graduates kids from school that don’t have life skills. They have no clue how to get a job, how to have a work ethic and show up to work and do the job. All the stuff you are talking about is great, but we have to change the things they learn that don't really matter for them to succeed in life. It is important to know how to balance a checkbook, get a job and show up so you don’t get fired, to know there are rules and you follow the rules. All the stuff you are saying is great, but I think you are missing the larger aspect, how do you make this stuff work? You can have 100 mentors, but if the system is set up for the mentor to just tell you do this, this and this, while the system is working against you. We need to change the system so it is good for everybody. Vouchers come up all over the country and they always get shutdown because the teacher’s union doesn’t like vouchers. If we had vouchers, kids could go to any school they wanted and they might end up getting a good education. There are more aspects to this than what you are talking about.
Speaker Cowan stated Ms. Bivens talked about the services cliff and how if people are on the borderline this program actually identifies and tries to capture some of those folks who might fall off of the ability to get services.
Ms. Bivens replied that is part of our innovation center work. If you are underemployed you can’t move up the economic mobility ladder. Unfortunately, the data for this particular program talks about the juvenile justice system, which is primarily people of color.
Ms. Mueller stated I am really excited about this program. I think we could help a lot of folks in our county with this program. I was wondering if I could be part of the one off with Ms. Bivens during that conversation. Thank you very much for coming and sharing this with us. I look forward to digging in and getting this work done.
Ms. Bivens stated I would like to take all of you through our poverty blueprint plan, show you how we did that and then talk about this particular program. This program is one of many programs we are doing out of the program.
Ms. Mueller stated I think folks don’t always see the multi-layer approach. This is a good way for us to dig into this.
Mrs. Ogalla stated this is a pilot program; what is the specific area you are looking at? Are you looking at one portion of your county or one township? What pilot area are you looking at?
Ms. Bivens replied it is any young person who enters into the juvenile justice system; whether it is for throwing a rock, being truant, and they service all young people, black, brown or white. Our data found it is our black males who are our highest residents going through that system.
Mrs. Ogalla stated anyone who starts a program needs a pilot group to start with and be able to expand it to many other areas. When we look at every situation that presents itself, we have to look at the whole situation and not one particular fact of the situation and why the situation occurred. Sometimes you hear one side of the story, not both sides. I know how young boys can be. They can be more daring and do riskier things than young women might. That is why it is a good pilot for you to focus on those kids who need help. There is an airport they would like to build in a rural area for the benefit of the south suburbs. I think if the south suburbs were focusing on what we could do in our area to promote these things and help the people, it makes sense. I know people, regardless of color, in the welfare system and the welfare system keeps them locked in. There has to be a good program to encourage people on how to get from where you are now. They need the support system to give them a hand up, and then you move on from there and continue to improve yourself. If you don’t improve yourself, you just stay in that system. I have cousins who have been living on welfare for years because they have not found a way to get out. Family members have tried, but the system, the government that provides these has to provide a way out. I like the family approach because it makes sense because if it does not change within the family, we are not going to change the community. The family is all living within the community and everybody needs to focus on ways to make things better for themselves. I think it is a good idea. I like the fact it is inclusive and not just for a child that might be black or brown, it includes white, Asian or whoever comes forward and I like the fact you were very narrow in starting your pilot with kids who have hit in the juvenile justice system. Otherwise, it is too large to grasp, so starting with one area is a good thing.
Ms. Bivens stated we have other programs we created that provide support to this program. Our Building Futures Program is a 12-week program that cross trains young and old people in the construction trades program. They come out making $45,000 to $60,000 per year with full benefits. Over 100 people have gone through that program. We put wraparound services around the individuals going through the program to ensure they will complete it and be successful. We had a situation where someone was living in a homeless shelter on a Friday and they put the down payment on their apartment the next week because they are in the construction program, being taught all of the things people need to be successful. In Franklin County we don’t want people to be beholden to public assistance. That is why we are really intentional about moving people up the economic mobility ladder. One thing I did not talk about was trauma. Many of the policies written for the young people are outdated because throwing a rock in my day was probably the worst thing you could do. Now, because families are so disjointed, the trauma these young people are experiencing is being manifested in their activity and the way they are acting out. We have mental health services, not just for the young people, but their family as well.
Mrs. Ogalla stated I agree with you. One of the things that I would like to see us look at is putting together programs so they can get experience with the trades. Not everyone wants to go to college, but they can certainly work with their hands. That is a good approach and I hope Will County will look at a lot of different things to come to a solution. It will be a long time for that to happen, but I think small steps can help. I like that you recognize it is not specifically for someone of a particular color, but anyone who has had a background. I understand your data shows that more are black and that is why there is a lot of focus in that particular area, but it does recognize everything. I want to make sure everybody is brought into this equally so no one feels any blame for it. We need to understand there are people in every sector of our world that have issues that have come to them and everybody needs to be supportive. It is not because a person is black, brown, white or whatever; we have to work together as a team and as a team we have to take an approach so there isn’t a blame put on anybody so they feel included in trying to help. I don’t want to be someone who says because you are not black then you are part of the problem; I want to be part of the solution. Being on government aid does not help people. It helps the immediate future, but we have to be able to help them move on. With young moms, I have thought of having a community program where grandmothers who are home who could take a training course to provide daycare in their home so those moms can drop the little ones off and finish their schooling and possibly go on to college. They know their child is in their neighborhood being taken care of by somebody who has the training, experience and is safe. It is a problem for moms; how do you move yourself up when you have little ones to take care of and you have to have that stabilization.
Ms. Newquist stated I am really excited about this program. I came to it, not with skepticism, but trying to be open minded. Many years ago I was a Public Aid case worker in Chicago, working with general assistance, so I know the biggest problem out there is not the lack of programs, it is getting people to participate in these programs and helping them navigate the system that was created to help them. During this program I have been asking myself is this the job of the County Board; I have come to the conclusion yes, it certainly is. As a County we are uniquely positioned to help create a holistic program like this. I am super excited about it.
Speaker Cowan stated I mentioned the Q&A was not working. Ms. McNichol is the Director of our VAC. She would like to be part of this program. She asked if there were two or three barriers you encountered and how those were dissolved or circumvented? You addressed that with Ms. Freeman, but I thought I would see if there was anything else that has come to mind in the last few minutes that you would like to address under that umbrella?
Ms. Bivens replied one of the barriers is the issue of affordable housing. When people are underemployed and they are not making enough, they have to choose between food and housing, that is a problem. What we find by working with the families is there is a lot of housing instability and we try to make sure we can assist them in trying to locate affordable housing for their family; but that is a national issue.
Speaker Cowan asked if there were any comments that have come in through the Q&A.
Mrs. Adams stated the Community Development Program Manager is asking to be included in the one-on-ones for economic development or at least if you would share the findings with her. I will work with Mr. Palmer on that.
Speaker Cowan continued it sounds like we have a lot of folks interested in that.
Mrs. Berkowicz stated while you were talking about your program, I was thinking about some of the existing things we have in Will County. Our State’s Attorney has a program that is incredible and does exactly this. He works with adults that have entered the legal system to mentor and help them with their addiction and issues, provides care and helps them turn their lives around. It also helps to create a community they need to succeed and in turn, also helps the family and provides the support the family needs. I would love to see additional support go to that program. I want to make sure that the dollars are spent wisely. We don’t need to duplicate services. I don’t think we need to pay people as consultants. Will County donates money to a lot of very committed nonprofits in our community. We have excellent services. Part of the conversation today was about the multilevel approach. Life experiences build every one of us. I feel we can’t have a world without mistakes because mistakes are a very important part of learning. It is when we don’t open ourselves up to that learning process that we start to stumble. Decades ago, I was a young parent in the City of Chicago and I was almost a single parent because my husband lived in another state. I was in a house that I loved that I scrimped and saved to purchase. I saw my neighborhood changing and becoming more dangerous. I had to leave the neighborhood I loved because of gang violence and things happening that we had no control over. I think about why that was happening. I see these are the issues we need to address, but they are basic issues that will make a big difference. We need to reinforce family values and help create parenting skills.
Speaker Cowan asked do you have a question for our guests? Your comments are very important and part of the conversation, but we are running up against the clock. I asked everyone to keep their questions directed toward our guests so we could respect their time. Your comments are important, but they need to be for our meeting about how we are going to do things. We need to keep the comments focused on questions for our guests.
Mrs. Berkowicz continued I have had my hand up and I have waited patiently and I am going to finish my comment. This is sharing information like other Board Members have done.
Speaker Cowan stated I have asked all the Board Members to direct their questions to the guest. We are about done with the time they have granted us today and we are running up against another meeting. If you have a question, please pose your question. I would like to hear your comments about what we need to do, but that needs to be in a meeting when we are discussing our plans. Do you have a question?
Mrs. Berkowicz stated how does your plan implements basic skills? How do you make sure children attend school? How do you help them graduate from high school? In Illinois we have issues where our unions have kept children out of school for a year. Do you have those problems? I would like to know if the presenters have a different experience between their unions and their teachers. We know the value work brings a sense of accomplishment and satisfaction and it builds personal growth. Could they indicate how you encourage them? They mentioned work with the trades. STEM careers are the future and I applaud that. As a longtime member of the Scouts of America, we actively taught welding and other STEM skills.
Ms. Bivens replied due to COVID, kids have not been in school and we have all been impacted. That is why we have that multi human services program working with every person who affects that young persons’ life to ensure they are not only attending school, but they are being successful. I don’t know how it works in your county; but anyone who receives public assistance is required to be working or going to school. You have to be doing something in order to receive the benefit, other than Medicaid. What we find, is we have a number of people who are underemployed. We are trying to assist them with skills so they can get high paying jobs so they do not rely on public assistance. That is why we have our community college at the table to assist us in working with those families. I did not want to feel like we are having families rely on benefits; that is not what we want. No one wants that. Our Commissioners would not want that. Unfortunately, this is where we are; a lot of people are underemployed and we are trying to get them overemployed. We are creating innovative programs in order to skill them up. We are working with our young people to assist them in garnering some kind of skills, post high school if they choose not to go to college. Childhood poverty is a term, but children don’t earn wages, parents do. We are trying to work with families in order to change the environment so their families can have high paying jobs, so young people can see that and garner their skills and break that generational issue.
Ms. Ventura stated as County Board Members we need to vote and drive direction. If we were to vote to create this program or bring it here, could you give us a quick overview of what we would expect over the next year? What type of policies would we need to be setting and/or what would our staff need to do to implement a program like this?
Ms. Bivens replied it is a really hard question. You would have to look at the number of people going through whatever system you choose to partner with. The other thing is you have to look at the skill level in bringing employees together, assessing all of your contracts, what complimentary services or support of services do you have in place to deal with the issues families deal with. A year is not enough time to turn around the issues we are seeing with these families. In a year all you are going to be doing is figuring out where the lights are, obtaining data and looking at the core issues that each family has. It is really hard to say. I can tell you housing and livable wages are going to be an issue. What institutions do you have in your community that can assist your families in being skilled up?
Ms. Ventura asked what about the implementation? Did you start with collecting data?
Ms. Bivens replied yes.
Speaker Cowan stated I am sure this will not be the last time we will be bugging you for information and have questions. I want to thank the staff from Franklin County for spending their time with us today. It sounds like they are also offering us their time and services as guidance in the future. I cannot say thank you enough for that. For closing comments, I would like to turn this back over to Ms. Winfrey.
Ms. Winfrey stated thank you and I appreciate you for being so available to us. Mr. Boyce and I have been talking about this for over a year. I am looking forward to planning, doing our initial work here to begin to think about what we need to do, what our issues are and bring you back again so we can ask for your guidance on how we move forward. Thank you very much for being here today. We will be talking again soon.
Mr. Dillard stated we did not get here overnight or in a month or in a year. There is no way to fix it in that allotted time. Stay the course. If you feel this is something you should implement, you definitely have to stay the course.
Ms. Bivens stated my suggestion is to always look at your data and make decisions based on the data. For Franklin County the data tells us where our pain points are and we are going to continue on that track.
VII. OTHER NEW BUSINESS
VIII. PUBLIC COMMENT RELEVANT TO MATTERS UNDER THE JURISDICTION OF THE COUNTY Mrs. Adams announced there were no public comments.
IX. ANNOUNCEMENTS/REPORTS BY CHAIR
X. EXECUTIVE SESSION
XI. ADJOURNMENT
1. Motion to Adjourn at 10:47 AM
| RESULT: APPROVED [UNANIMOUS]
MOVER: Denise E. Winfrey, District 8 (D - Joliet) SECONDER: Mike Fricilone, District 7 (R - Homer Glen) AYES: Newquist, Ogalla, Moustis, Mitchell, Tyson, Harris, Traynere, Mueller, Gould, Balich, Fricilone, Brooks Jr., Winfrey, Parker, Ventura, Coleman, Marcum, Berkowicz, Cowan, Pretzel, Weigel, Freeman, Kraulidis ABSENT: Koch, Fritz, VanDuyne |
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