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Home My WebLink AboutMinutes 2007Minutas aprxwW EVANSTON MENTAL HEALTH BOARD MEETING MINUTES THURSDAY, January 11, 2007 Members Present: Sue Canter, Gil Krulce, Anne Gauthier, Randy Walker, Carol Sittler, lane Grover Presiding: Sue Canter Staff: Jay Terry, Harvey Saver, Casey Solomon Community Representatives: Willis Francis (Trilogy); Pamela Thomas (Evanston Skokie Valley Sen- ior Service Center); Helen Roberts Evans (Child Care Center of Evans- ton); Chris Baer (Childcare Network of Evanston); Alexander Brown (Housing Options) Ms Canter called the meeting to order at 7:02 p.m. I. INTRODUCTION AND COMMUNITY COMMENTS Ms. Canter called the meeting to order and asked the guests to introduce themselves and provide their important announcements to the group. Mr. Willis invited all to attend the Social Impact of Immigration Law conference. The conference, sponsored by Evanston Coalition for Latino Re- sources is being held at Evanston Northwestern Hospital on February 12, 2007, from 8:30 — I I a.m. II. APPROVAL OF MINUTES FROM DECEMBER 14, 2006 Mr. Krulee moved and his. Grover seconded a motion to approve the minutes with Ms. Canter's corrections. Motion approved unanimously 7 ayes — 0 no. 111. DISCUSSION ABOUT POSITION PAPER ON BOARD -AGENCY RELATION- SHIPS Ms. Grover reviewed the material she prepared for the position paper in the packet. She said that several years ago, home -rule communities in Illinois were required by the State Attorney General to adopt an ethics ordinance that was at least as strict as the State Ordinance. Now everyone that works for government is subject to its terms. The City of Evanston's Ethics Ordinance is also the guidepost and establishes principles for all City boards, commissions and goveming bodies. Mr. Saver added that, with all the citations that were incorporated into the paper, the MHB is also subject to provisions in the State Community Mental Health Act, which enabled communi- ties to pass a referendum to establish a mental health board.. Ms. Grover identified the issues in the paper that were raised by the Board when they last dis- cussed the topic of agency -Board relationships. She also discussed some of what the City of Evanston's Ethics Code say is permissible. January 11, 2007 Mental Heatth Board Meeting Minutes Pane 1 Minutes approved (Ms Gauthier and Mr. Geyer joined the Board at 7:10 p.m.). Ms. Grover said that she also reviewed the Evanston Community Foundation's (ECF) Conflict of Interest Policy as an additional guide to identify possible issues for the Board to consider in its review. Generally, their police says that no person shall benefit from his or her relationship to the Foundation, nor accept any favor, gratuity or gift which might influence actions concerning the Foundation. She summarized it by saying that the guiding light is "don't do anything that Iooks as it is improper." Ms. Grover said that all of the policies and codes that she has reviewed require disclosure of any- thing that might be perceived as giving rise to conflict of interest. The ECF requires their Board members to report if they have an interest in or are significant donors in an agency that is being considered for funding. The Foundation's statement also indicates that there arc certain things that might be seen as a duality of interest. They are not necessarily a conflict of interest, but the situation does raise the possibility. Ms. Grover added that ECF's Code was less clear about a Board member volunteering %-, ith an agency receiving funding, but it does require disclosure if the role creates a duality of interest. Ms Gauthier said that she had some questions about the meaning of the phrase "significant do- nor." She said that she thought that the term indicated that one's donations represent a significant portion of an agency's budget. She said she was interested in finding out how ECF defines the term. The Board discussed language in the City's Ethics Code that seemed to be open to interpretation. They thought that the guidelines were basic and discussed that City Boards and Commissions could also adopt more stringent regulations than are already in the City Code. Ms. Grover said that the Law Department was not able to answer some of the questions that the MHB had previ- ously discussed without specific facts. The Board would need to draft very specific questions, but it may be able to get a response to them without sufficient circumstances that would apply. The Board members discussed that it might be worthwhile to discuss their key questions, draft concrete context and interpretations, and ask the Law Department to review and respond to the Board's positions. Ms. Grover led a discussion among the Board members about each of the initial questions that prompted the focus on these issues, and an initial interpretation of the relevant guidelines. Q: Can an AIHB member serve on the Board of a funded agency? A: No, service on a Board of Directors for a funded agency would prohibited by City of Evans- ton Code of Ethics. Mr. Saver pointed out that this is also a specific prohibition and restriction in the Illinois Community Mental Health Act. Q: Can an hIHB member volunteer time for a funded agency? A: The City's Ethics Code bans "incompatible employment of rendering of services." There may be some interpretation of this that would indicate that a Board member could not render ser- vices for a funded agency. GIs. Canter said that she read this to mean that a Board Member may not volunteer on an ongoing basis, but was not necessarily prohibited from helping out on a spe- cial event or assisting in a limited capacity in their Liaison role to provide some type of assis- tance. Ms. Grover said that the ECF code seemed to be a bit stricter in their view of view volun- January 11, 2007 Mental Heatlh Board Meeting Minutes Page 2 Minutes approved teering as a duality of interest. She said that the MHB needed more advice about what was en- tailed in "render services." Q: Can an NlHB member contribute personal money to a funded agency? A: Ms. Grover said that it seemed that the issue was what level of donation constituted "funding at a significant level." At what level is the involvement too much? She added that, at this point, this issue would seem to require that if there was any question about a Board member's donation, the person should disclose. Again, this is something that the Law Department would need specif- ics and facts to be able to offer an opinion. Ms. Saver pointed out that some of these are issues for which the MHB might want to develop its own standards that are stricter than existing codes or guidelines. He said regardless of the cur- rent standards for volunteering at an agency by a Board member, the issue might be a good one for the Board to consider developing an absolute ban. The question could easily be raised about undue influence for a person who is working in any capacity as an agent of an agency — volun- teering time to do the work of the agency — while making decisions about that agency's funding. ECF's definition of duality of interest raised questions about the definition of an advocate versus a. liaison. Advocate would indicate one who promotes an interest. Liaison should indicate one who is a conduit for communications between two or more groups. This would seem to provide some direction for the Board's Liaison role. Ms. Canter said that she did not think that just the act of making a donation represented a duality of interest. Ms Walker said that she thought the language presented was purposefully vague and open to interpretation. Mr. Krulee asked whether the disclosure requirement meant a Board member would have to dis- close every time he wrote a S50 check to a funded agency. He said that he thought this was an infringement upon his privacy. Ms. Sittler noted that many agencies already publish their list of donors. Mr. Krulee said he thought that the issue of volunteering was a concern only if it was on a long- term and regular basis at the same agency. Ms. Sittler said that she thought the Board members should establish fair limits for themselves. Ms. Gauthier said she liked what ECF had developed, and would like to hear more about some of their definitions. Several individuals expressed con- cern an overly stringent, regular disclosure policy would infringe upon their privacy, and might limit their donations. The Board agreed to have Ms. Grover speak with and invite the Law Department to come to a future meeting to discuss additional issues that would assist the Board to update its own ethics policies. IV. 2007-2008 CITY BUDGET Meeting with City Manager. Ms. Canter reported that she and Ms. Grover met with Julia Car- roll to discuss the Board's 07-08 funding allocation recommendations. They indicated to her that, while the additional amount was not in the proposed Budget, they were going to continue to request the additional S 15,000 funding increase for purchased services from the Human Services January 11, 2007 Mental Health Board Meeting Minutes Page 3 Minutes approved Committee and the City Council. The City Manager indicated that her Budget request to the City Council was a tough budget to put together. She discussed the issues she had identified as struc- tural deficits in the City's budget process that she was trying to eliminate, and explained that there had been a number of positions cut in the proposed Budget, as well. Ms Carroll said it was very difficult to make the cuts: 2 department head positions were being proposed for elimination. Ms. Canter said that it was very clear that the City Manager and the Budget staff had to make a lot of very hard decisions. She added that the City Manager told them that they were able to go ahead and ask the Human Services Committee for the additional funds; the HSC might decide to support the request. However, both Mr. Terry and Ms. Carroll cautioned the MHB about not getting their hopes too high this year. Consideration of Proposed MHB Budge. Mr. Saver reviewed the Board's 07-08 Budget that was proposed by the City Manager. In response to a question, he said that the increase in the Mental Health Administration budget did not reflect any actual increase in expenses for the City. The only increase in the operating lines in the MHB budget over the past several years was a line item for food when the contingency line item was removed from all the division budgets. Rather than treating the support expenses for the funding hearings as unanticipated and unplanned for costs, a specific line item was included to permit the money to be more accurately budgeted. Mr. Saver said that the additional expenses in the budget this year are all related to Personnel. Some non -salary related items, e.g., pension, social security, Medicare, were previously found in the budget in a common area for all staff. This year, the actual expenditures incurred for each divi- sion's staff were allocated under that division's budget in order to reflect the actual, total costs to provide the services. Mr. Saver said that the Budget proposed by the City Manager recommends the elimination of most of the Personal Health Service positions from the Health Department budget. As a result of grant funding, some of the effected services will continue to be provided through June. The plan is to have a number of these services be provided by partnerships with both of the local hospitals, not -for -profit health -related agencies, and clinics. In addition, there were a number of additional positions being recommended for elimination, including the Director of Facilities Management; the Director of Human Relations; and several positions from Human Relations, the City Clerk's Office, Management & Budget, and Public Works. In line with some of the goals of the Strate- gic Plan, several new positions are being developed, including a Sustainable Services Director, 2 Library positions, a Youth Coordinator and an Emergency Preparedness Nlanager. Ms. Grover asked who would be providing family planning services for the community once those services arc no longer being offered by the City. She pointed out that there was not a local Planned Parenthood office. Mr. Saver said that he believes that there has been discussion with several agencies and the local hospitals regarding the provision of a number of the clinical ser- vice needs. He said that he was not aware of any decisions that have been made about specific areas of service yet. At the same time, the City is trying to develop new relationships with area agencies that provide clinical health services to low income individuals. Mr. Saver said that the City Council must approve the proposed no later than February 28. Ms. Grover said that it didn't seem to her as if like there much dissent about any budget decisions or items at the first Budget Workshop. January 29 MHB Presentation to Human Services Committee. Ms. Canter asked for the Board's input for the presentation of the annual report to the Human Services Committee. In ad - January 11, 2007 Mental Health Board Meeting Minutes Pape 4 Minutes approved dition, the Board will be presenting its allocation recommendations for 07-08. She asked Board members to contact her with their suggestions about what to emphasize in the presentation to the HSC. Communication from BEHIV. Ms. Canter discussed the letter to Jay Terry from BEHIV that was appealing their funding decision during the Board's allocation process. She asked whether anyone had comments or questions regarding the correspondence. Ms. Walker asked whether BEHIV was going to have an opportunity to speak. Ms. Canter said that the Board first had to decide how it wanted to respond to the letter, and what the options were. She said that she had explained that to the agency's Executive Director when she told him that the item would be on the agenda. She said that she thought that there were a few options for the agency. One option would be to appeal the Board's decision. Ms. Canter added that the Board currently has no for- mally prescribed process, but agencies have appealed the Board's decisions several times in the past 5 or G years. Ms. Walker said she was under the impression from Mr. Terry's letter that BEHIV was being invited to speak at the meeting. Ms. Canter replied that she and Mr. McLaughlin had several voicemail communications, and that he understood BEHIV would not be presenting to the Board or making an appeal at this meeting. She said that she told him that the Board was first going to decide the course of action that they were going to follow. In response to Ms. Gauthier, Ms. Canter said that the Board had several options in dealing with this issue. BEHIV could be invited back to the February meeting to discuss their concerns. Al- ternatively, she, Mr. Saver, and another Board member or member of the Allocation Committee could meet with the agency to discuss their concerns. Otherwise, BEHIV could request a review with the Human Services Committee in order to voice their concerns. However, the first decision is the Board's to make. If BEHIV were to decide to go to Human Services, that is a decision that they could make themselves. Ms. Gauthier asked whether the Board was able to change its funding recommendations at this point. Ms. Canter said that, ultimately, the Board might have to change its allocations because they were based upon a total of 5844,000. The proposed City Budget was for 5829,000 for the purchased service allocations. She added that if the allocation were to remain the same as the proposed amount, the Board would need to change its allocations in March, after the Budget was adopted. Ms. Grover said that changes in the allocation levels would require a motion to reconsider and adopt new program funding levels. The Board would need to reevaluate the program funding requests, and the changes would need to be adopted by a majority vote. Ms. Grover said that would need to be done after February 28, the last date for the City Budget to be adopted. The Board would then have its approved budget figures in order to make final decisions, if necessary. Ms. Walker said that she did not think the Board should wait until City Council approves the Budget; she wanted the Board to act at this meeting. Mr. Geyer said he thought it would be important for the Board to correct any statements that were actually incorrect. He wanted BEHIV to be able to have an opportunity to provide infor- mation to alter those statements that were factually wrong. He said that according to BEHIV's letter there were concerns about some of the comments that were made. He mentioned that BE - HIV challenged the use of the word "probation" that was used during the Board's allocation January 11, 2007 Mental Health Board Meeting Minutes Page 5 Minutes approved meeting. Ms. Canter said that Mr. Terry's response to BEHIV's letter cleared up some of the points that they had submitted. Ms. Canter continued that there was no "probationary status" that the Board used for agencies. Ms. Walker said that she thought that there was a probationary status, and that several agencies had been on it in since she joined the Board 5 years ago. Some have lost funding based upon poor performance during the probationary period. Ms. Grover disageed with that assessment and said that when she uses the term "probation" in the deliberations she was loosely indicating that the Board had concerns about an agency or their program. Said it was not a formal term, but, for her, indicated a need for change. She said that she had used it to indicate that the Board had been keeping a close eye on an issue, and not in a formal, technical or punitive sense. Ms Walker said the most important thins was that the Board funds BEHIV. Ms. Walker said that she thought the larger problem was that the Board was not consistent in making its allocation decisions about all the agencies. The Board was not dealing with BEHIV the same way that it had with the agency that was not funded last year. That agency had been offered assistance by the Board, but BEHIV did not have anyone meet with them to assist with what the Board thought was a problem. Ms. Sittler said the reasons were very different when the Board didn't fund the other agency last year. They were going through a complete period of dis- organization, there was concern about their information, and the funding proposal that was sub- mitted was not the Mental Health Board's. Ms. Canter said that a major concern with BEHIV was that numbers of persons served for Men- tal Health Services had not increased during the year. The 5 Evanston residents that were served in 05-06 were also served the previous year, and were the only Evanston clients that were served during the year. There were no new Evanston clients, and for several years the service figures had consistently been below the agency's own projections. Ms. Walker moved and his. Gauthier seconded a motion for the Board to reconsider its al- Iocations to all the agencies. Ms. Sittler said she opposed the motion. She thought the Alloca- tion Committee and the Board worked hard in reaching its decisions, and did the best job that it could. She thought the Board had discussed the proposals and submitted their readings and she didn't want to do it again. Ms. Grover said that she was also opposed to the motion. The Board should hold off because it might need to reconsider the allocations, anyway, after the final Budget is adopted next month. Ms. Walker said that the Boar should not wait. She assumed that it was very likely that the Human Services Committee and the City Council would not be able to provide the additional funding requested, and that the Board would have to go through this any- way. She said she was concerned that BEHIV would not be a part of that consideration at that time because they would have already been cut-out by the Council's decision. Ms. Grover said that she did not want to make that assumption that there would not be any addi- tional funding. She said that she would be spending_ the next several weeks to try to get the addi- tional S15,000 added to the Board's budget. She said that she would rather approach the task assuming that it was going to be successful and that her efforts were not going to be wasted. The Board will know no later than February 28 what the Board's purchased services budget will be. She said that she strongly preferred that the Board not have to re-evaluate their decisions twice. She added that it was not fair to ask the Board to make the decisions that would be required when it does not have the proposals and review materials in front of them. January 11, 2007 Mental Health Board Meeting Minutes Page 6 1.= - Nlnut" approved Ms. Walker said that she thought this was an attempt to put off or avoid putting the funding allo- cations back on the table. Ms. Grover said she wanted to hear what direction the Haman Ser- vices Committee was going with the allocations before making any considerations about changes in the allocations. Ms. Canter said that she thought the allocations should stand based upon the Board's earlier de- cisions. She said that the Board has to use limited dollars in the best way, and in the manner that a majority of the Board decided. She said that it was also a matter of agency accountability and meeting the Board's expectation. She said that she was opposed to reconsidering the allocation decisions, unless the additional dollars are not added to the budget. Mr. Saver said that if the Board chose to make changes in the allocations, at this point, any agency that got an allocation cut could then also come to the Board and request the same consid- eration or to appeal their allocation. Ms. Canter said that was a real possibility, and an additional good reason why the Board should wait until the final budget is adopted and it is clear about what total allocation level would be available. Ms. Canter said that she would be happy to meet with BEHIV's representatives outside of the monthly meeting to discuss their concerns. Ms. Walker asked why this was not done before the funding was cut, as had been done with other agencies in the past. Ms. Canter replied that had not been the general policy or practice. The Board had severely cut or eliminated funding to four or five agencies since she joined the Board six years ago. She said that the Board's process is just like with any other grant process. You write and submit a proposal, and then you hope to get funding. For various reasons, sometimes you get funded and sometimes you don't. However, funding is not guaranteed. Ms. Canter said that she did not think that anyone on the Board had negative feelings towards BEHIV. She said that they had been doing a good job in so many respects, and had increased their visibility. But the Board has a small amount of money and has to use it in the way the ma- jority of Board Members have agreed is the best way to make use of it. She said that BEHIV would be welcome to come back to submit a funding proposal next year. In response to a com- ment, Ms. Canter said that several years ago another agency had their entire funding cut. They, too, came to speak with the Board, but the Board stood by its decision. Several years later, the agency reapplied to the Board after making a number of revisions to their program. A significant amount of the original funding was restored. Ms. Walker said that Youth Job Center (YJC) was cut last year due to performance issues, among a number of other things. She said she had thought that a lot of time was spent working with YJC staff and Board about the concerns before any decisions were made. fir. Saver said that last none of the Board members had met with YJC to go over any deficiencies or problems before the decision was made. After the agency's 06-07 funding was eliminated, the Board had requested that he meet with the agency to go over the Board's concerns, and what the agency might need to do if it was going to reapply for Board funds in 07-08. He said that he had met with the agency's previous Executive Director (ED), and several times with the current ED. He said that it was his impression that the agency worked very hard in responding to some of the concerns that the MHB had raised last year before they were recommended again for funding. Mr. Krulee said that he did not think that there was a realistic chance that BEHIV would be funded this year. The decision had already been made, and there did not seem to be any reason to January 11, 2007 Mental Health Board Meeting Minutes Page 7 HinLos approved reopen the decision at this point. He did not think any data would support making a change. The Board might want to provide some direction for the agency for next year. Ms. Gauthier said that she would encourage BEHIV to return to the MHB next year. She said that she would be interested in seeing an application for funding for the Community Education program - Ms. Walker said she could cut 55,000 from another agency very quickly in order to fund BEHIV. Ms. Sittler said there would have to be some justification for the change, and then the agency that was reduced may want to be heard for an appeal. Ms. Canter said that if the agency is interested, she would meet with BEH1V's representatives and discuss his concerns. She said that she was in agreement with Mr. Krulee's comments and the earlier comment made that a change now could open that same discussion with other agen- cies. She said that there would still need to be some rationale provided about why to make the change. There is still the concern about BEHIV's service figures as well as a lack of reporting on their outcome measures. Ms Walker said that the offer should have been extended six months ago. When asked by Ms. Sittler whether she was aware of these concerns six -months ago, Ms. Walker said that she re- called two or three years ago, there was concern about BEHIV on several levels. She said that she thought that the Board had seen a change; the agency was complimented on its proposal. She said that it seemed there was an equal amount of concern regarding other agencies. Ms. Walker said she was very concerned that the Board was not being consistent in its dealings with BEHIV. Ms. Gauthier moved to amend the motion to read "... for the Board to reconsider its alloca- tions to all the agencies at the next Board meeting. The motion failed for a lack of a second. Ms Canter said that it appeared that the discussion was over and issues were being repeated. She asked for a vote on the original motion to reconsider allocations to all agencies. Motion was not approved 2 ayes (Gauthier, Walker) 5 nays (Canter, Sittler, Grover, Geyer, Krulee). Mr. McLaughlin said that he had a huge issue with the Mental Health Board's allocation proc- esses. He said that he thought that BEHIV was not receiving adequate interaction with a Liaison, which affected the allocations. Ms. Canter asked Mr. Saver to set up a meeting for her and Ms. Grover with BEHIV's Executive Director and other representatives. V. REVIEW OF CONTRACT POLICY GUIDELINES FOR FY07-08 Mr. Saver reviewed the materials in the packet and said that the Contract Policy Guidelines (Guidelines) were being submitted to the Board for review and consideration of any changes. He said that this would be the time to bring up any additional policy issues that should be considered related to the purchase of services contract, compliance issues, or reporting. Mr. Saver said that staff was not recommending any changes to the Guidelines for FY07-08. He said that they continued to be broad enough to meet the MHB's current needs for monitoring January 11, 2007 Mental Health Board Meeting Minutes Pape a Minutaa approved contracts and performance with the funded agencies. He added that over the past three years all of the outdated clauses and language had been removed; redundant or contradictory clauses were eliminated; and the Board's most recent concerns about accountability and performance had been incorporated into the Guidelines. He suggested that if there were any additional issues to be con- sidered or proposed, that they be referred to the Allocations Committee to review and make rec- ommendations. A1s. Grover moved and ,Nis. Sittler seconded a motion to reaffirm the Con- tract Policy Guidelines for use In F'Y07-08. Motion approved unanimously 6 ayes — 0 no. VI. AGENCY ACCOUNTABILITY Ms. Canter suggested to the Board that they discuss with each of their new Liaison assignments how they wanted to be represented and what they would like to have reported from month to month. She said she would like all of the agencies to have consistent representation. Ms. Gauthier said that she met with Center for Independent Futures staff today, in addition to one of their residents. There was an article in the recent Round Table about a joint project among CIF, Infant Welfare Society and Vogue Fabrics. Vogue provided materials for CiF's resi- dents to use to make quilts for Infant Welfare Society's infants that are in their Baby Toddler Program. Mr. Geyer said that he was scheduled to meet with staff from Evanston Skokie Valley Senior Services, on January lb, and is scheduling another meeting with Evanston Community Defender. Ms. Grover said that she met with Child Care Center of Evanston. The agency recently worked with a management consulting team from Northwestern Business School on developing better marketing for home day care. The enrollment is now up. Ms. Grover also talked with staff at Childcare Network of Evanston. They have recently applied for state funding for at risk children. 14 families are on the waiting list for scholarships since last September — some of them have had to do without child care for their kids. VII. COMMUNITY SERVICE AWARD FOLLOW-UP Board members discussed the Community Service Award presentation in December. Ms. Canter said that she thought it was quite a success. She thanked Ms. Sittler for spearheading the idea helping organize it. In response to Ms. Canter's question, Ms. Walker suggested that the Board not make it an annual event or have an award unless there was someone to recognize. She said that she was opposed to formal standards, and thought that was a part of what made the event in December successful. Ms. Grover said that she thought the emphasis for a continued award should specifically be upon good acts done for people with mental health issues. That is consistent with the Board's initial mission, and there are a number of other organizations that do the same thing for a number of other issues, like child care. Mr. Geyer asked that the guidelines reflect that it is for a person set- ting an example by "doing good" as a citizen, and not in their role as an agency volunteer or pro- fessional. January ! 1, 2407 Mental Health Board Meeting Minutes Page 9 Minutes approved Ms. Sittler offered to develop some general guidelines for a person to be considered for the award. Vlll. REPORT FROM THE CHAIR Ms. Canter reminded the Board to complete the on-line survey related to Boards and Commis- sions that is collecting data for one of the City's Strategic Plan goals. The survey asks questions regarding satisfaction with membership on the Board and the Board's process. She said that Mr. Saver could send an online link for anyone who is having trouble accessing the survey tool. Ms. Canter said that Ms. Gauthier is "retiring" from the Board Development Committee in order to ship her focus to planning for the fall 2007 workshop on recovery issues for families of sub- stance abusers. Mr. Krulee volunteered to work with Ms. Sittler on the Committee. IX. STAFF REPORT Mr. Saver said that at the last MHB meeting, Mr. Krulee discussed a special session of City Council he had attended in December regarding crime and public safety in Evanston. There will a follow-up, city-wide, meeting on public safety on Saturday, February 3 from 9 to noon, at Evanston Township High School. There will be several speakers, including a guest speaker, Reverend Dr. Michael Pfieger from St. Sabina Church. There will be several break-out discus- sions on various public safety issues throughout the day. Mr. Saver encouraged Board members to attend. The meeting was adjourned at 8:50 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Casey Solomon Secretary January 11, 2007 Mental Health Board Meeting Minutes Page 10 • _ Minutes approved EVANSTON MENTAL HEALTH BOARD MEETING MINUTES THURSDAY, February 8, 2007 Members Present: Sue Canter, Gil Kruiee, Anne Gauthier, Randy Walker, Carol Sittler, Jane Grover Presiding: Sue Canter Staff., Jay Terry, Harvey Saver, Casey Solomon Community Representatives: Willis Francis (Trilogy); Pamela Thomas (Evanston Skokie Valley Senior Service Center); Helen Roberts Evans (Child Care Center of Evanston); Chris Baer (Childcare Network of Evanston); Alexander Brown (Housing Options) Ms Canter called the meeting to order at 7:02 p.m. I. INTRODUCTION AND COMMUNITY COMMENTS Ms. Canter called the meeting to order and asked the guests to introduce themselves and provide their important announcements to the group. Mr. Willis invited all to attend the Social Impact of Immigration Law conference. The conference, sponsored by Evanston Coalition for Latino Resources is being held at Evanston Northwestern Hospital on February 12, 2007, from 8:30 — 11 a.m. 11. APPROVAL OF MINUTES FROM DECEMBER 14, 2006 Mr. Krulee moved and Ms. Grover seconded a motion to approve the minutes with Ms. Canter's corrections. Motion approved unanimously 7 ayes -- 0 no. III. DISCUSSION ABOUT POSITION PAPER ON BOARD -AGENCY RELATION- SHIPS Ms. Grover reviewed the material she prepared for the position paper in the packet. She said that several years ago, home -rule communities in Illinois were required by the State Attorney General to adopt an ethics ordinance that was at least as strict as the State Ordinance. Now everyone that works for government is subject to its terms. The City of Evanston's Ethics Ordinance is also the guidepost and establishes principles for all City boards, commissions and governing bodies. Mr. Saver added that, with all the citations that were incorporated into the paper, the MHB is also subject to provisions in the State Community Mental Health Act, which enabled communities to pass a referendum to establish a mental health board.. Ms. Grover identified the issues in the paper that were raised by the Board when they last discussed the topic of agency -Board relationships. She also discussed some of what the City of Evanston's Ethics Code say is permissible. January 11, 2007 Mental Health Board Meeting Minutes Pape 1 Yinuws approved (Ms Gauthier and Mr. Geyer joined the Board at 7:10 p.m.). Ms. Grover said that she also reviewed the Evanston Community Foundation's (ECF) Conflict of Interest Policy as an additional guide to identify possible issues for the Board to consider in its review. Generally, their policy says that no person shall benefit from his or her relationship to the Foundation, nor accept any favor, gratuity or gift which might influence actions concerning the Foundation. She summarized it by saying that the guiding light is "don't do anything that looks as it is improper." Ms. Grover said that all of the policies and codes that she has reviewed require disclosure of any- thing that might be perceived as giving rise to conflict of interest. The ECF requires their Board members to report if they have an interest in or are significant donors in an agency that is being considered for funding. The Foundation's statement also indicates that there are certain things that might be seen as a duality of interest. They are not necessarily a conflict of interest, but the situation does raise the possibility. Ms. Grover added that ECF's Code was less clear about a Board member volunteering with an agency receiving funding, but it does require disclosure if the role creates a duality of interest. Ms Gauthier said that she had some questions about the meaning of the phrase "significant do- nor." She said that she thought that the term indicated that one's donations represent a significant portion of an agency's budget. She said she was interested in finding out how ECF defines the term. The Board discussed language in the City's Ethics Code that seemed to be open to interpretation. They thought that the guidelines were basic and discussed that City Boards and Commissions could also adopt more stringent regulations than are already in the City Code. Ms. Grover said that the Law Department was not able to answer some of the questions that the MHB had previ- ously discussed without specific facts. The Board would need to draft very specific questions, but it may be able to get a response to them without sufrcicnt circumstances that would apply. The Board members discussed that it might be worthwhile to discuss their key questions, drag concrete context and interpretations, and ask the Law Department to review and respond to the Board's positions. Ms. Grover led a discussion among the Board members about each of the initial questions that prompted the focus on these issues, and an initial interpretation of the relevant guidelines. Q: Can an MHB member serve on the Board of a funded agency? A: No, service on a Board of Directors for a funded agency would prohibited by City of Evans- ton Code of Ethics. Mr. Saver pointed out that this is also a specific prohibition and restriction in the Illinois Community Mental Health Act. Q: Can an ►N111B member volunteer time for a funded agency? A: The City's Ethics Code bans "incompatible employment of rendering of services." There may be some interpretation of this that would indicate that a Board member could not render ser- vices for a funded agency. Ms. Canter said that she read this to mean that a Board Member may not volunteer on an ongoing basis, but was not necessarily prohibited from helping out on a spe- cial event or assisting a limited capacity in their Liaison role to provide some type of assis- tance. Ms. Grover said that the ECF code seemed to be a bit stricter in their view of view voiun- January 11, 2007 Mental Health Board Meeting Minutes Page 2 Minutes approved teering as a duality of interest. She said that the MHB needed more advice about what was en- tailed in "render services." Q: Can an MHB member contribute personal money to a funded agency? A: Ms. Grover said that it seemed that the issue was what level of donation constituted "funding at a significant level." At what level is the involvement too much? She added that, at this point, this issue would seem to require that if there was any question about a Board member's donation, the person should disclose. Again, this is something that the Law Department would need specif- ics and facts to be able to offer an opinion. Ms. Saver pointed out that some of these are issues for which the MHB might want to develop its own standards that are stricter than existing codes or guidelines. He said regardless of the cur- rent standards for volunteering at an agency by a Board member, the issue might be a good one for the Board to consider developing an absolute ban. The question could easily be raised about undue influence for a person who is working in any capacity as an agent of an agency -- volun- teering time to do the work of the agency — while making decisions about that agency's funding. ECF's definition of duality of interest raised questions about the definition of an advocate versus a. liaison. Advocate would indicate one who promotes an interest. Liaison should indicate one who is a conduit for communications between two or more groups. This would seem to provide some direction for the Board's Liaison role. Ms. Canter said that she did not think that just the act of making a donation represented a duality of interest. Ms Walker said that she thought the language presented was purposefully vague and open to interpretation. Mr. Krulee asked whether the disclosure requirement meant a Board member would have to dis- close every time he wrote a S50 check to a funded agency. He said that he thought this was an infringement upon his privacy. Ms. Sitticr noted that many agencies already publish their list of donors. Mr. Krulee said he thought that the issue of volunteering was a concern only if it was on a long- term and regular basis at the same agency. Ms. Sitticr said that she thought the Board members should establish fair limits for themselves. Ms. Gauthier said she liked what ECF had developed, and would like to hear more about some of their definitions. Several individuals expressed con- cem an overly stringent. regular disclosure policy would infringe upon their privacy, and might limit their donations. The Board agreed to have Ms. Grover speak with and invite the Law Department to come to a future meeting to discuss additional issues that would assist the Board to update its own ethics policies. IV. 2007-2008 CiTY BUDGET Meeting with City Manager. Ms. Canter reported that she and Ms. Grover met with Julia Car- roll to discuss the Board's 07-08 funding allocation recommendations. They indicated to her that, while the additional amount was not in the proposed Budget, they were going to continue to request the additional S15,000 funding increase for purchased services from the Human Services January 11. 2007 Mental Health Board Meeting Minutes Paps 3 . Minutes approved Committee and the City Council. The City Manager indicated that her Budget request to the City Council was a tough budget to put together. She discussed the issues she had identified as struc- tural deficits in the City's budget process that she was trying to eliminate, and explained that there had been a number of positions cut in the proposed Budget, as well. tics Carroll said it was very difficult to make the cuts: 2 department head positions were being proposed for elimination. Ms. Canter said that it was very clear that the City Manager and the Budget staff had to make a lot of very hard decisions. She added that the City Manager told them that they were able to go ahead and ask the Human Services Committee for the additional funds; the HSC might decide to support the request. However, both Mr. Terry and Ms. Carroll cautioned the MHB about not getting their hopes too high this year. Consideration of Proposed INIHB Budget. Mr. Saver reviewed the Board's 07-08 Budget that was proposed by the City Manager. In response to a question, he said that the increase in the Mental Health Administration budget did not reflect any actual increase in expenses for the City. The only increase in the operating lines in the MHB budget over the past several years was a line item for food when the contingency line item was removed from all the division budgets. Rather than treating the support expenses for the funding hearings as unanticipated and unplanned for costs, a specific line item was included to permit the money to be more accurately budgeted. Mr. Saver said that the additional expenses in the budget this year are all related to Personnel. Some non -salary related items, e.g., pension, social security, Medicare, were previously found in the budget in a common area for all staff. This year, the actual expenditures incurred for each divi- sion's staff were allocated under that division's budget in order to reflect the actual, total costs to provide the services. Mr. Saver said that the Budget proposed by the City Manager recommends the elimination of most of the Personal Health Ser%ice positions from the Health Department budget. As a result of grant funding, some of the effected services will continue to be provided through June. The plan is to have a number of these ser%ices be provided by partnerships with both of the local hospitals, not -For -profit health -related agencies, and clinics. In addition, there were a number of additional positions being recommended for elimination, including the Director of Facilities Management; the Director of Human Relations; and several positions from Human Relations, the City Clerk's Office, Management & Budget, and Public Works. In line with some of the goals of the Strate- gic Plan, several new positions are being developed, including a Sustainable Services Director, 2 Library positions, a Youth Coordinator and an Emergency Preparedness Manager. Ms. Grover asked who would be providing family planning services for the community once those services are no longer being offered by the City. She pointed out that there was not a local Planned Parenthood office. Nlr. Saver said that lie believes that there has been discussion with several agencies and the local hospitals regarding the provision of a number of the clinical ser- vice needs. He said that he was not aware of any decisions that have been made about specific areas of service yet. At the same time, the City is trying to develop ne«w relationships with area agencies that provide clinical health services to low income individuals. Mr. Saver said that the City Council must approve the proposed no later than February 28. Ms. Grover said that it didn't seem to her as if like there much dissent about any budget decisions or items at the first Budget Workshop. January 29 MHB Presentation to Human Services Committee. Ms. Canter asked for the Board's input for the presentation of the annual report to the Human Services Committee. In ad - January 11. 2007 Mental Health Board Meeting Minutes Page 4 Minutes approved dition, the Board will be presenting its allocation recommendations for 07-08, She asked Board members to contact her with their suggestions about what to emphasize in the presentation to the HSC. Communication from BEHVN'. Ms. Canter discussed the letter to Jay Terry from BEHIV that was appealing their funding decision during the Board's allocation process. She asked whether anyone had comments or questions regarding the correspondence. Ms. Walker asked whether BEHIV was going to have an opportunity to speak. Ms. Canter said that the Board first had to decide how it wanted to respond to the letter, and what the options were. She said that she had explained that to the agency's Executive Director when she told him that the item would be on the agenda. She said that she thought that there were a few options for the agency. One option would be to appeal the Board's decision. Ms. Canter added that the Board currently has no for- mally prescribed process, but agencies have appealed the Board's decisions several times in the past 5 or G years. Ms. Walker said she was under the impression from Mr. Terry's letter that BEHIV was being invited to speak at the meeting. Ms. Canter replied that she and Mr. McLaughlin had several voicetnail communications, and that he understood BEHIV would not be presenting to the Board or making an appeal at this meeting. She said that she told him that the Board was first going to decide the course of action that they were going to follow. In response to Ms. Gauthier, Ms. Canter said that the Board had several options in dealing with this issue. BEHIV could be invited back to the February meeting to discuss their concerns. Al- ternatively, she, Mr. Saver, and another Board member or member of the Allocation Committee could meet with the agency to discuss their concerns. Otherwise, BEHIV could request a review with the Human Services Committee in order to voice their concerns. However, the first decision is the Board's to make. If BEHIV were to decide to go to Human Services, that is a decision that they could make themselves. Ms. Gauthier asked whether the Board was able to change its funding recommendations at this point. Ms. Canter said that, ultimately, the Board might have to change its allocations because they were based upon a total of 5844,000. The proposed City Budget was for $829,000 for the purchased service allocations. She added that if the allocation were to remain the same as the proposed amount, the Board would need to change its allocations in March, after the Budget was adopted. Ms. Grover said that changes in the allocation levels would require a motion to reconsider and adopt new program funding levels. The Board would need to reevaluate the program funding requests, and the changes would need to be adopted by a majority vote. Ms. Grover said that would need to be done after February 28, the last date for the City Budget to be adopted. The Board would then have its approved budget figures in order to make final decisions, if necessary. Ms. Walker said that she did not think the Board should wait until City Council approves the Budget; she wanted the Board to act at this meeting. Mr. Geyer said he thought it would be important for the Board to correct any statements that were actually incorrect. He wanted BEHIV to be able to have an opportunity to provide infor- mation to alter those statements that were factually wrong. He said that according to BEHIV's letter there were concerns about some of the comments that were made. He mentioned that BE - HIV challenged the use of the word "probation" that was used during the Board's allocation January 11, 2007 Mental Health Board Meeting Minutes Page 5 . Minutes spproved meeting. Ms. Canter said that Mr. Terry's response to BEHIV's letter cleared up some of the points that they had submitted. Ms. Canter continued that there was no "probationary status" that the Board used for agencies. Ms. Walker said that she thought that there was a probationary status, and that several agencies had been on it in since she joined the Board 5 years ago. Some have lost funding based upon poor performance during the probationary period. Ms. Grover disagreed with that assessment and said that when she uses the term "probation" in the deliberations she was loosely indicating that the Board had concerns about an agency or their program. Said it was not a formal term, but, for her, indicated a need for change. She said that she had used it to indicate that the Board had been keeping a close eye on an issue, and not in a formal, technical or punitive sense. Ms Walker said the most important thing was that the Board funds BEHIV. Ms. Walker said that she thought the larger problem was that the Board was not consistent in making its allocation decisions about all the agencies. The Board was not dealing with BEHIV the same way that it had with the agency that was not funded last year. That agency had been offered assistance by the Board, but BEHIV did not have anyone meet with them to assist with what the Board thought was a problem. Ms. Sittler said the reasons were very different when the Board didn't fund the other agency last year. They were going through a complete period of dis- organization, there was concern about their information, and the funding proposal that was sub- mitted was not the Mental Health Board's. Ms. Canter said that a major concern with BEHIV was that numbers of persons served for Men- tal Health Services had not increased during the year. The 5 Evanston residents that were served in 05-06 were also served the previous year, and were the only Evanston clients that were served during the year. There were no new Evanston clients, and for several years the service figures had consistently been below the agency's own projections. Ms. Walker moved and his. Gauthier seconded a motion for the Board to reconsider its al- locations to all the agencies. Ms. Sittler said she opposed the motion. She thought the Alloca- tion Committee and the Board worked hard in reaching its decisions, and did the best job that it could. She thought the Board had discussed the proposals and submitted their readings and she didn't want to do it again. Ms. Grover said that she was also opposed to the motion. The Board should hold off because it might need to reconsider the allocations, anyway, after the final Budget is adopted next month. Ms. Walker said that the Boar should not wait. She assumed that it was very likely that the Human Services Committee and the City Council would not be able to provide the additional funding requested, and that the Board would have to go through this any- way. She said she was concerned that BEHIV would not be a part of that consideration at that time because they would have already been cut-out by the Council's decision. Ms. Grover said that she did not want to make that assumption that there would not be any addi- tional funding. She said that she would be spending the next several weeks to try to get the addi- tional S15,000 added to the Board's budget. She said that she would rather approach the task assuming that it was going to be successful and that her efforts were not going to be wasted. The Board will know no later than February 28 what the Board's purchased services budget will be. She said that she strongly preferred that the Board not have to re-evaluate their decisions twice. She added that it was not fair to ask the Board to make the decisions that would be required when it does not have the proposals and review materials in front of them. January 11, 2007 Mental Health Board Meeting Minutes Page a 1610vAss approved Ms. Walker said that she thought this was an attempt to put off or avoid putting the funding allo- cations back on the table. Ms. Grover said she wanted to hear what direction the Human Ser- «ces Committee was going with the allocations before making any considerations about changes in the allocations. %Is. Canter said that she thought the allocations should stand based upon the Board's earlier de- cisions. She said that the Board has to use limited dollars in the best way, and in the manner that a majority of the Board decided. She said that it was also a matter of agency accountability and meeting the Board's expectation. She said that she was opposed to reconsidering the allocation decisions, unless the additional dollars are not added to the budget. Mr. Saver said that if the Board chose to make changes in the allocations, at this point, any agency that got an allocation cut could then also come to the Board and request the same consid- eration or to appeal their allocation. Ms. Canter said that was a real possibility, and an additional good reason why the Board should wait until the final budget is adopted and it is clear about what total allocation level would be available. Ms. Canter said that she would be happy to meet with BEHIV's representatives outside of the monthly meeting to discuss their concerns. Ms. Walker asked why this was not done before the funding was cut, as had been done with other agencies in the past. Ms. Canter replied that had not been the general policy or practice. The Board had severely cut or eliminated funding to four or five agencies since she joined the Board six years ago. She said that the Board's process is just like with any other grant process. You write and submit a proposal, and then you hope to get funding. For various reasons, sometimes you get funded and sometimes you don't. However, funding is not guaranteed. Ms. Canter said that she did not think that anyone on the Board had negative feelings towards BEHIV. She said that they had been doing a good job in so many respects, and had increased their visibility. But the Board has a small amount of money and has to use it in the way the ma- jority of Board Members have agreed is the best way to make use of it. She said that BEHIV would be welcome to come back to submit a funding proposal next year. In response to a com- ment, Ms. Canter said that several years ago another agency had their entire funding cut. They, too, came to speak with the Board, but the Board stood by its decision. Several years later, the agency reapplied to the Board after making a number of revisions to their program. A significant amount of the original funding was restored. Ms. Walker said that Youth Job Center (YJC) was cut last year due to performance issues, among a number of other things. She said she had thought that a lot of time was spent working with YJC staff and Board about the concerns before any decisions were made. Mr. Saver said that last none of the Board members had met with YJC to go over any deficiencies or problems before the decision was made. After the agency's 06-07 funding was eliminated, the Board had requested that he meet with the agency to go over the Board's concerns, and what the agency might need to do if it was going to reapply for Board funds in 07-08. He said that he had met with the agency's previous Executive Director (ED), and several times with the current ED. He said that it was his impression that the agency worked very hard in responding to some of the concerns that the MHB had raised last year before they were recommended again for funding. Mr. Krulec said that he did not think that there was a realistic chance that BEHIV would be funded this year. The decision had already been made, and there did not seem to be any reason to January 11, 2007 Mental Health Board Meeting Minutes Pape 7 9 Minutes approved reopen the decision at this point. He did not think any data would support making a change. The Board might want to provide some direction for the agency for next year. Ms. Gauthier said that she would encourage BEHIV to return to the MHB next year. She said that she would be interested in seeing an application for funding for the Community Education program. Ms. Walker said she could cut $5,000 from another agency very quickly in order to fund BEHIV. Ms. Sittler said there would have to be some justification for the change, and then the agency that was reduced may want to be heard for an appeal. Ms. Canter said that if the agency is interested, she would meet with BEHIV's representatives and discuss his concerns. She said that she was in agreement with Mr. Krulee's comments and the earlier comment made that a change now could open that same discussion with other agen- cies. She said that there would still need to be some rationale provided about why to make the change. There is still the concern about BEHIV's service figures as well as a lack of reporting on their outcome measures. Ms Walker said that the offer should have been extended six months ago. When asked by Ms. Sittler whether she was aware of these concerns six -months ago, Ms. Walker said that she re- called two or three years ago, there was concern about BEHIV on several levels. She said that she thought that the Board had seen a change; the agency was complimented on its proposal. She said that it seemed there was an equal amount of concern regarding other agencies. Ms. Walker said she was very concerned that the Board was not being consistent in its dealings with BEHIV. Ms. Gauthier moved to amend the motion to read "... for the Board to reconsider its alloca- tions to all the agencies at the next Board meeting. The motion failed for a lack of a second. Ms Canter said that it appeared that the discussion was over and issues were being repeated. She asked for a vote on the original motion to reconsider allocations to all agencies. Motion was not approved 2 ayes (Gauthier, Walker) 5 nays (Canter, Sittler, Grover, Geyer, Krulee). Mr. McLaughlin said that he had a huge issue with the Mental Health Board's allocation proc- esses. He said that he thought that BEHIV was not receiving adequate interaction with a Liaison, which affected the allocations. Ms. Canter asked Mr. Saver to set up a meeting for her and Ms. Grover with BEHIV's Executive Director and other representatives. V. REVIEW OF CONTRACT POLICY GUIDELINES FOR FY07-08 Mr. Saver reviewed the materials in the packet and said that the Contract Policy Guidelines (Guidelines) were being submitted to the Board for review and consideration of any changes. He said that this would be the time to bring up any additional policy issues that should be considered related to the purchase of services contract, compliance issues, or reporting. Mr. Saver said that staff was not recommending any changes to the Guidelines for FY07-08. He said that they continued to be broad enough to meet the MHB's current needs for monitoring January 11, 200T Mental Health Board Meeting Minutes Pape a Minutes approved contracts and performance with the funded agencies. He added that over the past three years all of the outdated clauses and language had been removed; redundant or contradictory clauses were eliminated; and the Board's most recent concerns about accountability and performance had been incorporated into the Guidelines. He suggested that if there were any additional issues to be con- sidered or proposed, that they be referred to the Allocations Committee to review and make rec- ommendations. Nis. Grover moved and his. Sittler seconded a motion to reaffirm the Con- tract Policy Guidelines for use in FY07-08. Motion approved unanimously 6 ayes — 0 no. Vl. AGENCY ACCOUNTABILITY Ms. Canter suggested to the Board that they discuss with each of their new Liaison assignments how they wanted to be represented and what they would like to have reported from month to month. She said she would like all of the agencies to have consistent representation. Ms. Gauthier said that she met with Center for Independent Futures staff today, in addition to one of their residents. There was an article in the recent Round Table about a joint project among CIF, Infant Welfare Society and Vogue Fabrics. Vogue provided materials for CIF's resi- dents to use to make quilts for Infant Welfare Society's infants that are in their Baby Toddler Program. Mr. Geyer said that he was scheduled to meet with staff from Evanston Skokie Valley Senior Services, on January 16, and is scheduling another meeting with Evanston Community Defender. Ms. Grover said that she met with Child Care Center of Evanston. The agency recently worked with a management consulting team from Northwestern Business School on developing better marketing for home day care. The enrollment is now up. Ms. Grover also talked with staff at Childcare Network of Evanston. They have recently applied for state funding for at risk children. 14 families arc on the waiting list for scholarships since last September — some of them have had to do without child care for their kids. VII. COMMUNITY SERVICE AWARD FOLLOW-UP Board members discussed the Community Service Award presentation in December. Ms. Canter said that she thought it was quite a success. She thanked Ms. Sittler for spearheading the idea helping organize it. In response to his. Canter's question, Ms. Walker suggested that the Board not make it an annual event or have an award unless there was someone to recognize. She said that she was opposed to formal standards, and thought that was a part of what made the event in December successful. Ms. Grover said that she thought the emphasis for a continued award should specifically be upon good acts done for people with mental health issues. That is consistent with the Board's initial mission, and there are a number of other organizations that do the same thing for a number of other issues, like child care. Mr. Geyer asked that the guidelines reflect that it is for a person set- ting an example by "doing good" as a citizen, and not in their role as an agency volunteer or pro- fessional. January 11, 2007 Mental Health Board Meeting Minutes Pace 9 Minutes approved Ms. Sittler offered to develop some general guidelines for a person to be considered for the award. Vill. REPORT FROM THE CHAIR Ms. Canter reminded the Board to complete the on-line survey related to Boards and Commis- sions that is collecting data for one of the City's Strategic Plan goals. The survey asks questions regarding satisfaction with membership on the Board and the Board's process. She said that Mr. Saver could send an online link for anyone who is having trouble accessing the survey tool. Ms. Canter said that Ms. Gauthier is "retiring" from the Board Development Committee in order to shift her focus to planning for the fall 2007 workshop on recovery issues for families of sub- stance abusers. Mr. Krulee volunteered to work with Ms. Sittler on the Committee. IX. STAFF REPORT Mr. Saver said that at the last MHB meeting, Mr. Krulee discussed a special session of City Council he had attended in December regarding crime and public safety in Evanston. There will a follow-up, city-wide, meeting on public safety on Saturday, February 3 from 9 to noon, at Evanston Township High School. There will be several speakers, including a guest speaker, Reverend Dr. Michael Pfleger from St. Sabina Church. There will be several break-out discus- sions on various public safety issues throughout the day. Mr. Saver encouraged Board members to attend. The meeting was adjourned at 8:50 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Casey Solomon Secretary January 11. 2001 Mental Health Board Meeting Minutes Page 10 Minutes Approwd Members Present: Presiding: Staff. Community Representatives: EVANSTON MENTAL HEALTH BOARD MEETING MINUTES THURSDAY, MARCH 8, 2007 Sue Canter, Gil Krulee, Carl LaMell, Randy Walker, Carol Sittler Sue Canter Harvey Saver, Sha Rhonda Knott, Casey Solomon Willis Francis (Trilogy); Leah Seligman (Y.O.U); I-lelen Roberts Evans (Child Care Center of Evanston); Martha Amtson (Childcare Nehvork of Evanston); Danielle Clemens (Evanston Skokie Valley Senior Services); Karen Vrocgh (United Way of the North Shore); Mcghan Kasliner (Infant Welfare Society Evanston); Melinda Dworkin Ms Canter called the meeting to order at 7:04 p.m. 1. INTRODUCTION AND COMMUNITY COMMENTS Ms. Canter called the meeting to order and asked the guests to introduce themselves and make any important announcements to the group. II. APPROVAL OF MINUTES FROM FEBRUARY 8, 2007 Mr. Saver said that Nis. Kashner from Infant Welfare Society submitted a correction to the minutes in a report about her agency. On page 8, in relation to a grant received from the Evanston Community Founda- tion, Ms. Kashner said the description should read, "The new staff person will be working with families throughout the community whose situations represent high -risk or child abuse, and school failure." The Board accepted the correction. Mr. LaMell moved and 31s. Sittler seconded a motion to approve tite minutes of the February 8, 2007 meeting as corrected. Motion approved unanimously 5 ayes — 0 no. III. "EVANSTON'S CIIANGING DEMOGRAPIIICS." JUDY VTURRIAGO, BILINGUAL EDUCATION DIRECTOR, EVANSTON SCHOOL DISTRICT 965, AND tiiEGAN KASHNER, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, INFANT WELFARE SOCIETY OF EVANSTON Ms. Yturriago and Ms. Kashner, Executive Director for Infant Welfare Society of Evanston, joined the Board. Ms. Yturriago said that she was the Director of Programs for English Language Learners and school pre-K programs for 3, 4 and 3 year olds at the Joseph E Ifill Education Center. Ms. Kashner reported that in Evanston, across the landscape of early childhood and into grade school there are demographic changes and sociological challenges that were being identified. They wanted to enlighten colleagues about some of these critical issues. She said that she and Ms. Yturriago organized the information into a PowerPoint that provides a comprehensive overview about sonic of the issues related to cultural And economic changes that are affecting local children. (The printed slides from the presentation are available upon request from Casey Solomon at 847.866.2919 or csolomon c citvofevanston.ora). March 8, 2007 Mental Health Board Meeting Minutes Page 1 Minutes Approved Ms. Yturriago said that there have been significant changes in School District 965's demographics. There were large increases in the number of families in School District #65 who were raising children and were living below poverty level. In addition, over the past ten years, the Hispanic student population in Evans- ton has grown from 9% to 16%; the African -American student population decreased from 43% to 37%. The decrease in African -American students was both in absolute numbers and percentage of the school population. Ms. Yturriago reported that 57% of Evanston residents are home owners, which would seem to indicate economic strength and stability. However, many of the home owners are living beyond their means and are forced to make choices between diapers and milk in the supermarket. Many of them own the homes collectively with two or three other family units living in close -quarters. In response to questions, Ms. Kashner and Ms. Yturriago provided the following information in their presentation: flow do the City's demographics compare between 2000 and nor? In 2000, there were fewer His- panic and Asian students, and more African -American students. Additionally, the percentage of students receiving free lunches would have been lower. It has gone from 30% ten -years ago to 39% currently. All families that are eligible complete a free or reduced lunch form when they register for school. The District is able to track the changes in how many of the students are eligible. Low -birth weight births in Evanston are no higher locally than across the state, but there is significantly higher rate for African -American births. Only 18% of the babies born in Evanston from 2000-2004 were Black, but 79% of infant -mortalities in that period were Black. However, with twenty infant deaths in the past 5 years, there has not been a lot of infant mortality in Evanston. In response to Mr. Saver, Ms. Kashner said the figures are for hospital -reported deaths in Evanston, and not for infant deaths for fami- lies from Evanston. According to census data, single Black female parents only earn 34% of the median family income in the City. The number is even lower for Hispanic single parents, approximately 19% of median family income. Over 28% of families with `female householder, no father present " are living below the poverty level. In the past 6 years the average number of babies bom to school -age teens in Evanston has been 23. How- ever, in 2002, in addition to the 19 girls aged 10 to 17 who gave birth, another 40 girls aged 18 and I9 gave birth. This is often an indication that these young mothers are not continuing their education to im- prove their financial situation. Many are not able to cope with the stress of raising children, working and maintaining a household. Man} are dependent upon and live with their parents or another relative. 80% or teen births to mothers aged 10-17 are to African -American teens. In response to a question, Ms. Yturriago said that when she started ►►orking in the 465 School District over ten years ago, the African -American enrollment was 42%, it is now down to 35%. Of those students 35% were below their grade level on their LSAT scores by third -grade. What has happened to enrollment in District 465? The enrollment had bone down from 7,000 to about 6,500 in the Iast three to four years. There had been some speculation that there were a large number of Chicago children who were attending Evanston schools as one possibility for some of the decrease. The change coincides with 465's requirement that parents must provide proof of residency cacti year they en- roll their children for school. Over 14% of District 965's elementary school students are Hispanic. There has been a much larger increase in the elementary grades than in ETHS. March 8, 2007 Mental Health Board Meeting Minutos Page 2 111 Minutals Approved In fail of 2000, District #65 changed their bi-lingual classroom model from the traditional, transitional bi- lingual model to a two-way immersion model. English and Spanish-speaking children are placed in the same classroom with a bi-lingual teacher. The program has significantly raised test scores, and contrib- uted to a sense of cultural pride and self-confidence among the Spanish-speaking students. There was discussion about some of the language -related issues that 465 is working with. V1any of the Hispanic students live in household where both parents speak exclusively Spanish at home. Evcn when one parent spears English, the parent Nviil speak Spanish in the home out of respect for their spouse. N1s. Yturriago said that the use of rich language in the home helps with the development of brain cells in kids. It is best that children are exposed to the most complex and rich language that can be provided in the home, and often this is Spanish. She said that this is also important in helping to preserve healthy family dynamics. The School District encourages families to use their native language in the home. Research supports that parents should use the language that they speak best in the home in order to help foster de- velopment. Are the non-English proficient students ever tested in Spanish" Spanish-speaking Kindergarten stu- dents are tested in Spanish using the Illinois Snapshot of Early Learning OSOL). Students take the ISOL in K, l" and 2"1 grades. A'.cng; with that, children that speak Spanish are taught reading in their native lan- guage and take the corresponding curriculum assessments. District 65 uses the Directed Reading; Assess- ment (DRA) or Spanish Language equivalent Evahiaci6n del desarrollo de la lectura (EDL) to test read- ing comprehension, and to decide whether a student will benefit most from the two-way immersion class- room culture, or English -language education. In cases where teachers are uncertain which is the student's dominant language, the district tests both to assess from which program they will benefit most. In 2006, 38% of Evanston's elementary school children were in low-income families and eligible for the free- and reduced -lunch programs. This rate is Just 2% below the State logy -income rate for Illinois ele- mentary school districts. This is a very high percentage. 40% of these low-income students were below grade level on their 1SAT tests in the area of reading by 8"' grade. Nls. Yturriago said that based upon "No Child Left Behind," by 2014 1000/6 of all children will have to meet standards on the state assessment tests. Schools that don't meet the requirements will receive sanctions for not meeting the standards. After three years, those schools are placed on a watch list and parents are allowed to enroll their children in a school that does meet standards; more extreme measures taken each year the school is not in compliance. Last year all District #65 schools made annual yearly progress and are not in jeopardy. There is entrenched poverty in Evanston. Sonic families have been living in poverty for several genera- tions. There are also families that are new to Evanston and starting; a cycle of multiple families living; in the same dwelling. Evanston has great schools, great kids and a diverse community, and that is what brings people to the community. But there are still too many kids that arc falling through the cracks." On a positive note, if you plot the results of achievement tests from 2003 to 2006, everyone has improved. Finny parents fear that with the number of programs for low-income and minority students might detract from the education of others kids. The fact that everyone has improved their test results indicates that eve- ryone is benefiting. I lowever, by 2014 everyone must be meeting standards. which indicates that District #65 has its work cut-out. There has been a major increase in the number of Hispanic residents in Evanston. Over 18% of Evanston residents over the age of five are speaking a language other than English at home. Between 1980 and 1990 the Hispanic population grew 57%, 1990-2000 another 69% increase. This means that education providers need to have been hiring Spanish speaking; staff. There are many qualified professionals who speak Spanish and it is critical that schools hire bi-lingual teachers. March 8, 2001 Mental Health Board Meeting Minutes Page 3 1Ainutes Approved It is State Law that a school must have a bi-lingual teacher that speaks the appropriate language when there are 20 or more kids of that language in the same attendance area. For instance, Schaumburg has Japanese, Spanish, Polish and Indian two-way immersion programs. The City of Chicago has about 40 different language programs. Ten years ago, #65 had 6 bi-lingual teachers from K-5, 2 from 6-8 and 5 ESL teachers. The number of ESL teachers has grown dramatically in ten years -- there are now 32 for K- 5 alone. The District has managed to do this without replacing any of its General Ed English-speaking teachers; positions were filled when they became vacant. In numbers, not percentage, how many Hispanic students are there in #65? There are 650 Hispanic students. Of these 500 are have limited English proficiency. Why it is increasing so dramatically in Evanston? The Hispanic population is growing across the country. Hispanics have become the largest minority. There 300,000,000 residents in the United States; about 42,000,000 are Hispanic. Many families have been willing to in small apartments together simply because it's in Evanston, and they know that the City has a great school system that will help their chil- dren succeed. They know that [lie), will have a strong community here. There have been people from a small rural area in Mexico in Evanston for over 30 years. They have follower; the trend coming to stay with others from the same culture, which has always been common among immigrant populations. In response to Ms. Canter's questions, Ms. Kashner said that her staff occasionally encounters families that are living together. One of her home visitors recently visited a home where there were several family units living together. In that home was an infant who was being followed by another agency's home visi- tor. On a recent visit, her staff witnessed three small children who were being disciplined in a rough man- ner. With the number of children that are living there in the home, this poses an extremely complicated challenge about the way to respond. Multi -family living situations present some unexpected dynamics and sensitive issues that have to be engaged. Ms. Canter and the Board thanked Ms. Kashner and Ms. Yturriago for putting together the presentation and making themselves available that evening. IV. 2007-2008 CITY BUDGET REPORT Ms. Canter reported that the City Council approved the MHB request for a $15,000 increase in program funding allocations for'2007-2008. Mr. Saver reviewed the summary materials about the 2007-2008 Budget that City Council adopted. The General Fund Budget that \was adopted was reduced from 2006-2007 by S 114,700, or 3.5%. There were 26 positions eliminated from the budget, including two Department 1-lead positions. At the same time. there were several positions and function that were added in response to issues raised in the City's Straw- gic Plan. In response to a question, Nlr. Saver said that, as the Board had discussed earlier, the Health Department's Personal Health Division was eliminated. Mr. Saver said that this was the first year of what was reported to be a 3-year process for the City Man- ager and the City Council to eliminate a structural deficit in the City Budget. He said that staff had been told that there would very likely be a few more positions eliminated from the Budget in the future, and the City would be reviewing operations to determine where positions or functions could be collapsed or reor- ganized in a different way for cost -savings and greater efficiencies. March 8, 2007 Mental Health Board Meeting Minutes Page 4 Minutes Approwd Mr. Saver reported that this year, at the recommendation of the City 1XIanager, an Early Retirement Incen- tive Program was also adopted by the City Council. It is being offered to employees who are 50 and older, and who have worked for the City for more than 15 years. The program would allow eligible employees to purchase up to 5 additional years of service that would enable them to qualify for either partial or full retirement prior to their actual eligibility for retirement. As individuals opt to accept this plan, it will en- able their positions to be reorganized or combined with other positions, or filled with a person at a lower step on the salary scale. V. ALLOCATION COMMITTEE REPORT Ms. Canter reported that the Allocation Committee, she and Ms. Grover, met with staff to discuss the findings of the survey of the Board regarding the 2006 AIlocation Process. The Committee was propos- ing several revisions to the process as a result of the Board's responses. The Committee was proposing several changes to the Budget Manual for the fall allocation process. They requested staff to develop a reorganized proposal format in response to the Board's comments. Mr. Saver pointed out that the strongest recommendations were to incorporate all of the narrative and budget infor- mation provided about each program into one section so it would not be necessary to flip back and forth between narrative sections and budget forms to develop an overall perspective about that program. The Committee was recommending a format that would still have one section that was agency -specific. The agency section would be followed by Budget Corms 1, 2, 3, 3A, 4, 5, and G. Then a separate section would be developed for each program for which funding was requested. The program section would in- clude all of the information from the proposal from Section 2/Funding Request and Section 3/Peformance; Form I Program Budget; and Form I B Program Statistical Data. Mr. Saver said that the Committee was also recommending the elimination of Question 3.5: "More gener- ally, what difference(s) will the Mental Health Board and/or Evanston United Way funding make in this program's services for your clients or for the functioning of your program?" The rationale for this was that it was a weak question that did not provide specific information in the section about Performance. The way that the question was being responded to, the information provided was either a duplication of general information about program outcomes, or something theoretical or philosophical. The Committee thought that this was contrary to the Board's interests in having the information related to outcomes and performance tied to measurable and specific data. That information is already requested. Ms. Sittler commented said that she did not know how the agencies could provide good answers to Ques- tion 3.4.4:117 the program is successful what are the burdens for the community that will be relieved or eased; what are the savings of costs in other areas, what will reductions be in the use of other services?" She recommended removing it from the proposal, as well. It did not seem that there was much data avail- able for an answer to this; the answers that were received were largely speculative. 1%1s. Sittler said that without knowing what things are costing now, she slid not know how the agencies could project the costs saved of something not occurring. This is a measure about impact upon the community, and there is not data currently available. After discussion, the Board agreed to eliminate Question 3.4.4 from the proposal. While discussing the new format, staff pointed out that the Board has had a strong inequity build in to the current page limits of its narrative structure. When the Committee looked at the number of pages actually being used in the narrative sections it became clear that the page limitations strongly favored the agencies asking for funding for a single program. For quite some time, those agencies with multiple programs had the same amount of narrative space to report on all of their programs as did those with single program funding requests. Mr. Saver reviewed a chart to show the impact of the page limitations, and said that March 8, 2007 Mental Haalth Board Meeting Minutes Page 5 Minutes Approved those agencies Mth single program funding requests were able to provide a great deal more detail to sup- port their request. He said that he reviewed his notes and saw that this year the Board complimented a number of agencies' funding proposals and the thoroughness of their discussion about the issues. All of the agencies that he noted were requesting funding for a single program. He said that appeared to have been a function of the space available to each of agencies for their presentations. Ms. Canter said that the Allocation Committee was recommending that the Agency Background section of the Narrative be limited to 3 pages. Mr. Saver said that this was in line with the amount of space that most of the multiple -program agencies had used for this section. his. Canter said that the Committee was also recommending that each of the Program Background information narratives be limited to 3 pages. The Committee thought that this would allow enough space for a good discussion about each of the pro- grams. If these guidelines had been in place during the 2006 Allocation Process, there would have been a total of 45 fewer pages of narrative, a 25% reduction. Mr. Saver said that staff recommended to the Committee that the Hoard put back into the proposal the in- formation about past year outcome results. These were removed last year because the information was provided to the Board earlier, and in a different reporting format separate from the proposal. This was done in order to accommodate additional questions and keep the page limit of the Proposal Narrative at 10 pages. However, the observation was made that there was not as much attention paid to the outcome measure results during the preliminary proposal review or the allocation hearings. It appeared that it was more difficult to match up the outcomes with each program with the information being in 2 separate docu- ments. Ms. Canter said that the Allocation Committee noted that the description of program outcome measures was one section of the proposal narrative that took up a considerable amount of space. The information was also organized and provided by each agency in a different lay -out. The Committee requested staff to develop a new Budget From I for the Board's consideration that would require each agency to provide outcome information in a consistent manner. The form is similar to what agencies must report their out- come results on quarterly. This form would be incorporated into the program -specific information for each funding request. In addition, by taking the outcomes out of the narrative, it will provide more space for the remainder of the Program Narrative. Ms. Sittler said that the agencies' historical information is redundant each year. Generally, none of the information changes each year. She suggested that they only submit the infonnation once, not each time they submit a proposal seeking funding. Board members who have been through the process would not need to review that information every time. tits. Canter said that the information is important for any of the individuals who arc not familiar with an agency when they arc reading a proposal. In addition, an agency might need to change some of the information from time to time. She said that, if the material is familiar, a reader could choose to not read that section. Ms. Walker said that site thought that all of the information regarding the outcome measure in requested separately for the past, current and proposed year may be unnecessary. The information generally does not change that much from one year to the nest. Mr. Saver said that the section of the proposal on Per- formance was the agencies only vehicle to inform the Board about new or revised measures. Recently, many of the changes have been a response to feedback from the Board. Section 3 is the only place that these changes are noted. Mr. Saver added that putting the report on fast Year outcomes was a staff rec- ommendation that was based, in part, upon an observation that in their hearings the agencies only dis- cussed or emphasized information that was in the proposal. March 8, 2007 Mental Health Board Meeting Minutes Page 6 Minutes Approved Ms, Sittler moved and Mr. L21NICII seconded a motion to adopt the Allocation Committee's recom- mendations to revise the Budget Manual for the 2007 Allocation Process. Ms. Canter clarified that the Committee's recommendations were amended by Ms. Sittler's recommendation to eliminate question #3.4.4. Motions arlopted unanimously 5 ayes — 0 no. Vl. COhIMUNITY RECOGNITION AWARD Ms. Sittler reported that she met with Mr. Saver to discuss the criteria for the Community Recognition Award. She said that they had several questions about how the Board wanted to structure the award, and if so how. She referred to materials in the packet that identified some contradictory planning themes around which she was asked to organize the award program. Ms. Sittler said that in the Board's initial conversations and discussion about expectations regarding this award, the idea was to operate it in the same spirit in which the Board initially implemented it, i.e., infor- mal, spontaneous, and without a lot of detail. She said that that, at the same time, the Board's intent was to provide the greatest visibility in the community for this new INIHB program. She said that this would require detail, planning and structure. Ms. Sittler said that the Board had also discussed the possibility that it would retain the right from year-to- year not to present an award unless there was an appropriate candidate. She pointed out that this would work only if there was no structure to the award program and it was implemented in a very informal man- ner. She said that she did not think the award was something that the Board should feel that it had to do. It should also not mimic the number of other agency and civic awards that are given out by many other community groups and service providers. Ms. Sittler liked the Board's initial thoughts to adopt the award as a loosely structured initiative. The Board could adopt the award and keep it very informal, and have it available in the future in the event that someone's name was mentioned for the award. Mr. Krulce suggested that the Board ask community agencies to nominate people, instead of relying on the Board members to rind honorees. People dealing with volunteers Nvould be a good source for nomina- tions. Ms. Walker read from the information packet and said the intent of the award was to honor "a per- son that has no position, job, formal role, or responsibility, and has received tto compensation of any kind for doing the act." This would exclude agency volunteers. She added that she thought that the uniqueness of the award was in presenting it to a community member who was doing rood works without being in a formal or informal role, or a structure, that prompted them to do it. She said she was not in favor of mak- ing the award an annual event Mr. Latifell pointed out that leaving the award open-ended could mean that there might be several recipients in a short period of time. t-Ir. Krulee agreed that it was good not to create an expectation that the Board could have to give an award every, year. Ms. Walker said that she thoualtt the Board established the standard for the award with what it did with the first recipient. She suggested that the Board could send out a paragraph about the award to agencies and the community about the availability of the award. After additional discussion, there was a consensus decision of the `11-113 to adopt the Community Recog- nition Award and keep it very informal. It will be available in the future in the event that someone's name is presented for possible recognition. VII. AGENCY ACCOUNTABILITY March 8, 2007 Mental Health Board Meeting Minutes Page 7 Wnuln Approved Agency Liaison Reports (Board I♦lcmber Reports) Y.O.U. Ms. SittIer met recently met with Don Baker. She said that she was surprised to learn that Ivir. Baker started the agency and that it was originally located in the former Levy Center on Davis St. She said that she was planning to attend the agency's 7:30 a.m. board meeting this month. Connections for the Homeless. Mr. LaMell reported that he met with Paul Selden to get an orientation to the agency. Trilogy. Nis. Canter said she visited Trilogy's Chicago location. She spoke with the Executive Director, John Mayes, and the Director of Clinical Services, David Daskovsky. Mr. Francis gave her a tour. She said it was a large facility that was very friendly, and a warm place with a lot of art work. Trilogy, in col- laboration with Illinois Department of Human Services, will be hosting an on -site Medical Clinic, starting in April. Mr. Daskovsky said that the collaboration between YMCA, Connections for the Homeless and Trilogy was going well and that they have selected five clients currently at the YMCA to target with their efforts. The agencies plan to re -apply for funding with the MI-IB next fall for this collaboration. She said that she also visited the Evanston location and saw those facilities. She also participated in a client -lead writing group at a coffee house near the office. It was a good group and included I staff person, 4 pro- gram members and herself. One of the clients led the discussion. VIII. PROPOSED STATE LEGISLATION Mr. Saver provided an overview of several proposed allocations and pieces of legislation that are being considered in Springfield. Governor Blagojevieh's proposed State Budget for Developmental Disabilities (DD) for 2007-2008. It includes $3,000,000 in new funds to support 120 individuals in emergency CILAs. The majority of the new funds for community housing for DD in recent years has been for emer- gency housing, largely as a result an individual losing their caregiver. The Budget also includes S9 million to speed up payments for intermediate care facilities for persons with DD (ICFDD). These are housing programs like SHORE'S on Michigan and South Blvd. There is also $10 million annualize the cost of care for 200 people who moved out of State -operated facilities in the past year. S2.2 is included for grants and purchase of care to support moving 120 people from State -operated facilities in fiscal year 2008. There is also a proposal to fund $4.4 million to establish crisis intervention for people with DD who are living in the community. Mr. Saver said that there seems to be some opposition to the proposed model because the program resources and staff will be based in an institution. Mr. LaMell said that there has been quite a bit of movement and it seems likely that the program will be provided by community agen- cies and not the institutions. He thought that the new initiative would be supported by ttte Hospital Tax Levy. Mr. Saver said that the Division of Community Health and Prevention budget includes S6.3 million ear- marked as a 3% cost of living increase for early intervention; family case management, school -based health centers; domestic violence programs; family planning; sexual assault and prenatal services. This is the first increase for these programs in a number of years. Mr. Saver reviewed three bills that were introduced in Springfield that were related to the Board's areas of involvement: March S. 2007 dental Health Board Meeting Minutes Page a Minutes Approved State Senator Susan Garrett introduced a bill in reaction to a homecoming night car crash where alcohol was involved. Two young people from Northfield died in that crash. The bill proposes to make tougher penalties for parents who condone underage drinking in their homes. There are al- ready laws which prohibit parents from allowing minors to drink in their homes. to provide them %%ith alcohol, or to fail to control access to alcohol. The penalties are misdemeanors. The pro- posed bill makes it a felony if the actions result in anything that would result in bodily harm -- up to three years in prison and a $25,000 fine. The bill is currently in the Senate. There are some prevention programs in nearby communities that focus on the role of parents, as well. There is a national program in Wilmette called "Parents that Host Lose the Most" that provides information to parents about local and State laws that are geared towards parents legal and financial Iiabilities for parents who host parties where alcohol is available or allow drinking in their homes for under - aged youth. One of the points that are emphasized is the possible legal exposure an adult might tun into under their homeowner's insurance policy. The Illinois Ohnslead Iniplementation Act was introduced into the Senate. The bill would provide a plan for the implementation of the 1999 U.S. Supreme Court ruling that it is discrimination to institutionalize people with disabilities who are able to participate in, and to benefit from, com- munity settings. It gave people with disabilities the right to choose. When the Ohnsteud decision was released, Governor Ryan appointed a statewide Olmstead Plan Committee to develop rec- ommendations for how the terms of the decision would be enacted in Illinois. The committee had extensive participation from across the state, and included individuals with disabilities. A former City colleague of Mr. Saver's was one of the co-chairs for the committee. He informed him that when the committee report was released %%ith findings and recommendations it was accompanied with a letter from the Governor's Office stating that the State did not support the recommenda- tions from the committee. That was reflective of the history of Illinois' implementation of Olmstead. One of the concerns that the current bill proposes to address is that 74% of Illinois's long-term care dollars are spent on institutional care, yet community care needs funding, as well. While institutional care is provided at S 120,000 a year, community services can be provided at approximately 1/3 the cost. With Illinois being ranked 48`r' or 490' out Of 50 states in providing community -based services, the Ohnsread Implementation Act would also begin to balance the fi- nancial bias towards long-term institutional care for persons with disabilities. Senate Bill 581 proposes to create the Community Residential Choices (CRC) Program. It is a community living option that would enable individuals to choose their own house mates in small - sized settings. This would make it possible fr , individuals with 17D to be considered for the estab- lishment of additional residential options, and not be restricted to vacancies in current CILAs and group homes. The bill would make available to at least 80 people a year for 4 years. These would be available as non -crisis options, something that has been denied to many who have been seek- ing greater independence that community options have offered. Currently. State policy has made it possible to only fund individuals who meet crisis criteria. NJr. LaNiell said lie was concerned about the bill and opposed it. S13 581 proposes to reimburse CRC providers at 100% of the cost of running the programs. Ile said this will create a two-tier system that is uniirir to the people cur- rently being served in other types of community care, whose services are being reimbursed by the State at less than 100%. Mr. Saver pointed out that the State currently reimburses community - based residential providers significantly less than the actual cost of care. I le said that he was told that these programs are generally reimbursed at about 70-72% of the costs. The agency providers are acting as agents of the State in providing residential support for individuals who are the State's responsibility. Many of these agencies have to do so much fundraising because of the dif- ference between costs and reimbursement on behalf of the State of Illinois. Mr. LaMell pointed out that the state -operated facilities have a per capita cost of S 125,000, while the cost for indi- viduals in community CILAs is about S50,000. March B, 2007 Mental Health Board Meeting Mlnutes Page 9 Minutes App"Yded IX. BOARD DEVELOPi3ENT ACTIVITIES FOR 2007-08 Mr. Saver reviewed February Board decisions regarding Board Development. The presentation that night about "Eranston .v Changing Demographics" was of the planned presentations. He reported that the Di- rector of Evanston Community Foundation (ECF) was scheduled to present at the April meeting. lie asked Board members to a -mail him with any specific areas of interest they would like the presentation about ECF to address. Mr. Saver reviewed the additional topics the Board adopted for the remainder of the year. X. BOARD ORIENTATION Ms. Canter reviewed her memo in the Board Packet regarding Board member orientation. She said that it is a planning item that the Board had been carrying on the agenda for some time. She thought that this was a good time to begin the discussion and merits discussion; given that there had been 2 Board resigna- tions in the past 10 months. Ms. Canter said that there had been suggestions about ways to orient Board members to ensure that their expectations were accurate in relation to the workload, time and responsibilities demanded by the posi- tion. Nis. Canter said that when she reviewed the materials that are provided on the City web page as well as in the Board's orientation. Ms. Canter also reviewed a handout about using a mentor program for new Board member training. She said that she thought this would be especially the case the first time someone has to go through the entire allocation process and hearings. It might be especially helpful for new members — especially those who have joined the Board only shortly prior to the allocation process -- to have a point person to speak to about all of the materials and the ;proceedings. Ms. Canter said that she also included a list of functions and duties performed by Board Members. She said that she thought that there had been a lot of changes in the responsibilities since she joined; they need to be updated and incorporated into the materials given to people interested in joining the Board. Mr. LaMell said, as the newest Board member, that he thought Lis. Canter's suggestions and ideas were good. lie said that lie received excellent input from \lr. Saver when he was considering making applica- tion to the Board. lie added that, from his experience, it takes about a year fi)r a new member on any board to assimilate all of the information and fully adjust to the responsibilities. 'I'lie first wcek of the al- location process is a very unique, interesting and educational experience, but one really has to step back and observe the first time around to take everything in. It takes awhile to understand the breadth of what is being done in the services the M1113 supports. All ofthe agencies have good causes, but it is difficult as a new member to know what to fund. Ms. Canter said that even when one is experienced in a human service field, tiie 1\41-I13 has a lot to learn and a broad range of agencies to get to know. It takes quite a while to get to know what each agency is about, beyond reading the proposals. She said that she thought it was a monumental task given the breadth of agencies funded. Mr. Krulce volunteered to draft an up-to-date document outlining what it means to be a Board member and describing the associated responsibilities. March 8, 2007 Mental Health Board Meeting Minutes Page 10 Minutes App"wid Ms. Sittler said that she was not sure whether people were aware what they are signing up for when they applied to join the MHB. Several Board members agreed that they did not have a real good understanding of the scope of the Board's activities, or the time it demanded, when they applied to be on the Board.. Ms. Walker said she thought that the role of Board members had changed significantly during her tenure. It is no longer focused solely on its initial areas of mental health, developmental disabilities and substance abuse since consolidating its responsibilities in 2002 with the Human Service Committee's broader allo- cation responsibilities. She noted that the work load had grown with additional Liaison agencies. She said that it is a very time intensive duty, to participate on the Board while also working a full-time job. The Board accomplishes a lot, does a number of valuable things, and has improved its processes and increased its scope, but it is a very time -intensive responsibility. Ms. Canter said she did not think that either the City website or the Board's written materials give a clear picture of the work that is involved. She said it would be useful to review that information. One way of approaching this would be to review the entire area of Board member orientation. A work group will be appointed to conduct the review process; the next Chair will have to follow up on and direct the process. Ms. Sittler said that one problem might be providing better information to people before they decide whether to apply to the Board, but that may not be possible with the current process. Mr. LaMell said that a good orientation or overview might help to weed out people that are unable to dedicate the requisite time and effort. He said that he particularly liked the idea of a mentor. Mr. LaMcll asked whether it was possible to make it mandatory that a person attend a Board meeting before submitting an application. Ms. Canter said that the application process was the prerogative of the Mayor. Ironically, the last two mem- bers who resigned from the Board had both attended Board meetings prior to applying for a Board posi- tion. Ms. Canter said that she was going to look for 2 volunteers to wort: on this issue. She gave Board mem- bers a chance to review the materials; she was going to postpone any further discussion until the April Board meeting. XL STAFF REPORT Mr. Saver reported on the folloiving: The City received the final report on recommendations about funding under the 2006 SuperNOFA for homeless programs. Last June he reported on Evanston's recommendations to HUD for dollars allocated for Evanston. The Evanston Alliance on Homelessness rank -ordered and recommended 4 renewal funding programs and 2 new programs to I -IUD for a total of $740,269. However, I -IUD only authorized funding for the 4 renewal programs for a total of S330,920. The initial reports were that Evanston's application did not receive a high enough score from HUD to be eligible far funding this year for any new programs. The Alliance had not yet received information about where points were lost, so it is not clear whether any of the areas where points were lost will have an effect upon the 2007 application.! he Alliance is expecting that there will be renewal proposals in the amount of approximately S950,000 being submitted in 2007. He met representatives from the Association of Community Mental Health Authorities of Illinois (ACM- HAI) to discuss a new initiative that they have developed with the State. They secured the ability for men- tal health authorities, like 708 Boards, to sign a contract with the Department of Health and Family Ser- vices, previously the Illinois Department of Public Aid, which would certify local expenditures for Medi- caid matching funds. The Department is establishing contracts with funders that use local funds to provide March 0, 2007 Mental Health Board Meeting Minutes Page 11 Wnutes Approved Medicaid reimbursable services that are provided by Medicaid -certified local programs, to a Medicaid - eligible population to be reimbursed at the State :Medicaid rate. ACNIHAI worked with a contractor to create software that is equipped to handle the billing, and to manage a significant amount of reporting and document verification that is required. AIr. Saver is looking into the process. He said that this type of ar- rangement would change the relationship the NlH13 has with those agencies that would be eligible to have their NII-IB expenditures matched. In order to make this viable, there would have to beat least 5100,000 of billings. These would have to be services that are in excess of an agency's current service expenditures that are already being matched by N-Iedicaid funds. This would not be applicable with all of the Board's funded -programs, and might require the Board to manage a two-tier funding and monitoring process -- the current process and the Medicaid -reimbursed process. There are a number of policy issues that would need to be addressed, in addition to an analysis of the potential services that could be billed in the Board's funded agencies. There would also be additional billing and monitoring costs incurred for both the MFII3 and any agency involved in this process. These would have to be looked at carefully in determining the potential benefit for additional funds for the NIHB and for any agency. The Thresholds Theatre Arts Project works %vith the Chicago Police Department in training officers in a Crisis Intervention Training program. The Thresholds members role play crisis scenarios around mental health issues that enable officers being trained to practice skills that they have been learning. He was in- vitcd to attend the role play sessions to observe the training on March 15. fie participated in the second Partnering for a Safer Evanston on March 3, and facilitated one of the plan- ning groups. The ideas and suggestions from the first session where divided into 9 strategic areas; one work group was assigned to examine each of the strategic areas and develop an implementation plan for that goal area for the coming year. He said he had materials available if anyone was interested in receiv- ing a copy. Housing Options' 2006 Outcomes Report was distributed that evening. He encouraged Board members to review it when they had the opportunity. It is a very comprehensive and well -organized report %kith out- come measures about virtually all areas of the agency's activities. The agency provided some interesting comments in the summary about objectives for improvement. The meeting was adjourned at 9:18 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Casev Solomon Sccrctary March 8, 2007 Mental Health Board Meeting Minutes Page 12 Uinutes Approved Members Present: Presiding: Staff: Community Representatives: EVANSTON MENTAL HEALTH BOARD MEETING MINUTES THURSDAY, APRIL 12, 2007 Sue Canter, Gil Krulee. Jane Grover, Randy Walker, Carol Sittler, Anne Gauthier Sue Canter Harvey Saver, Sha Rhonda Knott, Casey Solomon Willis Francis (Trilogy); Martha Arntson (Childcare Nchvork of Evanston); Pam Thomas (Evanston Skokie Valley Senior Services); Mary Beth Schroeder (Evanston Community Foundation); Sandra Stumme (Metropolitan Family Services) Nis Canter called the meeting to order at 7:05 p.m. 1. INTRODUCTION AND COMMUNITY COMMENTS Nis. Canter called the meeting to order and asked the guests to introduce themselves and make any pertinent announcements to the group. Nis. Amtson announced that Childcare Network of Evanston is recognizing child care providers and teachers at a Teacher Appreciation on Monday, April 16 at the Civic Center. On Tuesday, April 17 they will be sponsoring a continental breakfast for providers at the Childcare Network's office. IL BOARD DEVELOPMENT PRESENTATION. EVANSTON COMMUNITY FOUNDA- TION. MARY BETH SCHROEDER, DIRECTOR OF COMMUNITY PROGRAMS AND LEADERSHIP EVANSTON Mary Beth Schroeder from the Evanston Community Foundation (ECF) joined the Board. She said that the Executive Director, Sara Schastok, was unable to join the Board due to a family emergency. Ms. Schroeder said she had been with ECF 8 Fears. ECF has experienced enormous growth during that time in dollars and community involvement. Evanston Community Foundation is having its 20`h anniversary this %,car. It was born out of the Evanston United Way (UWay), which had several special gifts in the mid- 1980s that its leadership thought would provide an opportunity to enable a group to funding in a different way and outside of the structure and formality of the UWay's normal process. They created a community inundation to provide a different funding stream for Evanston. Community foundations have been around for over 100 years. 'typically a community foundation has served larger municipalities. For example. most people are familiar with The Chicago Community Trust and New Fork Foundation. Evanston proved to he oil the cusp of a national movement when ECF was formed by community leaders because community foundations are the fastest growing form of philanthropy in America. There are now about 1,000 community foundations nationally. The initial impetus for the ECF was to fund endeavors that the UWay did not support. To be eligible for their funding, an agency had to go through an application and screening process and be accepted as an UWay agency. The UWay funds exclusively in the areas of social services. Funding is primarily for on- going, operating support for programs. UWay's strong focus and structure made them less able to fund innovative, new programs, organizations and emergency community needs. ECF also supports social April 12, 2007 Mental Health Board Meeting Minutes Page 1 Minu as Approved service but its focus is much broader, e.g., arts, education, youth, family support, health, housing, com- munity development and basic human needs. Locally, ECF has kept its focus on innovation -- not neces- sarily new agencies, but on new programming, and in many cases grass -roots initiatives that would not be eligible for other community funding through sources like the AlH13 and the UWay. . Ms. Schroeder described ECF's broad portfolio. They use an asset based model when they look at the community's needs. They look at the challenges in the community and what the community assets are that can respond to them. Over 213 of their funding over the past 20 years has gone toward education, youth and family support. The ECF is directed by a Board of Directors of twenty very active community mem- bers. They also serve on very active committees. NIs. Schroeder described the Foundation as being like a three-legged stool, performing three distinct yet highly inter -related activities. The first is Asset Development, the core function of all community founda- tions. ECF is constantly working to manage and build endowments in order to be able to serve the com- munity into perpetuity. The slogan of community foundations nationally is "For good, forever." ECF is unusual compared to other community foundations. Nationally, most of them have started with a lot of donor -advised funds, where the foundation manages and invests the fund while the donor directs the foundation how to do the grant making. ECF built the first $2 million of its endowment on relatively small gifts from individuals. ECF also has some donor -designated funds. While the donor can advise the ECF board on how to distrib- ute the funds, ECF is ultimately responsible to do the due diligence and ensure that funded agencies are genuine 5016 organizations. ECF also has field of interest funds, which are started by donors around a particular interest. The allocation of those funds needs to be around the specified issue. Additionally, ECF manages some agency funds. An agency can give an existing endowment to ECF to manage and in- vest its funds, which remain the property of the originating agency for its expenditures, ECF also performs Community Convening. They bring the community together to discuss issues, to help ECF determine their grant -making, and to attract people to contribute money to the foundation. This serves the purposes of growing the endowment, and helping ECF know how to best serve the community. Community Convening is done in a number of ways. Leadership Evanston is one example, which brings together classes of people who work together for a year and learn more about the community. Ms. Gauthier asked whether, by virtue of ECF's local fundraising. they are competing with the UWay. Ms. Schroeder replied that she did not think so. ECF and the UWay are raising funds and probably idcnti- fying different donor interests. Ms. Gauthier suggested, however, that individuals might be making deci- sions between giving to one of the local funders instead ofthe other. NIs. Schroeder said that information about national patterns of giving indicates that when people give to one type of'charitable activity they also decide to give elsewhere — "giving, begets giving." Typically. people tend to give to both broad is- sues as well as directly to agencies, though each donor is unique in their choices, Ms. Schroeder said that for its first 15 ycars ECF was volunteer -driven. They paid a fee to the Evanston United Way to provide administrative assistance and support, and book-keeping. The volunteer staffed board directed the fundraising and giving. in the late 1990s, the Board, under the guidance of Jay Lytle, created their first strategic plan. They decided that in order to grow and became a bigger funder they would need to build more infrastructures for the organization and hire an 1-Executive Director. Since then they have grown from the initial 1.5 staff to 4.5 staff. Their total assets have grown from $3 million to over $6.5 million. Last year, in all of their programs, ECF gave away over$500,000 in charita- April 12, 2001 Mental Health Board Meeting Minutes Page 2 tlllnutea Approved bic pay -outs versus S62,000 in 1998. The development of and investment in a staffed foundation has paid off significantly for the both the ECF and Evanston as a whole. The third leg of ECF is Grant Making. Their overall philosophy is to consider the community's assets in order to establish the strengths that can be built upon. They try to do strategic grant making that works to build on those: assets. They try to strategically fund programs and agencies that will be able to use the fund to leverage broader support and build long term sustainability. Grants are generally on the smaller, $3,000 to $10,000, range. As they evaluate proposals they consider whether ECF's funds will help the organization grow. For instance, ECF gave the very first grant to what became Housing; Options for the Mentally Ill in Evanston, now Housing Options. It also gave Y.O.0 a crucial grant that enabled them to move from their Noyes Street site to the outpost across from Nichols School, enabling them to grow into their next developmental stage. More recently, they helped Custer Street Fair with a S 10,000 grant. It en- abled them to hire someone to do grant writing; that accessed federal transportation funds to assist with the renovation of the depot location near lMain Street. Mr. Saver said that a number of years ago ECF gave the Evanston Substance Abuse Prevention Council (ESAPC) a $10,000 grant to develop the Strength in Numbers (SIN) program, a social norms marketing Campaign, at Evanston Township High School. This was an innovative program, only the second such program being; tried in high schools in the nation. initially the planning and programming was being sup- ported with in -kind support from the Mental Health Board and PEER Services. ECF's S 10,000 grant en- abled ESAPC to capture the attention of the Chicago Community Trust, which provided a two-year grant that ESAPC was able to roll-over into a third year. By then, the program was able to attract a five-year federal grant. Mr. Saver said that ECF's initial grant has grown into a program that is now supporting; not only SIN but also five different environmental prevention strategies in the community. Ms. Schroeder said that there was an interesting, related story to the EXAPC grant. IXF encourages and is involved in several partnerships. They are entering; their tenth year with Northwestern's Dance Mara- thon (DM). The Marathon initially included ECF as a secondary beneficiary and provided them with 7.5% of their profit. Tltcy are now entering the second year of giving the ECF 10% of their proceeds, which this year translated to $47,000. In the past ten years ECF has received over $250,000 from the event. The ECF invests 7.5% of those funds directly into grant making. The two NU Dance Marathon Chairs serve on the Foundation's Grants Committee to assure the voice of young people are heard in the grant making; proc- ess. ESAPC's social norms marketing (SNM) grant was funded in large part because the college students were familiar with SNM on college campuses and had seen positive benefits in reducing alcohol abuse on campuses. They understood the implications for that type of program and strongly advocated for its sup- port. Ms. Schroeder continued that ECF does its grant making in three different ways. The Responsive Grants Program is the most widely knomi. Their Request for Proposal is mailed out broadly and posted on ECF's website in December of each year. The completed proposals are due at the end of l:ebruary. Their Grants Committee is made of board members and community representatives as well as the two DM Chairs. The Grants Committee meets many times in between February and May, when the final decisions are made. They first evaluate the proposals through the criteria that are in the RFP: how well does it fit within ECF's mission and philosophy; does it address a problem. concern, need or significant opportunity in Evanston; does it provide the strongest value ibr Evanston: are the objectives realistic and is the or- ganization qualified to attain them; is the program budget appropriate to their objectives; is there a solid plan to sustain the project over time; is there an evaluation plan that will be sufficient to track progress and determine the success of the project. A small team of the Grants Committee members look at all the proposals and evaluate them according to the guidelines. Generally, ECF receives 60-80 proposals and gives out between 12-15 grants. The first team does a pre-screening; and takes out ones that really don't fit April 12.2007 Mental Health Board Meeting Minutes Page 3 Minutes Approved the objectives. The full Grants Committee then reads the proposals, check of what fits and hosts a series of meetings to discuss their findings. Each member is assigned to critically evaluate five specific propos- als. Mr. Saver asked, given the «nde range of issues and solicitations the ECF responds to, what was the strangest RFP the Foundation has ever received? Ms. Schroeder said they once got a request from an or- ganization that didn't have any budget and currently had no money. The request was for $500,000. Ms. Schroeder pointed out that ECF doesn't generally provide more than $10,000 for a competitive grant. Grants are generally one year in duration and they arc not automatically renewed. However the organiza- tion can be funded again. In addition to the relationship with NU's Dance Marathon, ECF also has a Grant Making Partners Pro- gram. They have identified a number of family foundations or private donors that are interested in having opportunities for funding presented to them. ECF can tall them about the proposals -- matchmaking — and present them with something in line with their specific interests. This sort of match -making has increased the Foundation ability to fund more deserving proposals and assist donors who have the resources but not the time to evaluate for themselves. The grant recipients become ECF grantees, funded by ECF in partner- ship with the family foundation. ECF monitors these projects for the donors. The second grant making process started when a woman c-mailed ECF a few years ago saying that she was involved with a private family foundation in Omaha. They had a program called Root -to -Fruit (R2F), which she wanted to bring to another community. This funding helped small, grass roots organiza- tions build their program capacity. R2F does not provide operating funds. It helps small organizations do such thins as market themselves, build a board, or develop a database for fundraising. A member of the family foundation wanted to start a program in her own community and developed it with ECF. The fund- ing is a separate RFP for ECF that is very simple. They try hard not to evaluate the agencies on the way they write the proposals; most do not have much grant writing experience. Seven to ten finalists are se- lecled. The group is narrowed down to the three or four grantees. Lilac Tree, which is now a Root -to -Fruit program, was interviewed three times before being funded. "Though they were not chosen for funding the first couple of times, they found the experience a great Iearning experience. The grantees each receive a grant of $5,000 - $10,000 for three -years, provided they keep progressing toward their established goals. The grantees have an opportunity to learn from each other in addition to the ntentorship of the ECF board. Ms. Schroeder said that a number of organizations receive R2F funds in addition to a program grant. The first set of Evanston's Root -to -Fruit graduates was surveyed last year. Each graduating agency had of- fices, had added staff, and had increased their collaborations. One agency learned that they we're better as an individual program and became part of another agency. Ms. Schroeder said that ECF's third grant making effort is the Community Work's program. 'this is sup- ported by endowments from the Grand Victoria Ioundation (GVF). The Grand Victoria Casino fives funds to an independent i'oundation that give money across the State. They want to help build community capacity Statewide. They chose 17 community foundations in Illinois to support liu funding in 3 areas that they identified as community challenges: early childhood care and education; workforce training and development; and land use and environmental protection. GVC provided a 5250,000 matching; grant to build the Community Works endowment, which is a field of interest fund within the foundation. An Advisory Committee of the ECF has goal of growing those funds to $2 million. Grand Victoria also wanted to build ECF's capacity as conveners. They helped them with a series of meetings over two years that focused on the 3 community challenge areas. They, met with hun- dreds of community of people in focus groups that were structured around building upon community as- sets. Through these efforts they developed an initial Plan. April 12, 2007 Mental Health Hoard Meeting Minutes Page 4 Wnutes Approved Ms. Schroeder said that ECF received an anonymous $200,000 gist to use for the Community Works pro- ject. This was not to grow the endowment but to jump start the program. The first area that Community Works is taking on is an early childhood initiative. The goal is "every child ready for kindergarten, every youth ready for work." In community meetings, the Foundation spoke to local childhood experts and community members to develop 3 core objectives; • Provide more training to community early childhood care workers; • Build the capacity of the early childhood community to raise more non -governmental funds. They provided the Childcare Network of Evanston (CNE) with a matching grant to enable to them to hire a development person for individual giving; and, • The 0-3 population. More capacity is needed to support young families with children to help them get kids ready for school. They are funding CNE to implement the Parents as Teachers model, and Infant Welfare Society of Evanston for a home visiting model. Ms. Sittier asked how many applications they receive each year for grants. Ms. Schroeder said they get 60-75 for the responsive grants; Root to Fruit they, get about 25 annually. Ms. Grover asked whether ECF had objective measures that indicate whether their grants were making a difference in the community. Ms. Schroeder said it is important to make sure the agencies actually do what they claim they will do. Their goal is for their funding to make a difference in the community. They are in conversation with a consultant about teaching some of their funded programs to use an outcome - based evaluation. They want to help them define measures with which to evaluate their programs beyond the number of individuals served. She said that there has been discussion between the City and ECF about working collaboratively on the area of defining objectives with agencies. Mr. Krulee said that there were some things that ECF supports that are similar to what the MHB funds. What are some things that are different? Ms. Schroeder said that ECF also funds programs in the arts, the school districts, housing developmental groups, and environmental concerns. They also fund smaller or- ganizations that are not as well established. In their competitive funding, ECF has a strong focus on help- ing new initiatives and providing funds to prop them up strategically so that they can become sustained over time. Ms. Canter asked how many volunteers ECF has to support the 4.5 FTE staff. Ms. Schroeder replied that there between the Steering Committee and other committees there are probably 80 people who are gener- ally engaged in ECF's activities. In response to Ms. Canter, Ms Schroeder said that ECF uses money to make more money in order that they can give it away to a variety of causes within the Foundation's structure. Ms. Canter complimented the Foundation on its tremendous growth in less than 10 years. On behalf of the Board she thanked her for a thorough presentation. Ms. Schroeder welcomed Board members to contact her with any further ques- tions. IV. AGENCY ACCOUNTABILITY Liaison Reports Infant NVeifare Society of Evanston. Ms. Gauthier spoke briefly with Megan Kashner. The agency is having its Second Annual Hat and Tea Fundraiser on May 6. The agency is having budgetary cut backs. Camilla Nilson is the new Outreach Manager for Teen Baby Nursery. April 12, 2007 Mental Health Board Meeting Minutes Pago 5 Minutes Approved Ilousing Options. Ms. Gauthier spoke %%ith Alexander Brown about the agency's 2006 Outcome Report. The reportwas very well done. There is an interesting section that compared the agency's expenses to benchmarking agencies. Housing Options costs seemed to put them in a good financial profile; they were in the middle in terms of fundraising expenses. Child Care Center of Evanston. Mr. Krulee attended CCCE's recent Board meeting. The Executive Di- rector, Helen Roberts -Evans, will be leaving the Center at the end of the year. There have been a fairly significant number of personnel changes in the agency's of senior staff. The agency is concerned because they have been having difficulty keeping up with the cost of living with their salary levels. YWCA Evanston/North Shore. Nis. Sittler said she recently visited the YWCA. They have made a re- markable renovation of their facility; the lobby is extremely welcoming. She said she was impressed with the organizational changes that Ms. Singer had made. They have developed a number of new goals to ex- pand programming for women of all ages. Nis. Canter reported that at the Human Services Committee meeting the previous Wednesday, the Com- mittee agreed to permit a community group to explore the use of property west of the Jewcl-Osco store on Howard for a Talking Farm. This would be an organic farm that would provide opportunities for educa- tion as well as youth involvement with the farm. The Botanic Gardens and several state horticultural so- cieties have initiated these programs in several Illinois cities. The farm would also provide a commercial component, and would probably sell produce to local restaurants and at the Evanston Farmers Market. V. STANDING COMMITTEE REPORTS Board Orientation. Ms. Canter appointed Mr. LaMell to work on a Board Orientation Work Group. She said that Mr. Krulee also had begun a summary of Board member responsibilities that would be incorpo- rated into the information for a revised orientation process. She added that she would work on the Work Group with Mr. LaMell. More information will be presented on changes in the orientation process at the May meeting. Allocation Committee. The Allocation Committee met again and has almost completed its tasks for the first phase of preparing, for the 2007 Allocation Process. They plan to meet with representatives of the Evanston Chapter of United Way to discuss the plans for the fall hearings, and the relationship between bath of the fenders for the hearing process. Nis. Grover said that the Committee is planning to annotate the Funding Guidelines with information about where data can be found pertaining to different criteria. That change in conjunction with the changes that the Board adopted in the proposal format should make the rating process easier this year. In September, the annotations will be reviewed with the Board as the process is getting under way, and as a means of orienting everyone to the assessment tool again. NIecting with Center for Independent Futures. his. Canter reported that CIF is in negotiation with Evanston Township High School (C'i'1-iS) for the funds to match the contingency for the NifIB's S10,000 award. She and Mr. Saver joined Nis. Doyle in a meeting at CTI IS 2 weeks ago to discuss the grant. They met with the Director of Special Education, Aviva Talman, and the Transition Planning Coordinator, John Ostrowski. They indicated that they are interested in implementing CIF's Full -Life future Planning Pro- ject, though they were not able to say at the time whether the school was able to commit the full $10,000. In the interim, Nis. Doyle is going look for other support for the program. Nis. Talman said she would be discussing, this funding opportunity with the Superintendent Iater in the month. Ms. Canter said that the best time to being to implement something new like this would probably be in the fall, at the beginning of April 12, 2007 Mental Health Board Mooting Minutes Page 6 Minutes Approved the school year. Ms. Talman did say she would 2 of her staff to training for the program. Nis. Canter said that she has tentatively scheduled Nis. Doyle for the June MHB meeting to talk about the outcome of meetings with ETHS and the high school's response to this funding opportunity. Mr. Saver reminded the Board that they had added a new section to the Quarterly Report format in 2006- 2007. In the 06-07 contract and Quarterly Report form, the Board required each agency to report on their fundraising activity. The Board asked for a summary report of all grants and purchase of service funding requests that had been submitted that quarter. The information requested was for any facilities or services that are included in the EN1HB's general areas of responsibility. The agencies report their actual success in grantsmanship in the annual funding requests. What the Board was interested in was the actual activity to raise funds. Mr. Saver said that his impression has been that the reports have been inconsistent, so far, in reporting the information. He suggested that Board members pay particular attention to that section of the Quarterly Reports to make certain they are receiving the type of information that they were looking for. Fall Substance Abuse Conference Planning. Ms. Gauthier said that last fall the Board had agreed to sponsor a substance abuse conference based on the Community Reinforcement and Family Training (CRAFT) model. It is based upon an evidence -based model that was developed by Robert Meyers. It is designed for working with families who have a chemically dependent family member that is un►villing to enter treatment. Ms. Gauthier commented that research has indicated that with the use of this model, 70% of the chemically dependent individuals have entered treatment. Ms. Gauthier said that the Board is partnering with PEER Services and Metropolitan Family Services to produce the conference. The current plans are to have a workshop for professionals on Friday, September 28, from 1--4 p.m. at Evanston Public Library. September was selected because it is National Recovery Month. CEU's will be available for counselors through PEER Services and Metropolitan Family Services. Later, there will be a similar CRAFT workshop for consumers, probably in January. Ms. Gauthier said that she had been in communication with the retired Director of Hazelton Addiction Treatment Center Chicago, Susan Reid, who is skilled in the model and will be providing the three-hour presentation. Ms. Knott noted that last month HBO ran a special program around the topic of addiction, which featured 50 short -films; three of them incorporated the CRAFT Model. She said those films are viewable trough HBO's on -demand cable. VI. NOMINATION OF BOARD OFFICERS Ms. Canter appointed Ms. Sittler and Ms. Gauthier to serve as the Nominating Committee for Board offi- cers for 07-08. Mr. Saver said that the Nominating Committee will present nominations at the May meet- ing. That slate will be moved for consideration at the June meeting at which time other nominations may also be made. The new officers will assume their post in July. Nis. Canter said in the Board packet she provided a list of responsibilities for the Chair. Iv1s. Grover said that from her past experience as Chair she thought the list -was very comprehensive and accurate; there is a lot to do, but it doesn't all happen simultaneously. Ms. Canter said she figured that her role as Chair takes about 3 hours a week, on average. Sonic weeks there is nothing to do, others there is quire a bit ofactiv- ity. She said it has been a very rewarding and enjoyable position. VII. REPORT FROM THE CHAIR Ms. Canter provided the following information: April 12, 2007 Mental Health Board Meeting Minutes Page 7 Minutes Approved • The P Annual Power of the Brain conference will take place at the Civic Center starting at 8 a.m. Sat- urday, April 28. She has represented the Board on the Planning Committee since its beginning. It is a very good conference and features some great speakers. It has generally attracted 100-150 attendees each year. There will be a keynote speech followed by two sets of workshops. The conference is geared for young families and early childhood development professionals. Volunteers are welcomed. • The Allocations Committee had further discussions about Board/Agency relations. This was initially discussed by the Board several months ago, but a number of issues were not resolved. The Committee further discussed some of the topics at length and will be presenting recommendations and guidelines for the Board's consideration about dealing with agencies outside of the Agency Liaison role. They will be presenting recommendations at the June meeting. Board members can call Ms. Grover with any concerns or issues that they want to make sure that the document addresses. Ms. Sittler said she had recently committed to participate in a fundraising event for an agency the Board funds. She asked whether the Board had established a position on something like that. Ms. Can- ter said that the City Council had tightened up the policies in the City Ethics Ordinance. Minimally, the Board will need to follow those same guidelines. However, the Board may be adopting something hat is more restrictive in its relationship with funded agencies. In response to a question from Ms. Sittler, Ms. Canter and Ms. Grover replied that she would only need to disclose a contribution if it was what one would consider a significant contribution. While that has not yet been defined, "significant" was either a large portion of an agency's budget or one's own resources. Vill. STAFF REPORT Mr. Saver provided the following information: He met recently with the Executive Director of Northwest Center against Sexual Assault. The agency deals with victims of rape and sexual assault, and provides a significant amount of community educa- tion for prevention. They are interested in making application for funding during the 2007 Allocation Process, and will likely be submitting a letter seeking consideration to apply for funding at either the May or June meeting. He was invited to attend the Chicago Police Department's (CPD) Crisis Intervention'ream (CIT) train- ing. He spent an extremely interesting day at their facility off North Avenue in Chicago, and had an opportunity to speak with a number of the officers who were being trained to improve the Police re- sponse to persons with mental illness in Chicago. Their goal is to train 20% of their entire force in cri- sis response techniques — and attitudes -- through a rather intensive curriculum around working with individuals' crises in the community, and in dealing with a wide variety of individuals' disabling con- ditions. Thresholds sponsored his attendance at the training. The agency has a group of their program members who have been studying theatrical skills for the production of plays. 'Their "director" is a Jeff -award winning actress. She is also working with them to role playa number of mental health crisis situations in the community as a part of the Cl'D training. Officers worked in teams cif three to engage and resolve the situations that were being simulated. INIr. Saver said that the scenarios performed by the Thresholds Theater Arts Project members were very real, provocative and emotional. The acting cre- ated a real -life aspect to the training in a protected setting. Even with the controlled setting some of the officers responded to the challenge of an emotional crisis very well, while others had difficulty changing out of their "law and order role" to respond in a different way. He added that the training seemed so important because the Police in most communities are often the first responders to commu- nity mental health crises in the community. Lt. Jerry Murphy organized and directed the training, and provided excellent debriefings with the Officers to ensure that they had an opportunity to learn from what went well and what actions accelerated the crisis situation. Some of the interactions were so real - April 12, 2007 Mental Health Board Meeting Minutes Page 8 Minutes Approved istic that the Thresholds members also needed to debrief and deal with the emotions that were stirred up. He spoke at length with a number of the Officers being trained and was impressed with how in- tense they were in expressing how much value and potential the training provided to them. Many de- scribed it as giving them an additional tool in their kit of things they could use on the streets. Mr. Saver said he spoke with the Thresholds staff about whether the troupe might be available to discuss the training experience with the MHB. There was a great deal of interest; there might be a possibility of having some of the Officers who had gone through the training join them as well. Ms. Grover said that the Evanston Police Problem Solving Team also does some types of role-playing activities for training, and has done it for Leadership Evanston. She said it was very effective at demonstrating how very complex some of the situations they encounter can be. It is made clear that the Police Officers don't really know what is motivating a person to act in a particular way. She said that the Police role played the situations. Mr. Saver said that Thresholds' members that had been through some of the same scenarios in their own life lent a level of intensity and honesty to the enactments that made the training experience very effective. Mr. Saver added that an interesting sidebar to the training was that Lt. Murphy, who was the commander for the CIT training, was also the Vice President for the National Alliance for the Mentally Ill of Greater Chicago. In response to his questions, the Board asked that Mr. Saver see if a presentation by the Thresholds group could be arranged for a Hoard meeting. Ms. Grover suggested that it might be interesting to try to open up the meeting to a larger audience in the community. • On Thursday, April 19 at 9 a.m. in room 2402 Housing Options' Non -Residential Program, ENH's Psychosocial Rehab Services, and Trilogy's Outreach, Triage and Linkage teams will be talking about Aggressive Mental Health Outreach. lie said he has had an opportunity to work with each of these programs around very difficult cases, typically ones that are called in by a community member because there is a person in their neighborhood who is exhibiting some troubling behavior. Generally, all of these contacts are with individuals who are not seeking, and don't necessarily want help initially. • Tuesday, April 17 at 7 p.m. at ETHS, he will be facilitating the Evanston Substance Abuse Prevention Council's Town Meeting on dealing with underage drinking in the community. • The planning is continuing for a conference in Spanish on Mental Ileafth Issues in the Latino Commu- nity. It is tentatively being planned for either October 7th or 14"'. There are about 14 agency represen- tatives who are working on the Planning Committee that he is convening. I le is working on this con- ference with Larry Cohen from the Cohen Foundation. The Foundation will be picking up the confer- ence expenses including advertising, and publicity, food. copying and supplies. In response to Ms. Sittler, Mr. Saver said that the tentative dales for the Allocation Process in the fall would be on approximately the same days of the month as they were in 2006. I-lowevcr, the Board and the United Way were planning to meet to discuss the arrangements for the hearings. That might have some impact on the Saturday hearings. The meeting was adjourned at 8: 48 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Casey Solomon Secretary April 12, 2007 Mental Health Board Meeting Minutes Page 9 Wnutes approved EVANSTON MENTAL HEALTH BOARD MEETING i1IINUTES THURSDAY, �tAV 10, 2007 1Nembers Present: Sue Canter, Gil Krulce, Randy Walker, Carol Sittler, Anne Gauthier Presiding: Sue Canter Staff: Jay Terry, Casey Solomon, ShaRhonda Knott Community Representatives: Martha Arntson (Childcare Network of Evanston); Pamela Thomas (Evanston/ Skokie Valley Senior Services); Leah Seligman (Y.O.U); Helen Roberts Evans (Child Care Center of Evanston); Elsie Mills (Northwest CASA) Ms Canter called the meeting to order at 7:05 p.m. I. INTRODUCTION AND COMMUNITY COMMENTS Ms. Canter called the meeting to order and asked the guests to introduce themselves. There were no special announcements. 11. AGENCY APPLICATION FOR 2007 FUNDING CONSIDERATION: NORTHWEST CEN- TER AGAINST SEXUAL ASSAULT. ELSIE MILLS, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR. Elsie Mills, Executive Director, of Northwest Center against Sexual Assault (CASA) joined the Board. She said that she was applying to be able to submit a funding proposal for E:Y08-09 to the MI-IB. Northwest CASA is part of a State network of 33 rape crisis centers. It is the only one serving northern Cook County. The agency's service delivery area is north and northwestern Cook County, running from Lake Michigan to just cast of Elgin. CASA has have been serving the area since 1978. CASA's mission is to end sexual assault and provide services for survivors of sexual violence and their families. They have a staff of seven; 2 admin- istrators and 5 direct service staff. Their annual operating; budget is about S500,000. CASA provides five distinct services. Counseling; services are offered to survivors, children, teens and their families. They provide medical advocacy at hospital emergency rooms and police departments 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Staff and volunteers provide emotional support, information and referrals. CASA also offers legal advocacy and will go to the court system/ to provide emotional support and information about legal issues. They are not legal advisors but they do help prepare survivors by letting; thent know what to an- ticipate in the courts. Direct service was provided to 243 survivors of sexual assault or sexual abuse last year. CASA operates a 2417 Crisis Intervention I iotline operated by volunteers and staff, The agency also provides professional training for schools, hospitals, police and social service auencies. Prevention is one of their Iargest programs. Nfs. 11'fills said that was the program about which she %%as approaching the h11113. CASA's Prevention Program served 9,700 people in 2006. Of those sem-ed. 7.000 were teenagers and mid- dle -school aged. Statistically, I in 3 females and I in 4 males will be assaulted by age 18. Approximately 30% of rapes occur when the victim is under 11; another 32% occur between the ages of I I and 17; overall 62% are committed against those under age 17. Approximately 90% of victims under the age of 13 know their attacker, but 90% of them don't report it. This is usually because of the special relationship with the as- sailant, who may be a family member, teacher, or clergy member. Many times the assailant threatens the child or assures them that this is a normal form of affection. May 11, 2007 Mental Health Board Meeting Minutes Page 1 Minutes approved CASA has been providing prevention services to Evanston for many years. Unfortunately, their computer statistics only go back to 2002. They have also provided counseling services to a handful of local families. However, with their office being in Arlington Heights not many victims living in Evanston opt to use that program. CASA receives some funding from the State of IIlinois and the North Shore United Way. Prevention is by far the largest program for CASA in Evanston. So far, in the first 4 months of 2007, 600 Evanston Tovmship High School (ETHS) students have gone through the Prevention Program. Last year 670 students were served. Many high school students have told CASA staff that their program is invaluable, but they are starting to educate kids too late. Ms. Mills said she would like to request funding from the Mental Health Board to enable CASA to expand the Prevention Program to middle school students. She said that she had already spoken to School District 965 about the possibility, and got information on the 2,200 kids that were in the 75 classes at Chute, Haven, Nichols Middle Schools and the magnet schools. The focus of the program at that level is on young dating relationships. The information provided involves defining healthy versus abusive, bullying, relationships. Boys are trained to be responsible in relationships and to respect their partners; girls are given information on what a healthy, loving relationship feels like. Ms. Mills said that CASA is trying to train children to avoid sexual bullying, which can escalate to harassment and assault. Ms. Mills said one father came to her after a recent training provided to Evanston parents. He told her how his daughter had attended their Prevention Program. After answering yes to the entire inventory of warning signs provided, she realized that she was in an abusive relationship and ended it. Her family had warned her previously, but it took this outside agency to help her realize what her situation was. The father reported that this was a couple years ago and his daughter is doing well now. The program to the middle schools involves 3 presentations to the classes during the year. It also includes a 2-hour teacher institute that instructs educators on what they can do to help students to identify abusive rela- tionships. Additionally, CASA provides 2 workshops for parents to explain in advance what will be dis- cussed with their children, due to the controversial nature of sexuality. The whole program would cost ap- proximately $10,000 to $12,000 for the 5 middle schools in Evanston for one year. The agency would like to submit a grant request to the Evanston Mental Health Board for $5,000 to cover part of the costs for the 250 presentation hours. Ms. Mills continued that the actual prevention presentations will include discussion with the students, video presentations, hand-outs and evaluations. Many evaluations include both pre- and post-tests in order to assess whether CASA met the objective of increasing knowledge. Students complete self evaluations to give feed- back about what they have learned, and to display their practical understanding of the information. Teachers are evaluated on their knowledge, and their observations about their students. Some of them will often have tales to tell about a student who was in an abusive situation. The agency services about 80% of all the high schools in North and Northwest Cook County. Approximately 7,000 students in high school and 800 in mid- dle school have been served by the Prevention Program already. CASA is one of the few centers in Illinois that does the Clothes Line Project. This is done in conjunction with educational programs. T-shirts and vinyl paint in squeeze bottles are made available for students who have experienced sexual assault or who have a close friend or loved one who has. The students can use the materials to decorate a shirt and express their feelings about their situation as a form of art therapy. Each shirt is marked with the school the student was from and the year it was developed. CASA has over 800 completed shirts. Ms. Mills brought several examples of these projects, 3 of which came from classes in Evanston. May 11, 2007 Mental Health Board Meeting Minutes Page 2 ~mutes approved Ms. Mills said that she recently heard from a social worker at ETHS. She has her students who have been victimized use the t-shirts as part of coping %%ith their feelings, and provide them with an opportunity to dis- cuss their feelings with her. She said that the students treat the shirts with great reverence. The t-shirts are often very graphic and contain harsh language due to the strong emotions connected to sexual assault. The colors are supposed to represent certain things. A separate color is supposed to be used for each of the fol- lowing: if the assault was to ones self; if it was to a family member; if it was to a child; and, if the assault resulted in a death. his. Mills added that the students tend to use the color they want regardless of that sym- bolism. Ms. Walker asked whether the parents embraced the Prevention Program. Ms. Mills said that most do. . There are not parent presentations for the high school students. However, the program is part of the health objectives for high school students. It is necessary to have the parental presentations as part of the middle school program. Parents tend to be particularly interested in the discussion about dating violence and sexual assault. Some people think that if you talk about sexuality, you are condoning sexual activity, which is the farthest thing from CASA's intentions. However, CASA rarely encounters any complaints or resistance from parents. In response to other questions, Ms. Mills said that the CASA's largest funding source is the State of Illinois, which distributes federal funds among a statewide -system of 33 rape crisis centers. The funds cover 80% of Northwest CASA's budget. That money comes from several State departments: Human Services, Public Health, and Criminal Justice Information. All 4 of the United Way chapters that cover Northwest Cook County also provide funding, about 10% of the agency budget. The rest comes from various sources. Ms. Mills said that she has been in her role for a year. She has been in non-profit management for over thirty years. She offered that CASA's programs are highly developed, but their marketing is difficult given the sub- ject matter. Ms. Mills said that she was coming to the Iv11-113 now because she assessed the needs and identi- fied Child Sexual Abuse Prevention as an area in which to grow, and as part of their strategic plan. The agency wants to expand to middle schools, and to eventually bring the program to the elementary school level. Lake County and DuPage County CASA provide elementary school programs. She looked at where funding was available in Evanston and is visiting those sources that they have not yet tapped to get funds. Ms. Mills said that she would go everywhere for looking for money, if it will prevent a child or adult from being sexually assaulted. CASA would like to start the program in Evanston in the fall. if they don't have the full $10,000, they will start with one middle school, or maybe all the middle schools at one grade level. Ideally, the students would get their message throughout their entire middle school education. Due to the geographic size of the area, and limit of 5 service staff, they will need to build the program before taking it to the elementary level. It is an easy program to develop and grow. Child sexual abuse prevention is a very fundable arena and organizations like Kiwanis have a strong interest in it. Ms. Sittler asked whether other organizations in Evanston were directly working with sexual assault. Ms. Mills said that she had confirmed with ETI IS's Social Work Supervisor that no other agencies were address- ing this issue. Mr. Krulee said he thought the YWCA might be doing a similar thing. Ms. Mills explained that the YWCA has a Domestic Violence Program, though the two often go hand -in -hand. But they are very different. Ms. Mills said some crisis centers, like Elgin, deal with both domestic violence and sexual abuse. The required shills, statistics and client needs differ greatly between the two problem areas. Domestic abuse involves physical abuse in a domestic relationship. Sexual assault is often outside a relationship and is more intimate. May 11. 2007 Mental Health Board Meeting Minutes Page 3 Minutes approved Society attaches shame on sexual assault and often stigmatizes its victims. Many still project blame or re- sponsibility upon the girl: "she shouldn't have been there;" "shouldn't have been wearing that;" or, shouldn't have been drinking." Ms. Mills said that rape is %vrong regardless of the situation, and the attacker is the criminal and at fault. The victim is not. Sexual discrimination against women is perpetuated by the myth that a female victim is somehow responsible for sexual assault — this is still a major battle. However, there are now laws to protect victims, which %veren't in place twenty years ago. Ms. Mills said Police and Emergency Room employees are now some of the best allies, whereas 30 years ago the opposite was often true. Ms. Mills distributed literature and said that she was willing to organize presentations in the community to get out information. Ms. Sittler asked if Ms Mills had statistics on Evanston. She replied that she only had the data she provided about ETHS. They haven't begun the middle school program in Evanston yet. Ms. Gauthier moved and his. Walker seconded a motion to invite North►vest CASA to submit an ap- plication to the hiHB for FY08-09 funding. The Board unanimously adopted the motion (5 aye — 0 no). IV. AGENCY ACCOUNTABILITY Ms. Sittler asked what had happened as a result of the meeting Ms. Canter, Mr. Saver and Jane Doyle of Center for Independent Futures (CIF) had with ETHS. Ms. Canter said Ms. Doyle would be coming to the June Board meeting and reporting on a series of meetings that she has had with ETHS Special Services about the proposed collaborative project. Ms. Canter said that she was under the impression, as a result of the ini- tial meeting she was at, that ETHS was committed to going ahead with the program, but not certain how much money they might be able to allocate to support the initiative. Ms. Canter said that Ms. Doyle indicated she was looking at other sources of funding, as well, including CIF funds. Quarterly Reports Thresholds. Ms. Canter reported that Thresholds is implementing a new medical record system. They hope that the Harmony System will improve staff accountability. The agency indicated that it already seems to be paying off, and is easing the burden of their billing system. A number of agencies have instituted the system over the last few years in response to fee -far -service. Thresholds participated in the Wednesday, May 9 Men- tal Health Rally in Springfield. Ms. Walker added that 1,600 people were in attendance at the downstate event; 500 of the individuals were there with Thresholds, which sent them by bus them to the rally. Trilogy. Ms. Canter said that the program is struggling with their Objective ## 2 11or clients to lead a social event on their own. They are below their projected figures on that goal, although they have reported some success. At the same time, they ran 45 group events this past quarter, with 150 clients participating, so they are doing extremely well with their Objective K 1, Liaison Reports Childeare Network of Evanston. Ms. Sittler said spoke with Nis. Arntson, and planned to attend one of CNE's Board meetings. Nis. Arntson reported that the Diaper Drive is an ongoing project. CNE sends solici- tation letters asking people to donate diapers. One church donated, as did a few preschools. One school at the YMCA, as well as the Evanston Roundtable, generously contributed. Ms. Arntson said that diapers can be very expensive. The cost can take funds away from direct services. May 11, 2007 Mental Health Board Meeting Minutes Page 4 Minutes approved Center for Independent Futures. Ms. Gauthier reported that she went to the CIF Board Meeting. The agency needs more board members, particularly those with resources or connections to philanthropists in or- der to grow the agency. Ms. Gauthier said that C117 has some wonderful proprietary products they have dc- veloped and that they need to sell. Someone suggested that they need a marketing person on the board. They aren't sure if that would be a volunteer or staff role. Someone told the agency that they looked like a consult- ing organization. Ms. Doyle replied they are better known for their work with individual residents. Their cur- rent Kellogg Fellow is moving on, but they %%ill have another Fellow this year. They also have a Public Inter- est Fellow from Northwestern. Child Care Center of Evanston. Ms. Sittler said she attended the agency's recent fund raiser at Wolfgang Puck's. She said it was a lovely event. Infant Welfare Society of Evanston (IWSE). Ms. Gauthier said that she went to the agency's Board meet- ing. She said their board was young and energetic. Their May 6, Flat Tea was not as well attended this year as last. This was, in part, because it was not as heavily marketed. There was also another event geared to- ward children scheduled for that day. Their Ladies Society is skewing toward the mature side and IWSE is trying to attract more young women to their Board. V. REVIEW AND APPROVAL OF 51ARCH 8 AND APRIL 12, 2007 MINUTES Mr. Krutce moved and Ms. Walker seconded a motion to approve the March 8, 2007 meeting minutes as presented. The motion was approved unanimously (5 aye -- 0 no). Ms. Walker moved and Mr. Krulee seconded a motion to approve the April 12, 2007 meeting minutes as presented. The motion was approved unanimously (S aye -- 0 no). VI. COMMITTEE REPORT Board Orientation. Ms. Canter reported that she and Mr. LaMell met with Mr. Saver as a work group in early May to talk about the Board's orientation packet. They also reviewed the materials posted on-line re- garding the Board, as well as those received by prospective Board members. She said that some of the in- formation needed to be updated to more accurately reflect what the Board does. Ms. Canter said that interested individuals have sometimes met with Mr. Saver to learn about ilia MHB prior to submitting an application to the Mayor to serve on the Board. Nis. Canter said even though site met with Mr. Saver after she was appointed to the Board, she was not fully prepared for the size of the workload in- volved in the Board's process. Ms. Canter continued that a suggestion came out of the Work Group to develop a mentoring system. A new Board member would be assigned a seasoned Board member to help navigate the Board's processes. Mr. La Mell had also suggested pairing Board members during the AIlocation Process to help each other with ques- tions, and to identify concerns. He thought this was especially important for new members. Ms. Canter said one suggestion came out of the survey to evaluate the MI-113's 2006 Allocation Process. The Funding Guidelines and Criteria will be annotated with information about where to rind data to assess each of the funding criteria. Mr. La Mall had also proposed a check list of things to read and look for in the pro- posals. This might be especially helpful with issues that a new Board member might overlook. This might be like a study guide. May 11, 2007 Mental Health Board Meeting Minutes Page 5 Minutes approved Ms. Canter said that in the Board packet there was a suggestion to have a separate hearing schedule for new programs. One reason to have a separate hearing was that it is difficult to assess programs that do not yet have a proven track record. Ms. Walker said she was not clear as to what the difference would be. Ms. Can- ter said that it might be particularly difficult to coordinate this as an additional hearing date if an agency was applying to both the Board and United Way, if there continues to be a combined hearing.. In response to Ms. Sittler's question, Ms. Canter said that the Allocation Committee was meeting with the United Way on Thursday, May 17, to discuss plans for the fall hearings. A report would be provided at the June meeting. The MHB talked about the idea of developing a document to define the job -related responsibilities of Board members, as had been discussed previously, his. Sittler said she would be willing to help spell out the duties and responsibilities. She said a new Board member should particularly know about the time commitment. Ms. Gauthier added it should specifically indicate the time required during the September and October Allo- cation Process, and that this was not a time to take a vacation. The comment was made that the time com- mitment seemed to contribute greatly to the 2 most recent resignations from the Board this past year. Ms. Gauthier said that addressing the time commitment up -front might help minimize that issue. Ms. Canter said, when it is finalized, the description should be posted on the City website and other places where information is made available to people interested in serving on City boards. Ms. Canter said Mr. Krulce had previously developed an initial overview of some of the duties; Ms. Sittler could add to that. Vll. REPORT FROM THE NOMINATING COMMITTEE Ms. Gauthier said that she and Ms. Sittler served as the Nominating Committee for Board officers for 2007- 2008. They are nominating Randy Walker for Chair and Jane Grover for Vice Chair for the period beginning July 2007. Both individuals have accepted the nominations. Ms. Canter said that the election of officers would be at the June meeting, at which time additional nomina- tions could be made from the floor. VIII. REPORT FROM THE CHAIR Ms. Canter provided the following information: The 3`d Annual Power of the Brain Conference went very well. Workshops were held on a wide variety of topics related to early child development and young children. About 100 people turned out for the event. Ms. Sittler told the group about the 9`I' Annual Aging Well Conference scheduled at the King I-lome the next morning. Mayor Morton will provide the welcoming remarks. Closing entertainment will be provided by Those Were the Days Radio Players. There will again be two periods for breakout sessions, including Laugh- ing Yoga, Genealogy and the African American Community, and Brain Aerobics. The film 51 Birch Street will be shown at Northwestern's Block Gallery one week later. This documentary is about family relation- ships and follows one families experience after the death of the matriarch. The film and festival are both free. CEU's are available to Licensed Clinical Social Workers. Pamela Thomas, Director of Evanston/Skokie Valley Senior Service Center (E/SVSS), said that their North- field Road location will feature a presentation by Dr. Paul Nussbaum on Brain Gain: Healdry Aging and Your Brain. The discussion will focus on ways to keep your brain healthy as you age. There will be two May 11, 2007 Mental Health Board Meeting Mlnutos Page 6 11111nutes approved presentations from 34:30 p.m. and 7-8:30 p.m. Dr. Nussbaum will be signing copies of his books. The agency's website w%vw.nssc.org has for more information on the event and about Dr. Nussbaum. I.X. STAFF REPORT Mr. Terry provided the following information: The City Manager and Health and Human Services have been discussing objective outcome measures for contracts. One of the programs that is jointly funded by the Mental Health Board and CDBG is Youth Job Center (YJC). With all the concern about the City's Youth Initiative and the Strategic Plan objective around youth employment, the City wanted to be very specific regarding what local funds were purchasing. MHI3 and CDBG staff have been working closely to define goals for the agency; that discussion has resulted in one of YJC's contracts being delayed. Staff will provide an update to the progress of that venture next month. He and the City Manager's Office have been in consultation with the Evanston Community Foundation (ECF). The Foundation has identified a special trainer to work on outcome objectives. The City and ECF will soon announce a special program that will be jointly funded that will provide 10 agencies with special con- sultation on the development of outcome objective measures. They have identified a few jointly funded agencies that would benefit from the training. Half of the agencies for the training will be selected through an open competition. Agencies will be invited to apply through a process that will be a bit different than an RFP. Discussions are underway regarding the selection criteria. With the close-out of many Health Department activities at the end of June, Health and Human Service will be consolidating staff and moving everyone to office space on the ground floor. Additionally, there would likely be some reorganization of the Department and reporting relationships, in order to integrate and utilize staff most effectively, as well as with an eye to the future. Mr. Terry said that there are a number of City staff who may choose to take the advantage of the early retirement incentive package that City Council approved. With some changes that might bring about, the City wants to make sure that there is some overlap in knowl- edge about program areas to prepare for that. The City is approaching the first anniversary of the Strategic Plan. Thirteen goals were identified in the flan. One of the goals was to examine the City's various boards and commissions. The Goal Tender for that objec- tive is the Law Department and they have received some help from the League of Woman Voters (LWV). Every one of the Goal Tenders is working on the annual report for their area. Copies of the Strategic Plan Annual Report may be available by June, and there will be an update about the current progress of the review of boards and commissions. The City is currently celebrating Public Service Week. Awards for longevity in service to the City were handed out earlier that day. Last year marked Nir. Saver's 20"' anniversary with the City. The meeting was adjourned at 8:30 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Casey Solomon Secretary May 11, 2007 Mental Health Board Meeting Minutes Page 7 Ylnutes approved Members Present: Presiding: Staff: Community Representatives: EVANSTON MENTAL HEALTH BOARD MEETING MINUTES THURSDAY, JUNE 14, 2007 Sue Canter, Gil Krulcc, Randy Walker, Carol Sitticr, Anne Gauthier, Jane Grover Sue Canter Harvey Saver, Casey Solomon, ShaRhonda Knott Jane Doyle (Center for Independent Futures); Pamela Thomas (Evanston/ Skokie Valley Senior Services); Willis Francis (Trilogy); Alissa Melczer (Loyola Univer- sity School of Social Work); Mary Ann Kearns (Child Care Center of Evanston); Kennedy Steinberg (DCFS/Erickson Institute); M.A. Masbaum (DCFS / Erickson Institute); Sandra Stumme (Metropolitan Family Services); Megan Kashner (infant Welfare Society Evanston); Jessica Richards (Loyola University) Ms Canter called the meeting to order at 7:05 p.m. I. INTRODUCTION AND COMMUNITY COMMENTS Ms. Canter called the meeting to order and asked the guests to introduce themselves. Mr. Francis told the Board that TriIogy's Ashland House in Rogers Park was rededicated that afternoon as Helfrich House in memory to Karen Helfrich, who recently passed away. Ms. Helfrich helped to found the group home for people with mental illness, and was its Director for many years before merging with Trilogy. Mr. Willis added that one of the traditions that Ms. Helfrich had started in Trilogy's Psychosocial Activities Program was to take the clients on a camping trip every year. He said that he was leading the trip this year, and was taking a group to Glen Oaks as Karen had done every year. The Board honored ShaRhonda Knott, the Mental Health Board's intern from University of Chicago School of Social Service Administration from October 2006 through June 2007. The Board presented Ms. Knott with several Evanston mementos and thanked her for all her invaluable assistance. Ms. Knott said that next week she would be starting her next internship with the Regional Office in Chicago of Housing and Urban Development. The Board held a small celebration in her honor. II. REVIEW AND APPROVAL OF MAY 10, 2007 MINUTES Ms. Walker moved and Mr. Krulee seconded approval of the May 10, 2007 meeting minutes as deliv- ered. The motion was approved unanimously (6 ayes-0 no). III. REPORT FROM THE CENTER FOR INDEPENDENT FUTURES ABOUT PROGRESS ON COLLABORATION WITH ETHS. JANE DOYLE, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR. Jane Doyle, Executive Director of Center for Independent Futures (CIF), joined the Board. She reviewed the challenge grant that the Board allocated to CIF, contingent upon a matching grant from Evanston Township High School (ETHS). She said that she was excited to report that CIF has finally been awarded the match from ETHS. It was a detailed process working with ETHS to get the match. However, without the Board's June 14, 2007 Mental Health Board Meeting Minutes Page 1 midulea approved challenge, CIF wouldn't have had such a thoughtful process or been able to get the level of involvement and commitment from ETHS. Ms. Doyle said that the process with ETHS involved 3 separate meetings. In the first meeting she the pro- gram plan to ETHS's Superintendent, Eric Witherspoon; Director of Special Education, Aviva Talman; and Transition Coordinator, John Ostrowski.. In the second meeting she, Ms. Canter and Mr. Saver met with the Director of Special Education and the Transition Coordinator. She said it was important that the Mental Health Board was able to present their commitment to this program plan and a new partnership with ETHS. Ms. Doyle said that she met a third time with Ms. Talman and Mr. Ostrowski to work out the details and de- termine what ETHS's involvement was going to be. In addition, Mr. Ostrowski attended an orientation for the Full Life Future Planning model so that he could develop a better sense of what the time commitments of the staff, family and individuals was going to be, as well as the benefits of the model. Ms. Doyle reported that ETHS committed S8,000 to the project — $3,500 in cash and S4,500 of in kind per- sonal services. Additionally, CIF will be absorbing the costs for general administration, materials and over- head. Ms. Doyle presented a letter from Dr. Witherspoon in support of the partnership between ETHS, CIF and the MHB. He wrote that the "unique collaboration will provide support and planning opportunities for our ETHS students who are transitioning from the high school to the workplace and independent living." Ms. Doyle said that the Full Life Future Planning model will start at ETHS in September. Prior to then she will be meeting over the summer with Mr. Ostrowski and the 2 teachers who are scheduled to work with the Full Life program. Prior to September there will be planning, orientation and training to get the program started. Ms. Doyle said there may be an opportunity for Board members to observe the program in opera- tion. She thanked the Board for providing the opportunity to start this needed program in Evanston and said she hoped that is something that can be provided to other schools, as well. The Board's support was essential not only for the financial support, but also for providing the opportunity to educate ETHS about the need for the services. Mr. Krulee asked whether Ms. Doyle was satisfied with the response she received from ETHS.. Ms. Doyle replied that she was very pleased. CIF has been trying to get into ETHS for 5 years, so this is a huge leap forward. She said CIF wouldn't have been able to do it without the support of the Board. She said she hoped that once ETHS and CIF has an opportunity to work together that it would open the door to other collabora- tive opportunities. 1V. POSITION PAPER AND RECOMMENDATIONS ON BOARD -AGENCY RELATIONSHIPS Ms. Grover said that the Board discussed a position paper on the issues related to Board -funded agency and MHB member relationships at the January meeting. The Board had expressed interest in creating its own policy about dealing with these relationships that would be consistent with the City of Evanston's Code of Ethics. Ms. Grover said that there were several issues that the Board wanted to clarify: whether an MHB member can serve on the board of a funded agency; whether a member of the Board can volunteer time for one of the funded agencies, whether a Board member can donate their own money to a funded agency; and, whether a Board member can accept gratuity tickets to an agency event or fundraiser. Ms. Grover said she developed a policy that would govern the behavior of MHB members that was no stricter than the City's Ethics Ordinance, and that would clarify duties and obligations regarding specific is- sues. Ms. Grover said that it was important that as stewards of local tax dollars, the Board members not do June 14, 2007 Mental Health Board Meeting Minutes Page 2 Minutes approved anything that might impugn the integrity or undermine the credibility of the MHB in the community, or place Board members in a position where its interests were divided or conflicted. Ms. Grover said that the policy was still a draft, and that Board may end up wanting something that was stricter. Ms. Grover reviewed the proposed clauses of the policy draft. She said that she borrowed language from a policy at Evanston Community Foundation (ECF) in drafting the position on the issue of Board members donating funds to an agency. That policy requires that a person contributing to a funded agency disclose a significant donation that would establish any duality of interest for the Board member. Ms. Grover said that the City's Ethics Ordinance limits Board members from accepting gifts over S75 in value, so she suggested requiring Board members to disclose donations above that amount. The policy would require that disclo- sures be made in writing to the full Board. She said that presenting the information to the whole Board would enable all members to decide whether there appeared to be any undue influence upon the individual's deci- sions about that agency. Ms. Grover said that the proposed policy did not include sanctions, penalties or consequences for infractions. She said that she thought conflicts of interest would be referred to the Corporation Counsel through the Chair of the MHB rather than having the Board establish the sanctions. Mr. Saver said it was his understanding that currently Board members are prohibited from serving as a mem- ber of the Board of Directors of a funded agency under the Mental Health Board's State enabling legislation. Ms. Grover said that the proposed policy is not "law" but should be a guideline for the Board members' be- havior. She added that the Board is also governed by the City Ethics Ordinance, as well as the local ordi- nance for that established the Mental Health Board. In response to questions, Ms. Canter pointed out that a Board member could serve on any agency board or volunteer with any organization that the MHB does not fund. Ms. Sittler asked, under the proposed policy, when providing a service becomes a conflict of interest. Ms. Grover said there would have to be significant involvement that would occur when one person's interests align closely with those of an agency. That would create a conflict with that person's service on the Board, and impair their ability to perform their duties. Ms. Walker argued for making the policy stricter and not al- lowing Board members to volunteer to work at a funded agency. She said that the Board should also be con- cerned about any appearance of conflict, not just when there was an actual conflict under the policy. Ms. Gauthier said she thought the language was a bit ambiguous and asked how one would know that they had crossed that point. Ms. Grover said under the City's Ethic Codes, there is a prohibition against employ- ment or a rendering of services where such behavior would create a conflict or impair ones proper discharge of their Board duties. Ms. Gauthier said it would be difficult to know whether and how some activity would create that impairment. Nls. Grover said that judgment would probably have to be made by the Corporation Counsel. Ms. Grover said most of the Board members were active in the community. The purpose of drafting this proposed policy statement was to make certain that membership on the Board did not prohibit one from participating with social service agencies. Ms. Sittler described a volunteer position she was interested in at an MHB-funded agency. She asked whether the proposed Board policy would permit her to volunteer for the opportunity. Ms. Grover said that she thought that written disclosure would be the first step in making that determination. Once a Board mem- ber discloses an involvement, the Board can decide whether it will have an effect upon that person's views and opinions about the relevant agency. Ms. Grover added that the important thing was that any duality of interest be disclosed to the full Board. June 14, 2007 Mental Health Board Meeting Minutes Page 3 Mihutm approved Ms. Gauthier said that she had thought that there was already a policy that members of the MHB could not volunteer their services with funded agencies. She said that staff had informed her of that when she first joined the Board. Mr. Saver said the Board had not previously formally codified a policy to that effect. Even prior to his ? 1-year tenure with the MHB, the Board had used that as an operating principle and guideline for Board member behavior. Any time the issue had been raised, it was always considered good practice for Board members to not volunteer in any way for entities that receive MHB funding. Ms Grover said this was why it was a good practice to have a written ethics policy for the Board that could be provided as part of new member orientation. Ms. Gauthier asked whether this would open volunteer practices up a little bit. Ms. Grover said imposing a disclosure requirement should make the process more clear. Mr. Krulce asked whether there was an issue if family member served on a funded agency's Board of Di- rectors. Ms. Grover said that as long as the family members were not living at home that it would not pose a conflict. The Board policy is more concerned with Board member behavior. Ms. Sittler said she did not think that S75 was a significant donation. She asked whether it would be appro- priate to simply disclose that you had donated money to an agency, without specifying the exact amount. Ms. Grover said she thought that a Board member would tell the Board that they had made a donation to an organization above the specified amount, but not necessarily tell the amount given. The actual level is just a threshold that would require disclosure. Ms. Grover said she thought that the amount of the donation was only an issue when it nwant that the Board member had a significant economic investment and interest in a success of the agency. Ms. Sittler asked what the impact of the proposed policy would be on participation in agency fund raising benefits, which generally cost more than SI00. Ms. Walker commented that it would not be clear as to whether benefit event tickets would be considered donations because a part of the price covers food and drink expenses to put on the event. Ms. Gauthier said that the tickets usually indicate the tax deductible amount and suggested that would probably be what would be considered the amount of the donation. Ms. Sittler raised the question of silent auctions, and asked whether those purchases constitute a donation. There was a consensus that silent auction items would be considered purchases and not donations. Ms. Gauthier asked what the ECF Ethics policy said about volunteering. Ms. Grover read from the policy: "There is a duality of interest if an interested person, foundation employee, or Board Member is affiliated with an organization requesting a grant from the Foundation. Such an affiliation exists if that person is a di- rector, officer, member of the committee with Board delegated power, employee, significant donor, volun- teer, advocate or advisor of such organization." Ms. Grover said that a duality of interest would arise in all of those circumstances, which may or may not give rise to a conflict of interest. Foundation members are obli- gated to disclose to the ECF Board any situations where a potential conflict of interest exists In response to Ms. Gauthier's comments, Ms. Grover said that the S75 threshold on contributions could be raised. The proposed level was a draft for discussion and could be changed based upon the consensus of the Board. Ms Gauthier said that he liked Ms. Sittler's suggestion for a higher threshold to define significant donation and supported an amount of at least 51,000. The Board discussed how a determination would be made about how a volunteer activity would be deter- mined to present a conflict. In response to a question, Mr. Saver said that when the Board finally adopts its policy it will be supplementing the City's Ethics Ordinance. As a result, the plan was to send it to the City's June 14, 2007 Mental Health Board Meeting Minutes Page 4 Ylnubs approved Corporation Counsel for review. He added that the Corporation Counsel may review it and return it with their interpretation on the issue of volunteering at agencies that are funded by the Mental Health Board. There was additional discussion among the Board about the need for Board members to recuse themselves from and abstain from any funding decisions regarding an organization with which they have an actual or apparent duality of interest. Ms Grover went on to point out that any Ethics Policy relies on common sense, integrity and good faith. Ms. Grover reviewed her notes of the discussion and identified the changes that were being proposed in the Board's review of the draft policy. Ms. Canter asked Ms. Grover to draft a revised document based on the Board's comments. That will be distributed for further discussion on the July agenda. V. AGENCY ACCOUNTABILITY AGENCY LIAISON REPORTS Childcare Nehvork of Evanston. Ms. Sittler reported that she visited the organization and had a very nice discussion with Ms. Arntson about their programs. She had an opportunity to look around the facility. She said Chris Baer had changed her plans and will not be leaving CNE. BEHIV. Mr. Saver said that he anticipated that BEHIV would be applying for MHB funds in the fall 2007 Allocation Process.. He said he would I be meeting with the agency's interim Executive Director Wednes- day, June 20, to discuss some of the issues around the Boards previous decisions, and to orient him to the upcoming application process. Human Services Committee. Ms. Canter said she attended the recent Human Services Committee meeting. There was a lengthy discussion about relationships between the community and the Evanston Police De- partment (EPD). The City has a Citizen's Review Board in place to deal with citizen complaints regarding Police conduct. The members of the community who were at the meeting were calling for an in-depth dis- cussion on the Citizen's Review Board responsibilities and authority in dealing with complaints effectively. There were a number of people who were vocal about how difficult they thought it was to achieve due proc- ess in riling complaints against the EPD. There will be a special meeting ofthe Human Services Committee, Tuesday, June 19, to discuss the issue in depth. It is open to public. VI. COMMITTEE REPORT Allocation Committee. Ms. Canter said that she, Ms. Grover and Mr. Saver recently met with Evanston United Way's (UW) Allocation Committee Co-chairs to discuss the joint allocation funding hearings for Fall 2007. Ms. Canter said a thorough summary of the discussion was provided in the MHB packet. Ms. Grover said she thought it had been a good discussion about the hearings would be held, and how both funders could be more productive in the process. Ms. Grover reviewed the Committee's recommendations that were in the Board packet. She said these were developed together with the UW representatives: • The Board continue its joint proposal and hearing process with the UWay in Fall 2007; • The MHB and the UW jointly participate in the Preliminary Proposal Review Process; and • There are 2 chairs designated from each of the funders. A UW and MHB Chair will be assigned to each of the 2 hearing rooms, and will switch off responsibility for every other hearing. June 14, 2007 Mental Health Board Meeting Minutes Page 5 Minutes approved In response to questions, Ms. Grover said the second suggestion was in response to an interest of the UW. They were interested in participating in the preliminary l review process because they liked the issues that were raised out of that initial review; they wanted to contribute to that process. The plan would be to have 4 UW representatives share in the initial proposal reading and discussion of issues. h The list of agency pro- posals would be split among 12 reviewers, both MHB and UW. Ms. Canter pointed out that each Board member would have fewer materials to read, initially. She said the goal would be to have a broader sharing of ideas and points of view. Ms. Grover continued that the third recommendation related to comments about the manner in which the al- location hearings are conducted. She said that their discussion raised issues about the different ways that each individual chaired each hearing. They agreed that the process for each hearing should be consistent. They thought this could be best managed by designating and training a few people to be responsible for each of the hearings. They would be able to keep the hearing focused, to ensure that no one was able to monopo- lize the process with either questions or answers, and to enable as many people as possible to ask questions. In a lengthy discussion, the Board reviewed several issues and concerns that had been raised at an earlier meeting about the allocation hearing process. Mr. Krulee said that UW in Evanston has been undergoing significant personnel changes. tic said that, effcc- tively, their Chair person and staff are new to their roles. Ms. Grover said that the next step would be to meet with the UW representatives at least once more before the hearing process begins to work out the de- tails. She said this would also be an opportunity to define the responsibilities and duties of the role of the Chair for each hearing. After further discussion, the 1%1HB adopted the Allocation Committee's 3 rec- ommendations by consensus. Fail Proposal Review and Hearing Calendar and Plans. Mr. Saver said he included in the meeting packet a calendar of the fall allocation schedule, which starts mid -July, and general calendar of Hoard activi- ties for the fall. He said that his initial goal was to have the budget proposal materials and the computerized budget forms, available to the agencies by the week of July 17. He said he was also building in time into his August schedule to be able to provide technical assistance and answer questions about the proposals. The MHB will have allocation hearings for 4 agencies on October 18. The proposed date for the joint UW and MHB hearings is Saturday, October 20; 16 agencies will make their presentations at that time. Mr. Saver pointed out that the Board's deadline for submitting their ratings for the funding guidelines and criteria will be Tuesday, October 23. Mr. Saver also provided a schedule of the Board's other obligations. The CRAFT training; for professionals is planned for Friday, September 28. A consumer oriented version of the CRAFT model will be at a date to be decided later in January. A conference on Mental Health Issues for the Hispanic Community is planned for Sunday, October 14. Mr. Saver said the Board's September meeting had initially been scheduled for September 13, which falls on Rosh Hashanah this year. Because the Board generally does not meet in August, ,Ms. Grover suggested can- celing the August meeting and moving; the September meeting to Thursday, September G. The Board made a consensus decision to adopt these changes in the meeting schedule. Craft Training. Ms. Gauthier reported that the planning committee for the Community Reinforcement and Family Training (CRAFT) model for families that have an addicted member that is resistant to entering trea- tment. The workshop for professionals will be Friday, September 28. Another workshop geared to the use of the CRAFT model for consumers and family members is being planned for January 2008. She said that Jura 14, 2007 Mental Health Board Meeting Minutes Page a ft Whutes approved committee is planning for a group of professionals that have to deal with addiction problems. The program will have broad appeal to professionals working in mental health, as well. Sandra Stumme from Metropolitan Family Services said that it will be not only addiction counselors but also those who work broadly %6th fami- lies. The committee is also planning to make this available to clergy who deal with families that present to them with this problem. Ms. Gauthier said that CEU's «rill be made available to professionals by Metropolitan Family Services; PEER Services will be issuing CEU's for those who work directly in the field of addictions. Orientation. Ms. Canter presented the document Ms. Sittler developed to identify the average time com- mitment made by Board members in fulfilling their responsibilities. Ms. Sittler said that the times for each function were estimates. However, the information should provide a good general guideline to let new and interested Board members know what to anticipate in terms of the time commitment. Ms. Sittler said unless someone has any additions she is estimating that the average commitment Board members make is approxi- mately 93 hours a year on their Board -related duties. Ms. Gauthier suggested clarifying that 32 of those hours are specifically spent on the fall allocations process, with meetings and reading proposals between September and November. She said that she thought it would be good to include that detail to put the time commitment in perspective, and let new members know that was not a good time to schedule vacations. Ms. Sittler said the time requirements for the Chair are much higher. Ms. Canter agreed but said she thought that it was still manageable. She said that the Chair could spend 3-4 hours weekly to their duties. However, this would vary depending on the Human Service Committee meeting schedule, keeping on top of budget meetings, and other related duties like planning meetings and the agenda. Ms. Canter said Ms. Sittices esti- mates provided a good resource that would be included in the new Board orientation materials. VII. ELECTION OF BOARD OFFICERS FOR 2007-2008 Ms. Sittler reviewed the Nominating Committee's report for MHB Officers for 2007-2008 that were deliv- ered at the May meeting was reviewed. Ms. Sittler moved the nominations of Randy Walker as Chair and Jane Grover as Vice Chair. Mr. Krulee seconded the nominations. The nominations were adopted unanimously (6 ayes -- 0 no). Ms. Canter said the new officers would take assume their responsibilities for the July meeting. VIII. REPORT FROM CHAIR Ms. Canter said she had thoroughly enjoyed her 3 years as Chair of the MHB. She thanked everybody for their support, and said she was looking forward to her remaining time on the Board. Ms. Grover said that Ms Canter had been the hardest working Chair in her 7 years on the Board. All expressed their appreciation to Ms. Canter and gave her a round of applause. Ms. Canter announced that Marcia Achenbach was appointed to the MHB but unavailable for the meeting. She plans on joining the Board at the July meeting. IX. STAFF REPORT June 14, 2007 Mental Health Board Meeting Minutes Page 7 MAiutes approved Mr. Saver distributed a spreadsheet with the Evanston United Way's allocations for 2007-2008. He said that it appeared that about 2/3 of their funded agencies are also funded by the MHB. The Naomi Ruth Cohen Foundation Conference was held this past Sunday, June 2. Approximately 285 pco- ple attended the conference; 55 people registered the day of the event. The conference was eery interesting and informative, and focused upon the needs and issues of family members and individuals who are support- ing a person with mental illness. This year there was a panel discussion, rather than a keynote speaker. It seemed to contribute to a high level of energy and involvement in the participants. The focus of the confer- ence next year will be Women`s Mental Health Issues. Mr. Saver reviewed the projects that are being recommended by the Evanston Alliance on Homelessness (EAH) to HUD for Continuum of Care Funding. He pointed out that the Board would be familiar with sev- eral of the programs. This year there are 10 renewal projects and I new project that are in the package, for a total of a little over SI.I million that is being recommended to HUD. Ms. Grover asked what the amount of McKinney-Vento funding; was that Evanston received this past year. Mr. Saver said that last year the Evanston Alliance on Homelessness rank -ordered and recommended 4 re- newal projects and 2 new projects to HUD for a total of S740,269. HUD only authorized funding for the 4 renewal programs for a total of S330,920, even though the City's pro-rata share was about S657,000. The 2 new projects totaling about S420,000 were not funded. HUD indicated that Evanston's application last year did not receive a rating score that was high enough for the threshold for any new funding, let alone the Sa- maritan Bonus. Every year, nationally, the "funding score" floats, based upon the quality of all of the pro- posals that are submitted that year. In recent years, the process has become more competitive and the score has been higher. Mr. Saver said that, based upon the report of the scoring that was received from HUD, it is still not clear whether any of the areas where points were lost will have an effect upon the 2007 application. Mr. Saver commented upon the committee that is reviewing Board and Commissions (WC) as a part of the City's Strategic Plan. They are pulling together reports based upon B/C member input, comments from citi- zens in response to a survey on the City's web page, a technical survey completed by each of the B/C staff, and information from each of the B/C enabling ordinances. One of the next steps in the B/C Committee agenda will be to consider the development of consistent orientation training; for all new B/C appointees. This would be information that would serve as a platform for everyone's work and not specific for any Board or Commission, which would be responsible for its own training. It might include such things as Roberts Rules of Order, the City structure and processes, and the City Ethics Ordinance. In response to Ms. Sitticr, Mr. Saver said that there is a complete list of all of the 36 Boards and Commission on the City's Webpage. The meeting; was adjourned at 8:45 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Casey Solomon Secretary June 14. 2007 Mental Health board Meeting Mlnutes Page a llffimfts appmed EVANSTON MENTAL HEALTH BOARD ,MEETING MINUTES THURSDAY, JULY 12, 2007 Members Present: Sue Canter, Randy Walker, Carol Sittler, Anne Gauthier, Carl LaMell, Jane Grover, Marcia Achenbach Presiding: Randy Walker Staff: Harvey Saver, Casey Solomon Community Representatives: Alexander Brown (Housing Options); Martha Arntson (Childcare Network of Evanston); Pamela Thomas (Evanston/ Skokie Valley Senior Services); Sandra Stumme (Metropolitan Family Services); Helen Roberts -Evans (Child Care Center of Evanston); Willis Francis (Trilogy) Ms. Walker called the meeting to order at 7:05 p.m. I. INTRODUCTION AND COMMUNITY COMMENTS Ms. Walker called the meeting to order and asked the guests to introduce themselves. Ms. Walker introduced Marcia Achenbach, who was recently appointed to the Board. II. REVIEW AND APPROVAL OF JUNE 14, 2007 MINUTES Ms. Gauthier moved and Ms. Grover seconded a motion to approve the minutes of the June 14, 2007 Board meeting as corrected. Motion approved unanimously (6 ayes — 0 nos). III. RECOGNITION OF SUE CANTER, COMPLETING THREE TERMS AS CHAIR OF THE r* IHB Ms. Walker thanked Ms. Canter for all that she had done and accomplished as Chair of the Board over the past three years. She said that the Board had done Quite a bit under her tenure, and accomplished a number of important goals; she said she would be a tough act to follow. Ms. Grover said that when she thought of Ms. Canter's 3-year term, she remembered all that Ms. Canter had lead the Board to accomplish. During that period, committees worked to revise and test the Board's new quarterly reporting format; developed a new reporting format for and emphasis upon outcome objectives for the Board's funded agencies; updated and adopted Bylaws; and developed a new tool for the allocation proc- ess with the Funding Guidelines and Criteria. his. Grover said that Ms. Canter never let any balls drop. She had an absolute persistence in making things happen, and enabled the Board to accomplish a great deal, through her constant and thorough efforts. She paid impeccable attention to details and made sure that committees met. She also broadened the discussion with the United Way about the joint allocation hearing process, and worked to bring people together. Ms. Walker said that perhaps her most noteworthy accomplishment was in directing the Board's initiative to secure additional funding for purchased services, the first increase in 9 years. Ady 1Z 2007 Mental Health Board Meeting Minutes Page 1 Minutes approved Ms. Canter thanked the Board for their comments, and their continued support during her term. She said that she learned more about the City and its services in her 3-year term as Chair of the MHB than she had in her previous forty years living in Evanston. She said she got a lot out of the experience, and greatly enjoyed it. She added that she will remain as Board member until May, 2009, and looked forward to continue working together with the Board members on their mission. (Mr. LaMeII joined the MHB at 7:15p. Ms. Sittler said that she always admired how Ms. Canter never lost her cool; even under the most stressful situations ... and even when maybe she should have. She said Ms. Canter was always terrific to work with. She was helpful around details and was always available to discuss and provide support around numerous issues that arose. Ms. Sittler said that she wrote a limerick in Ms. Canter's honor as she stepped down as Chair: "Our Wonde>f tl chair was Site Her talent to lead sure came through She led with such class Nob-k7iobbed with brass So we'll stand up and cheer 'til were blue "Her remarkable calinness and poise Even with cantankerous boys Gave its a warns glow Such a pleasure to Avow Let's now make sonic quite praiseful noise "So Board, let's honor our peer If we could, wed all hoist a beer A toast to our Site Congratulations are due Now, Randy, it's your turn to steer. " On behalf of the entire Board, Ms. Walker presented Ms. Canter with a token of gratitude for all of her ef- forts. Ms. Walker said that she selected the gifts from a store that was unique to Evanston and carried a line of products that represented Evanston. The Board presented Ms. Canter with a cake decorated with a large gavel and provided refreshments for a brief celebration. tV. REVIEW RECOMMENDATIONS ON BOARD -AGENCY RELATIONSHIPS Ms. Grover reviewed the proposed, new MHB policy statement on Conflict of Interest. She discussed the modifications she made in the draft after the discussion at the June Board meeting. She said staff had for- matted the materials into the Board's policy format, and added references to detinitions that are already in the City's Ethics Code. Ms. Grover said that the document focuses upon 4 distinct points: • Part A addresses the prohibition of serving on the board of directors of an agency receiving MHB funds; • Section B requires disclosure in writing, if one serves as a volunteer for an MHB-funded agency in a way that might impede one's service on the Mental Health Board; July 12, 2001 Mental Health Board Meeting Minutes Pape 2 Mlinut s sp ewe • Section C requires disclosure in writing if one contributes money greater than S l OGO, in a calendar year, to any one MHB-funded agency, and, . Section D requires that Board member recuse themselves from any matter for which they have a real or apparent conflict of interest. In response to a question, Ms. Grover said the proposed policy relies on Board members using their best judgment. Ms. Canter asked when rendering services as a volunteer at a Board -funded agency would not create a conflict. Ms. Grover said that it would be when the volunteer activity does not impair the proper dis- charge of one's duties to the Mental Health Board. Ms. Canter asked for an example and Ms. Grover sug- gested that one example would be one-time assistance at an event. Mr. LaMell suggested that helping at an agency's fund raiser might be a good example of assisting in a way that would not impair one's duties on the Board. Ms. Sittler said that she thought the language in the statement in section B was too ambiguous. She said that it should either state that a Board member could not volunteer for a Board -funded agency, or that there is a specific, limited amount of time for the allowable activity. Ms Grover said that as an expansion of the Ethics Policy for the Board it needed to include a certain degree of grey area, that is, where a Board member would need to apply their o%Nm personal judgment. She said that she thought the Board wanted a policy that re- spected individual member's abilities to make their own choices on how they spend their time and money. She added that the judgment about whether a volunteer activity infringes on their ability to properly dis- charge their MHB duties was up to the individual member who was volunteering for an Board -funded or- ganization. Ms. Walker said that, even though she had often been interested in volunteering with agencies funded by the Board, site was not sure the ability to do so would be a good idea. She said that the ambiguity of the policy could be a problem; if Board members were to be able to decide when it is appropriate to volunteer, there could be potential for complications. Mr. La..Mcll said that he thought that it was not a problem as long as the Board member disclosed their involvement and let the rest of the Board know about it. He said that it was then the Board's duty to decide whether the volunteer situation represented a conflict; the "disclosing Board member' should be left out of the funding decision for that agency. Ms. Grover agreed and said that she thought that transparency would be the greatest gain. Ms. Sittler said she was still troubled about the language and did not want a Board member to be ambushed or caught off guard if the Board decided that they were spending too much time at an agency. Ms. Canter recommended changing the language of Section B to include language making it more specific to a prohibition on "provides regular or consistent scrvice to an entity as a volunteer." Ms. Achenbach said she thought it was sometimes a matter of sacrifice. She said that she recently resigned from her volunteer work at a Board -funded agency after being appointed to the Board. She said that she and the Director discussed the situation, and both felt that it would be best for all concerned if she were to resign. They were in agreement that it might jeopardize her independence in her role as a Board member. She said that she made the sacrifice in order to make certain that there was never a perception that her decisions were influenced by her work with the MHB-funded agency. Ms. Grover said the Conflict of Interest Policy was not intended to be in any way limiting or punitive. She said that she thought individual Board members should be able to make their own decisions on how they spend their time and money. As long as the other Board members know about the situation, then they can decide where a member's interests vary from or are different than those of the rest of the Board. She said that there may be conflicts, which is why disclosure was included as an important section in the Policy. How- ever, in many circumstance the discussion might end with the disclosure. July 12, 2007 Mental Health Board Meeting Minutes Page 3 Ulnuies approved Ms. Sittler said she thought that all the Board members gravitate towards agencies that serve their natural interests or causes. She said she thought it was natural to have those preferences, and to want to help out those organizations that address those needs. She provided several examples. Ms. Gauthier said she did not know how one could invest a lot of time volunteering for an agency without having a bias. She said that she would like to work with individuals with problems of addiction at the homeless shelter. However, she said she knew perfectly well that she would have heightened interest in that agency if she did. Ms. Walker said that she thought that Board members volunteering for MHB-funded agencies did provide the potential to have a negative impact on the Board. She provided one example that she might have encoun- tered during the last allocation discussions, had she thought that she could have been volunteering at an agency. Mr. LaMell said that, had that been the case, she might have, then, recused herself on the funding decision, because she was choosing a different level of involvement in the community. You just cannot vote on those funded agencies for which you are volunteering. Ms. Walker said that as Board members the Board's interests have to come lust in all decisions. Ms. Gauthier said that Section D already seems to take care of the need for a Board member to recuse themselves from voting on funding allocations, when it is in- dicated. Ms. Grover recommended revising Section B by eliminating some language so that it would read: "Each member of the MHB shall disclose to the MHB in writing each entity for which the MHB member renders services as a volunteer." Nis. Grover said she thought that the Board's proposed Conflict of Interest Policy is stricter than the City's Ethics Ordinance in regards this issue. Ms. Gauthier said she agreed with the new sec- tion, and liked the idea that it might open up the possibility for her to volunteer for an agency which receives MHB funds. Ms. Grover said that in developing the proposed language for the policy, there was no desire to hamper MHB members' philanthropic activities. Mr. LaMcll said that as long as Board members are upfront with their volunteer work, the proposed policy was fair. Mr. LaMell moved and hls. Achenbach moved to adopt the Conflict of Interest Policy with the pro- posed changes that had been discussed during the meeting. Ms. Gauthier said that in an earlier discussion about this issue, Mr. Saver said it had been a practice that Board members not volunteer for MHB-funded agencies. Mr. Saver said that was correct. That had been a practice of the Board, even before he began his work with the City. It had always been assumed that it would provide a conflict, but he was not aware that it had ever been part of a formal policy. Ms. Gauthier asked Mr. Saver what he thought about the proposed policy. Mr. Saver said that he had reser- vations about setting up a standard that it was all right for Board members to volunteer with the agencies that it had funded. He said that he had already shared his comments and concerns in a committee meeting where this issue had first been raised, prior to the 2006 a]location meetings. Ms. Gauthier said that she did not believe that it was common knowledge that a Board member could not volunteer with the agencies that it funds. tits. Canter said she did not think that regular, consistent, weekly volunteering for a Board -funded agency was a good idea. She said that she was very uncomfortable with that type of volunteering for Board members. Ms. Gauthier asked whether disclosure should be limited to ongo- ing, consistent volunteering. Ms Walker said that if it is a policy of the Board, then any volunteering of this nature should be readily disclosed to the Board, and not just an on -going volunteer role. Ms. Grover said there was a need to make several text amendments to the proposed policy. 11s. Grover rec- ommended adding "tiIHB-funded" to every reference to "entity" in the proposed policy change. This July 12, 2007 Mental Health Board Meeting Minutes Page 4 • WnuMa approved would make more specific that issues of volunteering time or making donations was in relation only to agen- cies that the Board was funding. Mr. LaiNfell accepted the amendments to his original motion. Mr. LaMell asked whether disclosure should be done on an annual basis or a mare -frequent, periodic basis. Ms. Gauthier suggested that disclosure should be made at the first MHB meeting following the time the per- son had made the commitment. In response to a question, Mr. Saver said that a number of years ago the MHB participated in the community's Unified Budget Process. This was a group of 4 local funding bodies that convened a common allocation process every fall. A single, common budget application was used and there were joint hearings for all 4 funders. The process included a Conflict of Interest Statement for all of the allocation hearing panel members. Mr. Saver was asked to develop a similar statement for the Board's consideration. Mr. LaMell recommended that any disclosures should be required at the meeting preceding the allocation hearings to clear the air before going into the allocations process. Ms. Walker said that may not be enough and thought that, at the very least, Board members should then be required to disclose if they start to volun- teer with a Board -funded agency at any time between October and March. She reminded the Board that the funding decisions are sometimes not finalized until March, after the City's Budget is adopted by the City Council. Ms. Achenbach asked Mr. Saver what his specific reservations were about the proposed policy. Mr. Saver said that his concerns were shared previously, and he spoke about them with the past and current Chairs. He said that as a public funding body that makes decisions about local tax dollars, he thought the Board was un- der a different level of scrutiny than might be other funders. He said he agreed with Ms. Achcnbach's com- ments about the need to eliminate any perception of undue influence or conflict in making those decisions. For him, that lead to the conclusion that Board members should not be permitted to volunteer for any of the agencies that it funds. Mr. Saver said that he thought volunteering was a much more public statement of in- terest than was a person's private philanthropic donations. Publicly, volunteering for an agency seems to in- dicate a very strong bias toward that agency. It demonstrates a willingness to commit oneself to the mission, policies and procedures of that agency. It also places one in a position of being supervised by the organiza- tion's administration. He added that he agreed with the thought behind Ms. Canter's question about in what situations would volunteering for an MHB-funded agency not provide a conflict with the Board's duties. It did not seem to be an issue that should be left up to a Board member's discretion or decision, but be more clearly spelled out than had been during the discussion. Mr. Saver said that at an operational level, the ,Nf HB may want to rethink the way that it approves its funding recommendations if it adopts the policy. Currently, it would be difficult for a Board member to recuse them- selves in a meaningful way from a vote on any one agency allocation because a formal vote is not initially taken. The Board will need to begin to record each vote on an informal straw poll for each allocation if someone indicates the need to recuse themselves because of either a conflict or duality of interest as a result of their volunteer activity. If the person who is volunteering is unable to vote on a specific agency's alloca- tion, the record will need to be specific and reflect that. He added that he assumed that the reeusal on a fund- ing decision was not only for the vote, but also for any discussion about the agency funding request or allo- cation. Mr. Saver said that if the policy is adopted, the Board may also want to consider whether volunteering for an agency will have any impact upon how Board members are appointed to their Liaison assignments, to sit in on individual agency hearings, and to the preliminary review and assessment of funding proposals. Ms. Achenbach said that it sounded as if the issue was very complex and more complicated. Ms. Walker said that if the policy is adopted, the Board can revisit it periodically. July 12, 2007 Mental Health Board Meeting Minutes Pape 5 Minutes approved The Board unanimously adopted the Conflict of Interest Policy as amended. (7 ayes-0 nos). V. AGENCY ACCOUNTABILITY Agency Liaison Reports Housing Options. Ms. Gauthier said that she had seen the agency's new building on Crain. She had hoped to announce that the building had been completed, however they Agency is running a bit behinds schedule, so the site is not ready to open yet. Infant Welfare Society of Evanston. MS. Gauthier reported that Teen Baby Nursery had two participating parents graduate from the high school. Summer School started and all remaining parents are enrolled in half - day programs. The other half of their day they are being trained as peer educators at Family Focus. They will host their first annual rummage sale 9 am to 2 pm, July 28, at 2200 Main Street. Interested parties can drop donations there between 8 a.m. and 5: 30 p.m. any day the following week. Evanston Community Defender. Ms. Grover said she visited the Evanston Community Defender's office. They have two law interns for the summer, which is helping to alleviate some of the back-up in the case load. Additionally, one of the interns has a strong computer background and was able to help them recover from a recent computer crash. The intern is also helping them build the framework for an agency website. The agency has seen some recent changes. They have hired a new Office Manager. The Defender is slowly introducing a restorative justice program at Haven School. The program aims to en- courage students to discuss their concerns, and is designed in such a way that the students are not aware it has a formal structure. Ms. Grover reported that the Defender is attempting to diversify its funding base. They have S 175,000 in grant requests that are outstanding. So far, they have received about $30,000 from recent proposals, but funds are coming in slowly. Some personnel changes in Juvenile Court at the Skokie Court House seem to be having an effect upon the types of cases that are being referred to the Defender. The agency Director is con- cerned that some teens might be falling through the cracks, as a result. ECD is trying to figure out additional means to reach at -risk kids with their Social Service Program. Liaison Assignments. In response to a question, Ms. Walker said that she would be reassigning some of the Liaison assignments at the September meeting. She said she would wait until Ms. Achenbach had gone through an orientation. She will make the assignments from the agencies whose Liaison was temporary as a result of the Board member vacancies. VI. COMMITTEE REPORT Allocation Committee. Mr. Saver said that the Allocation Process was underway. He provided the Board with copies of the allocation schedule, as well as the information that would be sent to the agencies along with the written proposal documentation. He also presented the final schedule for the fall hearings. Orientation Committee. Ms. Canter reported that she and Mr. LaMell met with staffto review final changes to make in the orientation packet, She said that they will be adding a flow chart of the City opera- tions, as well as materials about Board member duties and time commitments. In addition, they identified the pages that describe the Board on the City web page, and that need to be revised to make them more descrip- tive and clear about the Board members' responsibilities. July 112, 2001 Mental Health Hoard Meeting Minutes Page 6 • Minutes approved The Committee will start the mentoring program for new Board members with Ms. Achenbach, Mr. LaMell said that the experience with Ms. Achenbach and her questions will help the Committee tailor the experience for future members. Nis. Canter said that the Orientation Committee will also try to include copies in the orientation packet of the Evanston League of Woman Voter's publication that was distributed earlier to Board members. While it is an older publication, it provides a good overview of the functions of City of Evanston government and the City's history. Ms. Canter said that Mr. Saver will be annotating the Criteria Rating Forms for the allocation review process to aid Board members in locating relevant section of the proposal for information for the rating categories. V11. REPO :T FROl1 THE CHAIR Ms. Walker reported that she attended the special Human Services Committee meeting regarding the Citi- zens Police Review Board. The discussion focused on some recent resident concerns regarding a perceived abuse of power by some Police Officers. Currently the Review Board looks into citizen grievances with the Police. There was some discussion regarding the expansion of the Citizens Review Board. Chief Eddington provided information on similar review boards in other parts of the nation. Ms. Walker said she would keep the Board apprised on further discussions and issues. Ms. Walker reminded the Board that there is no August meeting. The next meeting is rescheduled for Thurs- day, September 6, due to Rosh Hashanah. Ms. Walker asked the Board to begin to consider thoughts about future directions for the MHB. Ms. Sittler said site had spoken to Mr. Saver briefly about sponsoring a forum on counseling issues that are presented to members of the religious community. She said that marry people seek the counsel of their religious leaders in times of crisis, so it would be informative to hear about how they handle mental health issues, and what training is provided. Ms. Walker asked Board members to contact her with there other suggestions. Ms. Sittler pointed out that Helen Roberts -Evans from Child Care Center of Evanston was in the audience. She said that it was going to be Ms. Roberts -Evans last Mental Health Board meeting as she is retiring later in the month. The MHB thanked Ms. Roberts -Evans for all of her efforts and wished her well in her future endeavors. Vlll. STAFF REPORT Mr. Saver pointed out that a new item had been added to the Board's list of"future issues. Ms. Walker re- quested that the list include an assessment of the Board's Agency Liaison policy. They had discussed the need to look at the Liaison role, and how useful the current reporting procedures were. Mr. Saver reminded the Board that all of the divisions of Health and Human Services Department would be consolidating their office , pace on the Garden Level at the Civic Center. There has been some reorganization of the Department and ..eas of responsibility, and July 1 was the official transition date for the changes to go into effect. Mr. Say.. said that his office and the Commission on Aging would be the only service areas that will be hou�!Z",' in the office suite in G600. The move is planned for the next day. He added that he and Mr. Solomon have been operating out of boxes for several weeks in anticipation of the move. It may take a few days for phones and computer hook-ups are switched over so it may take a bit more time to reach either of them for the next few days. July'12. 2007 Mental Health Board Meeting Minutes Pape 7 q .. Minutes approved Mr. Saver reported that he spoke with John Mayes, Trilogy's Executive Director, about their funding appli- cation last year for a proposed supportive housing program in collaboration with Connection for the Home- less and the YMCA. He said that, even though the proposal was not funded, those agencies were able to Iaunch the program in 2007, and as a collaborative effort among all 3 of the agencies. Last year, even though the proposed program was not funded, the Board im7ted Trilogy to resubmit the proposal this coming year. Mr. Saver said that he discussed with Mr. Mayes the possibility of the proposal for this initiative being sub- mitted as a collaborative proposal, similar to another proposal the Board previously funded; Trilogy would be the fiduciary agent for the program, with all 3 of the agencies working to implement and support the ser- vices. Mr. Saver said that he discussed this with the Allocation Committee and said that it was a bit more dif- ficult to review and assess the proposal last year as a Trilogy Program when the collaboration was submitted along with Trilogy's other funded program. The implementation was intended to be a combination ofsev- eral agencies' efforts. Mr. Saver said that he was recommending to the Board that the agency be invited to submit the proposal for the 2007 allocation process as a stand-alone proposal for a collaborative effort. It would then be reviewed at a separate hearing on Thursday, October 18. In a consensus decision, the Board accepted the staff recommendation. The meeting was adjourned at 8:15 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Casey Solomon Secretary July 12, 2007 Mental Health Board Meeting Minutes Page a 0` . Minutes Approved EVANSTON ti1ENTAL HEALTH BOARD MEETING MINUTES TIIIURSDAY, `OVENIBER 8, 2007 Members Present: Sue Canter, Randy Walker. Carol Sittler, Anne Gauthier, Jane Grover, Marcia Achenbach, Gil Krulec Presiding: Randy Walker, Chair Staff: Harvey Saver, Casey Solomon Community Representatives: Martha Arntson (Childcare Network of Evanston); Pamela Thomas (Evans- ton/ Skokie Valley Senior Services); Willis Francis (Trilogy); Kim Davidson (Connections for the homeless); Michelle Martin (Center for Independent Futures); Sarah Valle (Infant Welfare Society); Sandra Stumme (Metropoli- tan Family Services); Kathleen Gubbins (housing Options); Bob Roy (Evans- ton Community Defender); Deborah Braun, Gerald Gulley (SHORE) Ms. Walker called the meeting to order at 7:05 p.m. 1. INTRODUCTION AND COMMUNITY COMMENTS Gerald Gulley, Executive Director of SHORE, introduced Deborah Braun as the agency's new Associ- ate Director. He said that several Board members may have met in her previous role as Director of the Lois Lloyd Center. H. REVIEW AND APPROVAL OF SEPTEMBER 8, 2007 MINUTES The Board requested several corrections to the September minutes that were delivered. Ms Grover moved and Ms Canter seconded a motion to approve the minutes as corrected. Motion approved unanimously. (7 ayes — o no). III. ADOPTION OF ALLOCATION RECCONIENDATIONS FOR FY08-09 MIIR COM- MUNITY PURCHASEI) SERVICES Ms. Walker thanked Ms. Grover and Ms. Canter for the Allocation Committee's hard work and com- prehensive report. Ms. Canter said the Committee is proposing a budget with a $15,000 increase, the same as the Committee had proposed last year. The Committee developed recommendations for $859,000 budget, a 1.8 increase over the current Purchased Services budget ol'$844.000. Nis. Grover said that prier to getting [lie increase 1'()r agency allocutions last ),car, the binding decisions usually meant that any increases in funding 1or a highly performing program required that other pro- grams' allocations be reduced. The proposed total increase in funding recommendations for programs for FY08-09 meant that the Committee was not recommending any agency funding cuts. Thcy are rec- ommending shifting funds irom one program in one agency that they thought had destabilized and des- ignated those same funds to what they thought were the agency's core services. Ms. Grover continued that the Allocation Committee's recommendations hinge on the possibility that the Board will be able to get the $15,000 revenue increase that is being requested. She said that after November 8, 2007 Mental Health Board Meeting Minutes Page I . • Minutes Approved foilo►►ing •what has been being discussed related to the Budget in the City Council the past couple weeks, she was not as hopeful as she had initially been. She said that if the Allocation Committee's recommendations are not approved in the Cite Budget, the hil-113 may very well find itself "back at the drawing board" in March, after the Budget is adopted. to reconsider funding options. Nis. Grover said that the recommended funding increases will be used to increase funding to high - achieving programs, and those that are shoving a lot of promise. She added that Allocation Committee used the Nil IB's criteria scoring to help prioritize the program allocations, but they had not solely re- lied on those assessments. Ms. Canter reviewed the Allocation Committee's funding recommendations: Agency/Program Center for Independent Futures / Whole Life Planning Proc- ess Child Care Center of Evanston / Home Day Care Childcare Network Evanston / Learning Together Childcare Network Evanston / City Wide Scholarships Connections 1 Entry Point Evanston Community Defender 1 Legal Services Evanston Community Defender 1 Social Services 1 Family Focus 1 Primary Prevention Family Focus / Pregnant and Parenting Teen Housing Options 1 Residential Services Housing Options / SHIP Infant Welfare Society / Teen Baby Nursery Legal Assistance Foundation / Evanston Legal Services Metropolitan Family Services / Family Support and Prevention Metropolitan Family Services / General Counseling NSSC 1 Evanston/Skokie Valley Senior Services PEER Services 1 Adolescent Treatment PEER Services 1 Adult Treatment PEER Services 1 Dimensions PEER Services / Youth )early Intervention SHORE: Community Services 1 Lois Lloyd Center SHORE: Community Services / Residential Services Thresholds 1 Transitions Trilogy / Psychosocial Activities Program Trilogy Collaboration 1 Supported Housing Program Youth Job Center / Core Services Y.O.U. / Youth and Family Services YWCA / Transitional Housing and Community Based Services Recommendation Allocation Maintenance $10.000 Maintenance $18,500 Maintenance $30,200 Maintenance 5101,800 Maintenance $28,000 Increase $33,000 Reduction $3,000 Maintenance $25,500 Maintenance $17,200 Maintenance $11,800 Maintenance $14,000I Increase $81,000 Maintenance $36,400 Increase $88.200 Maintenance $8,800 Increase $40,000 Increase $13,700 Increase S40,000 Increase $60,400 Increase $22,000 Increase $24,600I Increase $26,700 jl Maintenance 510,000I Increase $7.300 New funding $6,000 Increase $5,500 Maintenance $90,400 Maintenance $5,000 November k 2001 Mental Health Board Meeting Minutes Page 2 .. Minutn Approved Ms. Grover said the Committee is recommending increases for 12 programs and new funding for I program. Ms. Walker reviewed the Allocation Committee's recommendations and rationale, and asked whether there were any specific recommendations the Hoard wanted to discuss further. Ms. Achenbach said that she had originally been ambivalent about funding tile Trilogy Collaboration. However, the Allocations Committee's report and rationale convinced her about its merits. She noted that the information provided by the 3 agencies that are involved with the collaboration was very con- vincing. She noted that one of the criticisms of the use of the YIv1CA's housing was that it seemed to be expensivc for someone with little means. however, the housing costs would seem to be less than what it would be with a new program. 'Pile agencies have developed the means to provide the housing in a creative way while avoiding the capital investment costs to start a new program. She said that she particularly liked the use of a collaborative model and thought it was worth making an initial invest- ment to sec how the program is going; to work. Ms. Grover said the Allocations Committee realized that there was very little housing for persons with mental illness in Evanston, particularly those who have also been homeless. The Committee thought that the Trilogy Collaboration would be able to do something; with $6,000, and given the resources that the Board had available this seemed like a reasonable investment to see how this initiative would be able to perform. Mr. Saver said the Allocation Committee asked him to speak with John Mayes, tile Executive Director at'Triiog;y, about the Collaborative Housing Program. Mr. Mayes pointed out that a part of (lie program would be assisting individuals in the new program to apply and qualify for public benefit programs. This can sometimes take up to 4 months. Mr. Mayes said that once an individual was on one of these programs, they would receive payments retroactive to when they applied. Mr. Mayes said that they would ask these individuals to pay partial reimbursement ofthe prog'ram's expenses that were for- warded to assist them to get settled in their housing;. This would serve to partially replenish the pro- g;ram's Emergency fund, for which they are asking for support. In a unanimous straw vote the Board agreed to fund the Trilogy Collaboration at the recommended amount. Ms. Grover said the Allocation Committee gave consideration to whether agencies were compliant with the terms of their Purchase of Service agreements. While this was a small issue, it often turned out to be indicative of other problems. She said that there were a number of other programs that did very well, but they did not ask for more money so they were given maintenance funding. Ms. Groverasked that Board members to provide any additional comments about factors that they thought should influence the ftlndnlg decisions and should the included in the rationale section of the funding recommendations. Ms. Gauthier said that the report was already very thorough, and the ration- ale section in the recommendations had been very helpful. In response to her question, Mr. Saver said the Allocation Committee requested that the entire report, after it is finalized with any additional com- ments coming out of that night's discussion, or changes in recommended allocations, be sent to the agencies. The report will be used to transmit tht Board's funding allocations to the City's Budget Of- fice, the Human Service Committee and the agencies that applied for funding;. The report is a part of the record of the meeting. November 9, 2007 Mental Health Board Meeting Minutes page 3 Mints Approvod Ms. Walker asked the Board to identify any of the proposed allocations they wanted to discuss. Hear- ing none, she said that she wanted to talk about PEER's Dimensions Program, and the Center for Inde- pendent Futures program in relation to the new funding for a Collaborative I lousing Program. Ms. Walker said Dimensions is a valuable program, and one to «'hick she has made referrals. I -low - ever, historically, it has been discussed as a program that is very reliant on MHB funding. The Board has repeatedly encouraged the program to broaden its funding base. However, now the Board is con- sidering some additional funding for the program. Ms. Canter noted that Dimensions is now part of PEER Service's structure and is receiving the benefit of agency fundraising support. Nis. Grover said that they arc making progress. in addition, this year PIER is seeking United Way funding; for the first time for Dimensions. She said that MI IB share of the prog:ram's funding has been decreasing.. She said the little steps that PEER has taken to diversify funding; seem significant enough to merit the rec- ommended funding; increase. Nis. Grover said that Dimensions, and all of PEER's programs, scored very well in the Board's ratings. Ms. Canter applauded the agency's efforts to diversify their funding; for the program from other sources. She said that Dimensions has been a wonderful program. Ms. Can- ter added that she wanted to continue to encourage the Dimensions Program to continue to become more self-sufficient from the MI-113. Ms. Walker noted that last year, when Center for Independent Futures (CIF) requested funding; for a new initiative, the Board allocated S 10,000 to the agency to set up a new program to do assessments. This year a proposed program to provide supported housing; requested S15,000 and was only being al- Iocated 56,000. She said the Board had the same discussion about the risk involved in taking; on a new initiative last year when discussing funding; for CIF's program. She said that site thought that housing; was a more critical issue. Ms. Sittler said that last year the agency requested $20,000 but the Board es- tablished a matching requirement for a grant from E'[ 4 is in order for CIF to earn the Board's S 10,000 allocation; they were successful. This made this program a larger initiative than just the Board's fund- ing. Additionally, the OF program is affecting; a larger number of people. Ms. Canter said CIF originally was projecting, that the program would be tinge -limited as they worked with and trained the ETHS staft'to implement it. Ms. Canter explained that CiF's Dull Life Future Planning Program was not an assessment but rather a planning model that would help students in spe- cial services develop their plans for their future and take them through the transition planning neces- sary before they graduate. It is serving students starting their freshman year and will continue all the way until they complete school at either age 18 or 21. 'hie program will be able to serve each student between 5 and 7 years. Trilogy's Collaborative I lousing? Program hopes to be able to work with 8 cli- ents in the coning year in order to be able to place 4 in the available housing. Nis. Achcnbach said that she had thought that housing would require a lot more money. However, the Board funding; for the Collaborative housing; Program is actually to provide financial assistance to en- able people to transition from the streets to the )'MCA's SRO housing, vvhere'I-rilogy and Connections can provide supportive services, Ms. Achenbach added that as a result the funding for the Collabora- tive Mousing Program is more significant than it looks. Ms. Canter reviewed the Allocation Committee's program allocations. (Sec the attached report for the Mental I lealtll Board's adopted funding recommendations and rationale for FY08-09.)Shc said that total allocation recommendations were for 5859,000, a 1.8% increase over the 2007-08 level of fund- ing. Ms. Sittler moved and his. Gauthier seconders a motion to adopt the Allocation Committee's funding recommendations for FY08-09 as they were presented. Motion approved unanimously (7 ayes - 0 nays). November 8, 2007 Mental Health Board Meeting Minutes Page 4 Minutes Approved Mr. Saver asked Board Members to hold onto their funding proposals and all of the allocation review materials and reports until after the City Budget is adopted by City Council. These will be important if the A-11113 has to reconsider its total allocations in March. After that, all of the materials can be left with staff for recycling. IV. REPORT ON STATE BUDGET BRIEFING FOR NON -PROFITS Nis. Grover reported that she attended an October 24 briefing on the State Budget for non -profits that was sponsored by the Donor's I;orum. The presenters were Ralph Matire (Center for Tax and Budget Accountability), Coot: County Commissioner Larry Suffredin (), State Senator Don Harmon, and State Representative Rosemary Nfulligan. Ms. Grover said that the discussion about funding for human ser- vices was quite bleak. All 4 presenters were proponents of funding for human services, social services and mental health. No one had much to say that was encouraging about the prospects for increases in funding in those areas. All of them described this year's budget process as very perplexing. The budget process extended far beyond the deadline for adoption of the budget t'or 07-08; there was dis- trust on all sides and portions of the budget that was finally adopted were amendatory vetoed by the Governor. Ms. Grover referred to the information that was in her report in the Board packet. She said the panel described the current State Budget as a conglomeration of the Governor's original budget submission, the budget that was agreed to by both legislative houses, and the Governor's amendatory vetoes. The two State Senators that presented thought the budget development process was a complete breakdown. Senator Hannon expressed concern that this year's budget process will put Illinois into a perpetual budget cycle, which will require the Legislators to become year round legislators and budget experts. Mr. Saver pointed out that the State's budget year begins July 1. The State Legislature had been work- ing with a self-imposed deadline in late May to finalize the Budget. Until recently, the Stale had been operating on continuing budget resolutions. Ms. Grover continued that the panel blamed the deadlock in Springfield on the Budget to the leader- ship. Each of the three leaders, the Governor, the Senate President and the ]-louse Speaker Madigan had different visions for Illinois and different priorities. Additionally, it was clear that they did not like each other and were only intent on winning. The presenters discussed holy not-for-prolits can bet involved in the budget process. The 2 Senators and Commissioner Suffredin advised them to establish a personal relationship with legislators. They said to make certain they know what the agency does, and what their mission and constituency are. it is important to identify legislative allies and establish a relationship with them before needing to ask them to support your issue. V. AGENCY ACCOUNTABILITY Agency Liaison Report YWCA Evanston/North Shore. Ms. Sittler reported she attended one of the agency's board meetings. The organization has a number of activities that are going on right now. She said it appears that the YWCA is pulling together many program parts into one whole. The Domestic Violence Services is now offering classes on home economics and basic financial planning to help prepare women for liv- November 8, 2007 Mental Health Board Meeting Minutes Page 6 Minutes Approved ing more independently. She added that the agency has done a lot to make their facility more attractive and well organized. Ms. Sittler commented that recently the Board has gotten involved with a number of new agencies. She suggested that the Board ask some of the funded agencies to host monthly Board meetings at their of- fices so all of the Ml-IB members could become a bit more familiar with the agencies. This was some- thing that the Board had done 5 years ago when it began to implement its consolidated funding proc- ess. Several Board members thought that would be a good idea, N1s. Sittler said that she had already spoken with Karen Singer at the YWCA about this, in the event that the Board decided to pursue this option. Ms. Sittler said that she thought the agencies should not have to do anything to prepare for the meeting, such as to provide refreshments. Mr. Saver said that if the Board wanted to pursue this it might make sense to wait until after the New Year. He added that the Board would need to make sure that the agencies where meetings were sched- uled were aware that they were hosting s a public meeting. As a result, the meetings would have to be appropriately accessible and available to the public. As a Board meeting, public notice is given about the time, date and the location. Ms. Walker said that she would work with Mr. Saver to develop a schedule of agencies for the schedule; the Board will not be able to meet at all 20 funded agencies dur- ing the year. Infant Welfare Society/SHORE. Ms. Achenbach said she recently had her first opportunity to visit her 2 Liaison agencies, SHORE and the Infant Welfare Society. Both are quite different. She said she thought both were very fine agencies and doing impressive work. [lousing Options. Ms. Gauthier said she was planning to visit the agency's new house. She thought that most of the major work to the building had been completed. Kathy Gubbins, blousing Option's new Executive Director, introduced herself. She said that 16 of the 18 tenants had already moved into the 9-unit site. The agency is in the process of identifying, the two remaining tenants for location. Discussion of Agency Liaison Selection Process for 2008. Ms. Walker told the Board that she planned to appoint new Liaison assignments for 2008 in January. She said that staff keeps track of pre- vious assignments and will provide that infonmation when people are indicating their selections. Typi- cally, people are assigned to agencies for which they have not previously been the Liaison. Nis. Walker said that they would need to anticipate having a new Board member when the assignments arc made because a new person has been nominated to the MI-113 and will likely be approved at the next City Council meeting. In addition. Ms. Grover's second tenn on the Board will officially end soon, so she will not be given any assignments. Ms. Grover offered to stay involved until her replacement is ap- pointed so she could support the M1113's Budget Process. In response to Ms. Sittler she said that the Liaison assignments will need to be revised when tits. Sittler's second term is up in May. She added that since Nis. Achenbach was just recently appointed to her 2 Liaison agencies she would retain those appointments in 2008. Mr. Saver said that staff would send out information for Board members to indicate their preferences for Liaison assignments for 2008. The material will be returned to Ms. Walker so she can make the as- signments at the December meeting. The new assignments will take effect in January. VI. REPORT FROM CHAIR November B, 2001 Mental Health Board Meeting Mlnules Page 6 Minutes Approved Ms. Walker said that Ms. Sitller had volunteered to mentor the person who was recently nominated to the Board. Ms. Walker said that Jay Terry has announced his retirement. His last day as the Director of Health and Human Services would be January 4, 2008. The Board discussed what they would like to do to honor him for his service and his support. Ms. %Walker said that she would invite him to the December meet- ing for this celebration. V. STAFF REPORT FV08-09 Cite Budget Development. fir. Saver followed up «7th Ms. Grover's earlier discussion about the City Budget. He said he earlier forwarded an article to the Board about the Finance Direc- tor's Monday night presentation to City Council that showed the projected deficits the City might be facing without some extreme actions being taken.. All City Departments have submitted their pro- posed budgets, and were also asked to provide contingency budget plans. Mr. Saver reported that he had been working since early September on the City's Healthcare Cost Con- tainment Committee. The Committee comprises about 20-25 City staff from across departments and bargaining units. The Committee's mission is to research. analyze and make recommendations about all aspects of the City's employee healthcare plan. 1 le said that this including finding cost savings as a major priority; plan flexibility; and promoting healthy lifestyles, wellness and prevention, and healthy workplace initiatives. Recently the Committee was given a target by the City Manager to Find cost savings for the coming year of about 10% or $1 million in the City's employee healthcare plans, while still sleeting the needs of City employees. In response to a question, Mr. Saver said that he did not know specifically what the implications were if the Committee was unable to find all of the cost sav- ings. He said that lie assumed, from the Budget presentation to the Committee, that the balance in sav- ings might have to be made up from other places in the Budget. Mr. Grover said that she read that the Finance Director was currently projecting a $2.5 million deficit in the FY08-09 Budget. She said that the Board's proposed $859,000 for Community Purchased Ser- vices is approximately 34% of the current deficit. The Board's proposed allocations night be one addi- tional area that is looked at very closely as the Budget is being developed. Changes in City Staffing. Mr. Saver reported that Evonda Thomas, Division Manager ofCoin mu- nity and Family Wellness, was recently appointed to be the Interim Director of i lealth and I Iuman Services (lil-i5) %vhen Mr. Terry retires. lie said that many of the Board members met Lfs. Thomas at several of the October meetings for the Allocation Process. After the former Director ot'the I Iuman Relations Commission took retirement last June, the stafl'of that department reported directly to one of the Assistant City Managers. As a result of a number of changes in the City Manager's Office. 2 of the staff from the i Itnllan Ielations Commission will he joining Dill -IS on December I. They will be moving their offices to the Garden Level. Ms. "Thomas will be providing staff support far the I Iuman Relations Commission. Board Training. Mr. Saver reported that Nis. Walker requested lie make arrangements for training about the City Ethics Ordinance and Policy. Tentatively, at the December Board meeting, someone from both the Ethics Hoard and the City's Law Department will provide a presentation and the training for the Board. November 8, 2007 Mental Health Board Meeting Minutes Page 7 Minutes Approved Mr. Saver said that he is continuing to work with the Committee that is developing the implementation plan for Strategic Plan Goal 49, which deals with a number of issues specific g to the City's Boards and Commissions (B'C). The first phase of the committee's work involved reviewing the roles and functions of all of the Board and Commissions, A subset of the committee is reviewing initial reports and developing a series of recommendations regarding BIC. Ile said that many of the MI113 members had an opportunity to either be interviewed or to complete a survey about the functioning of the MI-iB. Mr. Saver said that with one of his colleagues he is co-chairing a separate committee that is consider- ing the development of training specifically for BIC members and staff. Focus groups were held with many of the BIC staff to determine what training is currently being provided. That information will be used to identify common training needs and a plan for training. For example, such things could include training in the Open Meetings Act, Roberts Rules of Order, and an overview of the structure and deci- sion -making processes of local government; these would be generic to all B/C. Each B/C would have to determine whether they would need to provide additional, B/Gspecilic training. He commented that the X11113 has been doing orientation for its members for quite some time. And most recently it added an additional mentoring process for new members. Ms Grover commented that she thought that the M1-113 had been doing a fine job with both training and supporting the Board members and keeping them well informed. The meeting was adjourned at 8:15 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Casey Solomon Secretary November 8, 2DO7 Mental Health Board Meeting Minutes page 8 Agency Program Center for Inde- pendent Fu- turesrFuO Life Model Evanston High School Outreach Program Child Care Center of EvanstorlrHome Day Care CNFJ Leasing To- gether CNE f City Wide Schdarshlps Connections / Entry Point 2006 funding Proesss Final Racomrr,*n- FYe7-of Rating doom Aaecata Stow 9.34 Fundingfor S100W a new pro- gram - i 10.000 Agency Funding Proposal Total FundJnq % of Program Request Budget Budget horn M"B S210,W) $15,(00 75% WHO 20d7 Mlocat3on Pr )ms for FYN49 MHB Program Funding Rseornmendatlons — adopted 11,08.2007 Final Proposed SS Rtional@ and Comments Rating Allocation Change scan S 17 SI0(M 866 Grantihe 518.50o S936,398 SI8,500 225E 9.69 S1113W mainte- nance request 8.53 Grant Ute 530,100 5178,600 $30.200 16.9% 9.92 $30.100 mainle- natl0e request for both pro- grarnis 8.80 S1101,f00 $106.700 $101.900 95.4% 996 5101,800 836 WOW- ruutCe 19 Ravised: Friday, November 09, 2007 S0 Committee Recommendation: Maintenance funding. The agency has been effec- t" in developing a partnership with ETHS for a new component to supplement the school's transition programs. This is a significant and needed service that is irnova- twe. The funding allocation is made with the expectation that ETHS w it cordintm to support the program any match the MHB's allocations to at least the same extent to which they committed in thus start-up year. The program is meeting its indW projeo- lions and has assisted the agency to expand its diversity. The Board is requesting regular reports on the profile of program participants. The MHB continues to express a high level of confidence in the agency and its program nwsslon because of cis ener- getic and effective fundraisinq. outreach and strategic planninq. Sq Committee Recommendation: Grant the funding roquest. Maintenance funding. The Home Day Care Program is a solid program that is improving the lives of young children In Evanston. The agency is continuing to provide creative supportive services to Its home day care providers. The agency's averatl ratings were above average, however, it was scored lower on preparation of the Fundinq Proposai as the directions were not followed. So Committee Recommendation: Grant the funding requesL Maintenance funding Both of the agency's programs are solid and having significant results for both the childmn In child care as well as for their families/caregivers. CNE's Board and their fundraising activities are both strong components. There is good coltaboratwn with other agencies and programs in moving early childhood issues ahead in the commu- nity. Learning Together is a state-of-the-art program that has been growing steadily in re- sponse to Increasing need in the community. Their outcomes reflect success in help- ing kids with social- and emotional -related problems and behaviors. $0 Committee Recommendation: Grant the funding requesL Maintenance funding. $21,000 S201,699 528,000 13.95: 8,19 $21,000 $0 Committee Recommendation: Grant the funding roquotL Maintenance funding This is a responsive program that provides street outreach to people who have been unable, or have chosen not to, access shelter. The Board providing important matching funds for HUD funding. However. the Board's ratings for this program have dropped in each of the past 2 years. Earlier it had developed more informative. measurable outcome measures for the current year. 2007 MHO Allocation Recommandatlons for FYO111.09 Page 1 of 7 MHO 2007 ANoicatlon Process for FY0949 2006 Funding Process Allency Fundlnll Proposal MHB Program Funding Recommendations —adopted 11.08,2001 Agenayr Final Reeommen- FY0749 Total Funding % of Final Proposed if Rationale and Comments Program pan Ili, AaocaM Program Ragwst Budget Rating Allocation Change ticon Budget horn Score WHO However, it provided more vague descnpbons of actrvitres as outcome objectives for the proposed year. This year's proposal and answers to questions raised several is- sues as to how marry undupitcated individuals the program has actually been support- ing_ tt is hoped that the staffs work with the HIMS will more clearty define the scope of thew service population, and more accurate data to be provided in the future. Evanston Commu- 766 Makile- $31,000 $201.929 S39,700 19 21: 7.74 $33.000 S2,(M Committee Recommondatlon: Incroase funding - $2.000. Evanston continues to n ity Defender ! Le- nance be the only Chicago suburb with its own Community Defender office. Legal services gal Services finding for Evanston youth are its core mission, The Board wants to support that core. The agency is to be commended for increasing and diversifying its Board of Directors, markebng their programs more actively, and being more aggressive in its fundralsing efforts. However, at the same time, the agency had difficulty providing accurate infor- mation in its funding proposal, and needs to be timelier in filing its monthly contract reports. Recently the Legal Services program has begun to increase the number of youth that are receiving Legal Services. 11 is reaching some of the most marginalized young peo- ple in the community. The program has several useful outcome measures for which they report having attained their projections. However, the program has not been able to report any outcomes or success related to a mediation process that they have been trying to develop for at least 3 years — the agency vnp need to report on a different measure for the contract for the coming year. Evanston Commu- 7.61 NM11und-- 55,000 $141.092 $6.300 4.5% 7.77 S3000 fS2.0001 Committee Recommendation: Reduce funding - S20110. The Social Work Pro- nity Defender / So- fng for the gram is a model that the Defender seems to be having trouble stabilizing, and it is dal Work Services program again going through a transition. The Program appears now to be taking a different direction, with implications for its long term focus. The program seems to be moving from area to area without having developed a solid base. Their presentation indicated that they wanted fo hire a 2wd social worker to implement some of the services that they had been providing previously. However, the expansion of staff seems to be un- warranted without having more stable funding. The MHB wants to see some specific outcomes from the changing structure before agreeing to invest at the same level, Even thxigh the agency's programs are ranked at the very bottom of the MHB's rank- ings, because of the important function the agency services in the Community the Board is shifting some of its funding to the Legal Services Program to be able to main- tain the Marne level of fundinq for the agency, Family Focus 1 8.05 Malirft- $17,200 $96.600 $20.000 20.7% 124 S17.200 SO Committee Recommendatlon: Maintenance funding. The agency's programs Pregnant and Par- nance continue to do good work. They provide a valuable community service and are meel- ert<ing Teen finding for Ing an important need for youth. They play an important role with their program mem- bolh pro- bets %to. have special needs by coordinating with the schools. They have also devel- Revised: Friday. November 09. 2001 2007 M H8 Allocation Recommendations for FY0$-09 Page 2 of 7 MHH 2O0T Allocation Process for FY06.09 2006 Funding Process Agency Funding Proposal MHB Program Funding R"ommendatlons — adopted 11.08.2007 Ag—V I Find Re"Onrrnt. FY0744 Tour Fundrtg % or F" I Propoa*d SS Radonair and Comm*nrs Program Raring darfon AaocaM Program Regw*t Budget Raang Aaocarlon Chang* seem hom SCOM MrH13 Family Focus / Pri- mary Prevention Housing Options 1 Residential Services grams 111A 9,10 Grant the rrainte- nance furwkv request for both pro- Qrsims Horsing options 1 9,91 SHIP Infant Welfare Sod- 8.19 Como V* etyf Teen Baby "W"e- Nurt ery Teen Par- nonce eming Services funding request LAFMG Evanston 8 tit Malnte- Legai Services ! nonce Revised: Friday, November 09.2007 oped a more formal collaboration wsth Infant Welfare Society. They have been re- sponsive to a growing Latino population. This year the funding proposal was poorly done, was submitted with Incorrect data and was incomplete. The agency has also been late in submitting its contract reports and data on a number of occasions. The MHB is concerned about contract cornpli- ance because monthly reporting Information was incorrect when it was initially submit- ted, and annual outcome measures Mere not completed. The MHB wants the agency to take a close look at the usefulness of the outcome measures that they are using and the way that they are assessed. S25,500 $413.100 S27.000 6-5% 945 S25.5m SO Comrrrlttoo Recommendation: Maintenance funding. $11,900 S2I0.9W Sl l,llm 5.9% 893 $11.900 $0 Committoe Recommendation: Grant the funding roquost Maintenance funding. MHB funds are supporting clinical support services for both permanent housing pro- grams. The proposed outcomes for both programs are functionally similar. This raises the question as to whether they might be combined into one program. The agencys outcome performance continues to demonstrate a high degree of professionalism and foes; this is reflected in consistently high scores for services and quality in the Board's funding criteria. The agency is commended for diligently working to develop additional, affordable community housing for persons with mental health problems, The agency appears to be sound even though recently going through transition with several key positions. The Board has some concerns that this year's proposal was submitted Wth major errors. $14.000 S166,410 $14.000 9.4% 9.07 $14,000 $o Committee Recommendation: Grant the funding roquesL Maintenance funding. $90,000 $392.215 586.000 21.9% 86S $81.000 SI.000 Committee Recommendation: Increase funding- $1000. This Is a yell -run agency with a solid program that continues to provide a diverse range of supports and services for teens and teen moms. The program has been using a comprehensive assessment process and outcomes for evaluation. The agency has been reaching out and collaborating with other agencies on new initialives. and taking a leadership role. The Board Is requesting more Information about the impact of the program upon the babies that are served, in addition to their mothers; and, a break-out of the numbers served In each of the services offered by the program. Long term longitudinal date would be especially helpful. $36,400 5617.729 I S50,000 4 7.9% I 3,53 � $36.400 � $0 � Commlttoo Recommendation: Maintenance funding. LAFMC continues to pro- vide a vital service to the Evanston community. The program has demonslraled good 2007 f+IHB Altocatlon Recommendations for FY06.09 Pout 3 of 7 MHB 2007 Allocation Proca m for FYOO-09 2004 Funding Process Agency Funding Proposal MHO Program Fundinq Recommendations— adopted MOUNT Agency$ Find Recommen- FYe74e Total Funding % of Final Proposed $9 IIIIII Rationale and Comrriants Pmmm Re1M4 dstlon Allocate Program Raw"t 9udgtt Rating Aaocabon Change scar. Budget from score MHB hatdirtg coilaborabon with a number of Evanston agencies. Local funding has enabled the parent organization to maintain its once in Evanston. The MHB appreciates this commitment to the community. The number of Evanston cases fell slightly below its projections last year. However, at the same time the agency has become increasingly effective at servinq Evanston Latino coimturuty and is seernq more senior. Metropolitan Family 8.S1 Mainte- S97.500 SI 15,141 S90,125 78.3% 853 SBB-00 $700 Committee Recommendation; Increase funding - $700. This is a strong agency Services 1 Family nance wilh effective programs. All of them are reaching a broad demographic in Evanston. Support and Pre- funding for They have increased their services to the Latino population and are serving a signifi- vention both pro- cant number of lour income Evanston residents. MFS is an effective collaborator with grams other programs in the community, The FS&P program has received consistently high rankings in the Board's funding criteria. It has good outcome measures and has sig- nificaniy, grown the program beyond its expectations. Intensive and comprehensive services are being p. ivided to families at a critical time. The MHB does expect more timeliness with the agency's reports in the future. Metropolitan Family 342 $9,900 $302,799 S9.064 3 Ole 843 $8,900 SO Committee Recommendation; Maintenance funding. This program also provides Services 1 General good outcome measures. The Board would like to receive additional information Counseling about services provided Wicificalty, to the farrulies with multiple concerns that are tar- peted by the MHB funding. NSSC 1 Evans- 495 Increase $38,300 SI,694.300 $40.000 2.4% 9.50 $40,1'la0 $1.700 Committee RocommendalJon: Grant the funding roquest. Increase funding - tanlSkokle Valley funding $1700. This program receives strong parent agency sup port. pport. It scared very high in Senior Services $1000 the MHB's funding criteria. It is a sold program that presented excellent outcome ob- jectives and has been very responsive. It has also been compliant with all contract requirements. EISVSS has a strong, local service capacity that is growing. The Board would like to also see that increase in the numbers of Evanston residents served. PEER Services/ 8_66 Mainfe- $13.300 $373.200 314.000 3 8% 9.97 $11.700 $aul Committee Recommendation: Increase funding $400. The MHB's scores and Adolescent Treat- rlartce rankings for all of the agency's programs have gone up consistently and significantly ment furiding for over the past 2 years. All 4 are now ranked In the lop 10 pfograrris, with the youth• M 4 pro- serving programs ranked 5 and 6. Their performance has been consistent and they gram have continued to meet their performance measures and outcome measures. While the MHB does not fund that program. it applauds the agency for its leadership In the substance abuse prevention arena in Evanston. In the future the MHB wants more infomtation about how the percentages are calcu- lated in the outcome reports. The Adolescent Tx Program has incorporated and attained useful outcome measures. The program continues to grow and exceed Its projections for Evanston youth served. The program's services are unique in the Evanston commit nty, and are important In Revised., Friday, November 02. 2007 2007 MHS Allocation Recommendations for FY0542 Page 4 of 7 ► rticy r Prici9ram PEER Services I Adult Treatment PEER Service I Di- mensions 2006 Funding Process F" RecnmriNr FYtr7-N �darion Aao"N $ 74 960 PEER Services 1 6.59 Youth Early Intet- vertion SHORE I Lois Lloyd Center S39, 00 Agency Funding Proposal Tow F%eWing % or P-9— Request SWO&I eudget hen+ I� MHO l S412 14x, Ssa O)o 9 7% MHO 2001 Allocation Process for FYOB-09 MHO Program Fundinq Recommendations — adopted 11.03.2007 Final I Proposed I ii Rafionals and Com n"to Rating Allocation Change Score 996 1 S40,000 SWAM $71.34) Sel.ow 35 5% 994 56tr,4W S21,600 S65,700 S22,000 33 5% 3,93 $22.000 1 9.04 Increase $23,I00 S1-185,731 $26S00 2.1% 9.44 $24,600 handing f1000 each for both programs SHORE I DO Resi- R 12 dential Services Thresholds I Transl- 7,99 Increase tions funding 310t30 $25.200 S2,196,7331 S29,000 1.3% 9.34 SI6,700 $10,000 $692,i00 $13,000 224, Bit S 10,000 keeping adolescents in the community rather than residential care by providing vary- ing levels of serw-e intensity. It has been successful in reaching a demographic mix of adolescents that mirrors that of the community, itself. S100 Committee Recommendation: Increase funding - $600. The program provides good outcome measures and reports successful results. S400 Committee Recommendation: Increase funding - $400. This is an excellent pro- gram was developed specifically for the Evanston community In response to needs identified by the MHB. II provides good outcome measures and provides a quality service for Evanston residents vnih very limited resources. This program continues to be unique in the community, and fills an Important role for people with dual diagnoses. In response to concerns expressed previously by the 11,11-18. the agency has achieved some diversification of its program funding base. The Board encourages the agency to continue to become more self-sufficient in this program's funding sources. S400 Committee Recommendation: Increase funding- $400. $1.500 Committee Recommendatlon: Increase funding - $1500. Both of the agency pro- grams are providing high quality services, and significant and consislera outcomes. The Lloyd Center has diversified its programs to provide more space and more re- sponsive settings for its clients. The 0.3 Program Is still the only local program that is providing early intervention services for kids with developmental disabilities in the cornmuritty. Both of SHORE's programs have consistently received high scares from the MHB. The agency has also been compliant with all contract requirements. While the agency has a large budget, i1 Is working on a very thin margin - the MHB's funds are making a significant difference In their budget. SHORE's Board is to be compli- mented for the extent that they raise a significant amount of the budget through their min efforts. $1,500 Committee Recommendation: Increase funding - $1500. VI Committee Recommendation: Maintenance funding. The program has been moving away from older models of community support for persons with mental i0ness, and towards a state-of-the-art wellness model, e.g., from sheltered workshops to sup- ported employment. Their services are high quality and are significant in enabling people to remain in the Evanston community and avoid rehospitakzations. There Is a continued emphasis upon evidence -based progranuninq. They are also engagirq and Revised: Friday, November 09, 2007 2007 MH13 Allocation Recommis"datlons for FY0849 Page 5 of 7 YHe 2007 Allocation Process for FYOO.09 2M Funding Process Agency Funding Proposal MHO Program Funding Recommendations —adopted 11.08.2007 Apateyr Find RwAmmort- FY07-01111 Total Funding f or Final Proposad S$ Rationale and comments Program PAU" iration Aaotefa Program Requaat Budget Rating Allocation Change 119" Budget t►em Scan WHO TnkW / Evanston 8.38 Increase Psychosocial Adrvi- fix ddlg ties Program $1000 NEW (Trilogy Col- 7.82 No hording laboration) ! Col- latuative Sup- ported Housing Pro- grarn Youth Job Cen- 7,91 Funding for ter/Core Services a rww pro- gram - 65,0D0 $7.000 S 17,000 S8,000 35 71: 8 71 S7,300 Na S41,981 $15,000 47.1% 801 S6,o00 Ss,000 $225.737 $15,000 66% 7.97 $5,500 employing mental health consumers in leadership roles and various aspects of their recovery model. The number of Evanston residents has been vanable recently. How- ever, they have established new relationships with ETHS to worts with older adoles- cents In their Initiatives. and have been exploring new outreach efforts to directly en- gage members of the Lame community. The MHB does expect more timeliness with the agency's reports in the future. S300 Committee Recommendation: Increase funding - $SM. This program continues to grow and function with a very modest budget. It scored very wen in the ratings. Services continue to be provided in a readily accessible manner. The program is at- tracting many more clients than their performance protections. For many, the services are the center of their connection to the community. Increasingly, the program mem- bers are organizing and leading their own planning efforts and displaying more inde- pendence. The program is helping people with mental illness to stay engaged in their own community and avod social isolation. Anecdotaily the staff has provided reports that the program has also helped to facilitate a reduction in hospitalizations among their overall service populabon. The Board wants to encourage Tnlogy to begin to look at ways to quantify that measure as an outcome. S6,000 Committee Recommendation: Funding for a now program Initlativo - $6,000. This Is a collaborative initiative among agencies to try a new approach in providing housing, The agencies iriniated the collaborative program with their own resources oiler being fumed down for hording last year. This request is a necessary supportive service for the target population. The agencies have developed a means to provide the housing while avoiding the capital costs necessary to start-up most housing pro- grams. The MHB wants to support collaborations as well as rueabve Initiatives for this priority population. Al the same lime the Board expects that the fund wall be supple- menled by additional resources that were discussed ciumv the funding hearings, as well as partially reimbursed from client entitlements that they have obtained through the use of the emergency fund. $5W Committee Recommendation. Increase funding - SWO, The agency has made a Significant turn -around in the past 2 years, since the MHB cut their funding. It is pro- viding an important function for Evanston. The proposal was well-done. The Board's score for the program does not reflect sig- nificant results and Improvements: plans for a more aggressrve plan to do fundraising and to generate their own funding; an increase In community outreach; and an in- crease In program staff. They have also developed a better data collection and track- Ing system. The agency has also had more contact with employers and Is very visibly Revised: Friday, November 09, 2007 2007 MH8 Allocation Recommendations for FYOS-09 Page 6 of 7 EM 2t107 ANocadi0n PrOCaM for FY084119 2006� Fuindirq Procgs Agency Funding Proposal MHB Program Funding Recommendations —adopted 11.0E.2o07 Agency/ Final IMeoramerh- FYe748 TOW funding % of 1" Proposed is Ratimuils and Cormwnts Program koeme /afro" Aaotale Props+" iiegaest Budget Ratk+g Arlocatian Change /core gospel from Score MHB Y.O.U.1 Youth and 8.54 Malift- $90,400 S I.w,,q$) 594,900 6 6!: 942 S90,400 Family Services nanee KNI&9 YWCA DV Services 831 Folding for $5,000 S I r7 " $5,000 2 7% 350 S5,000 1 Transitional Hous- a new pro. Ing and Community gram - Based Services SUN mark" thew efforts to provide more opportunities for young people to interview VWM prospeetnre employers, The agency has been responsive to and addressed the MHB's concerns and comments from 2 years goo. SO Committee Recommendation: Maintenance funding. This is a well -rem agency with a strong administration and significant support and leadership from a very actfve board. They continue to maintain strong, stable relationships and collaboration with both school districts. They have spent considerable time and resources developing a sophisticated evaluation and outcome measurement system. They look to their data to direct the development of the programs and determine what is actually working. They give serious consideration to the interventions and activities do and do not work. and use that information In their plannino. $0 Committee Recommondaflon: Gant the funding request. Maintenance funding. The programs community -teased services are expanding. Overall the program has been successful in becoming more diverse. They are providing quality services and consistent outcomes. There is good fundraising, as well as act" funding from other communities to support their ciomm pity -based services for a geographically -diverse population - TOTAL IL42 $944.000 si2.e-'o-ih; 5931,689 74% trio $339.000 $15,O00 Committee recommendation: Increase purchase of services funding for 06-O! AM I - I . 1 � A.Y. by 615,00011.9% Rariasd: Friday, November 09, 2007 2007 MHO Allocation Racommandstbns for FY084t Pape 7 of 7 Minutaa approvod EVANSTON MENTAL HEALTH BOARD MEETING NIINUTES THURSDAY, DECEMBER 13, 2007 Members Present: Sue Canter, Randy Walker, Carol Sittler, Anne Gauthier, Jane Grover, Marcia Achenbach, Gil Krulee, Carl LaMelt Presiding: Randy Walker, Chair Staff: Harvey Saver, Jay Terry, Casey Solomon Community Representatives: Chris Bacr (Childcare Network Evanston); Pam Thomas (Evanston/ Skokie Valley Senior Services); Willis Francis (Trilogy); Michelle Martin (Center for Independent Futures); Sandra Stumme (Metropolitan Family Services); Kathleen Gubbins (Housing Options); Kim Davidson (Connections for the Homeless) Ms. Walker called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m. I. RECOGNITION OF JAY TERRY'S RETIREMENT AS DIRECTOR OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES AND THE EVANSTON MENTAL HEALTH BOARD Ms. Walker welcomed Jay Terry to the meeting and thanked him for his support and leadership over the years. She said that the Board planned to begin the meeting with a celebration in his honor. Ms. Grover thanked Mr. Terry for consulting with her for the 3 years that she was Board Chair. She said she was grateful for all of his guidance and insight. She said that each time she met with him was extremely valuable for her, and he helped her to see and consider things far ahead of where she other- wise would have. Ms. Grover said that Mr. Terry provided a valuable service to her and to the MHB. Ms. Canter said she had to echo what Ms. Grover had said. She presented the following in Mr. Terry`s honor: "Dear Jay... Thanks for all your many}ears of wonderful support to the Mental Health Board. Since I have been or the Board, I found out that information eons provided has helped the Board understand hose Evanston works. Your knowledge about current and historical Evanston facts has been invalu- able. Hearing your perspective on a variety of Evanston issues has been enlightening and has helper! the Board make better it formed decisions. }'ors tell it like you see it, but lease the decisions to us. You're also good with roosters, heel, and a in n riad of other interesting situations. if'orking svith you has been a pleasure and ive will miss !raving you as a resource. and we will also miss yot. Thanks far everything and best wishes in your fhrture endeavors. " Ms. Sittler said she had run into the former Director of Child Care Center of Evanston, Helen Roberts - Evans. Ms. Roberts -Evans told her how helpful Mr. Terry had been to her, especially when she was just getting things up and running at the agency. She asked Ms. Sittler to pass that message along to Mr. Terry at the meeting. Ms. Sittler added that she always loved Mr. Terry's speeches and presenta- tions at the Aging Well Conference. She said she would miss them. She said the Board was concerned that Mr. Terry might not have enough to do once he is retired, and so she presented him with a book of "Simple Paper Airplanes " from the MHB. December 13, 2007 Mental Health Board Mooting Minutes Page 1 Mnrittes approved Ms. Gauthier said she was extremely grateful that Mr. Terry suggested that the Board read "Begging for Change ". (Mr. LaMell joined the Board at 7:15 p.m.) Mr. Terry told Ms. Walker she had big shoes to fill as the Chair. Throughout his time with the Board, the Chair has tended to be a pretty wise person. He said that while the various Chairs have come to him for advice, they always provided him with certain grounding in the issues and he appreciated that very much. He said that what he and the Board shared was a reliance on Mr. Saver to make them all look good; all would have been lost without him. Mr. Terry finished by saying that his time with the MHB had been great and he enjoyed it tremendously. He said he was not clear what his next step would be but that he did intend on taking some time off. He said it is a time of great change at the Civic Center with him leading the "2008 pack" as others are preparing to leave as a part of the City's Early Retire- ment Incentive Plan. He said he would keep people posted. Ms. Walker presented Mr. Terry with the following resolution of the Board: "hi Recognition and Appreciation of Jay Terry "Whereas, Jay Tern• has served the residents of the City of Evanston far 18 years as the Director of Health and Human Senices and as Executive Director of the Evanston Mental Health Board, and "Whereas, in his position as a Department head and community leader, Jay Terry has led by ex- ample, with compassion and principle; and "ffhlereas, throughout his tenure with the City, Jay Terry offered both invaluable guidance, in- sight, and his forthright opinion to the Mental Health Board about more issues than any of its could have imagined. and "ffliereas, Jat, Terry is recognized for his myriad contributions to the Evanston community and to the Evanston Mental Health Board and its constituents with special needs; and for his leadership and support of the goals and mission of the Evanston Mental Health Board. "Now, therefore be it resolved, that Jay Terry, is hereby unanimously e-wended the gratitude and respect of the Evanston Afental Health Board for his record of exceptional sen-ice to the Board, to the City of Evanston and its residents, and to the staff of the Department of Health and Human Services. " Ms. Walker presented Mr. Terry with a gift on behalf of the Mental Health Board. Refreshments were served, and several community representatives who were present made comments honoring Mr. Terry. II. INTRODUCTION AND COMMUNITY COMMENTS Ms. Walker asked the community representatives to introduce themselves and make any announce- ments they wanted to share. Willis Francis said that Trilogy had opened a federally qualified medical clinic using an Integrated Services Model. It is located on the first floor of the agency's Chicago building. The program is oper- ating under the auspices of Asian Mental Health Services. December 13, 2007 Mental Health hoard Meeting Minutes Pape 2 Minutes approved Chris Baer from Childcare Network of Evanston said that in January the agency will be kicking off Strengthening Families. It is funded through DCFS to increase protective factors in families. They will be collaborating with other agencies and hosting several parent cafes for parents and their foster chil- dren. III. INTRODUCTION OF NEW MHB MEMBER: SARAH ROSENBLOOM Ms. Walker announced that a new member was appointed to the Board. Sara Rosenbloom was not able to make the December meeting, but will be joining the Board for her first meeting in January. Ms. Walker said that Ms. Sittler offered to mentor Ms. Rosenbloom. IV. APPROVAL OF NOVEMBER 13, 2007 MINUTES Ms Grover moved and Ms Gauthier seconded a motion to approve the November 13, 2007 min- utes as corrected. Motion approved unanimously (8 ayes -- o nays). V. TRAINING ABOUT THE CITY ETHICS ORDINANCE. ELKS FURZE, CITY LANV DEPARTMENT Elke Taber -Purge, Assistant Corporation Counsel led a discussion about the City's Ethics Ordinance (Ordinance). She said her presentation was designed for training new Board and Commission mem- bers. Ms Tober-Purge said she was the City staff liaison for the Strategic Plan committee that is focus- ing upon the goal addressing Boards and Commission. She distributed copies of the City of Evans- ton's Code of Ethics to the Board and the audience. Ms. Tober-Purzc said her presentation focused on the purpose of the Ordinance and its over -arching purpose to maintain impartiality and independent judgment by City Officials and employees. She said she also wanted to illustrate how the City of Evanston's Board of Ethics (Board) implements the Ordi- nance. The best way to understand the purpose of the Ordinance is to understand the issues it is intended to prevent, especially the issue of conflict of interest and how it can arise. The Ordinance names the Board of Ethics as the ultimate interpreter of its provisions. It identifies individuals subject to the Or- dinance, and is in place to assure the integrity of people in public service who are serving the City of Evanston. The Board has a priority to guard the integrity of government, and to educate public offi- cials, employees, and citizens of the City of Evanston. Not only should public servants avoid clear conflicts of interest, they must also avoid the appearance of conflicts. The perception of conflicts of interests, whether real or only in appearance, undermines the public trust in government. Ms. Tober- Purze said that it was important to avoid even the appearance of impropriety. The Board of Ethics is appointed by the Mayor as an advisory body, a deliberating body, and as the interpreter of the Ordinance. The Board members are appointed for three-year terms. The City sup- ports the work of the Board of Ethics with Legal Counsel. Ms. Tober-Purge said she provided this sup- port as the Assistant Corporation Counsel. In the event that there is a potential conflict in that role, then an issue is referred to outside counsel. December 13, 2007 Mental Health Board Meeting Minutes Page 3 Minutes approved The Board gives advice about the application of the Ordinance, and responds to formal written com- plaints or information about violations of the Ordinance. When a complaint alleging official miscon- duct is filed, the Board decides whether a violation of the Ordinance has been committed, and if so, seeks resolution. The Board is the custodian of the Annual Financial Disclosure Statements required by City Officials. Certain employees, usually department directors, and members of Boards and Commis- sions of City government, including the Board of Ethics, are required to submit these disclosures annu- ally. Ms. Grover asked whether the Law Department is the official keeper for the Board of Ethics records and statements. Ms. Taber-Purze said that the Law Department does keep the records, but under the Ordinance, and as it is identified on the cover of the Financial Disclosure Statement, the City Man- ager's Office is the official keeper of those documents. However, generally, the records are stored in the Law Department. As was mentioned, a Financial Disclosure Statement is required from all elected official, certain em- ployees, and all Board and Commission member. This is a sworn statement that must include disclo- sure of real estate, business interests, employment, membership on outside boards, and gigs received. The Board reviews each statement riled, treating each as a statement of record that can be used as a means of protecting the individual who is submitting the Disclosure, as well as the integrity of Board or Commission actions in the event a complaint is filed. Ms. Tober-Purze said that anyone who serves on a Board or Commission in any given year must file the Disclosure Statement. It is important for each participating member to file the Statement; otherwise the actions of that body may be subject to being overturned. The Statement does not ask about the value of either real estate or business interests, or the assets a person holds. It does not gather enough information to establish a person's net worth. The Statement is designed to assess an individual's fi- nancial interests, not one's financial worth. Ms. Taber-Purze said that the Financial Disclosure Statement is a public document, but it is very unlikely that it will be viewed by the public. This typically would happen only in situations in which there are suspicions of conflicts of interests, or during times of heightened concerns. At those times, a reporter, attorney, or representative of an interest group, may be provided with that information. Financial Disclosure Statements that are submitted by elected officials and the City Manager are main- tained by the City Clerk, and can be made available for review upon specific request to the City Clerk during regular business hours. The person whose Financial Disclosure Statement is requested is noti- fied, and the requesting party is named on the notice. Disclosure Statements made by members of Boards and Commissions are filed with the City Clerk and reviewed and maintained in confidence with the Board of Ethics. They are not available for public review. The Disclosure Statement of the Assistant City Managers, department heads, and executive staff of Boards, Commission, and Commit- tees are filed and maintained in confidence with the City Manager. Those may be reviewed in confi- dence upon the request of the Board of Ethics. Ms. Tober-Purze said that the rationale behind the requirement for the Financial Disclosure Statement was to ensure the maintenance of impartiality in judgment. The Statement requires filers to disclose interests they bring to their official responsibilities with the City. Reporting does not imply an impro- priety. Its intent is to protect the filer and the Board or Commission, in case a complaint is brought forward. The Financial Disclosure Statement assumes integrity on the part of the person that is filing, not dishonesty. Some people are uncomfortable disclosing the information that is asked for, but it is critical for public trust in government. The overall purpose is to reveal any connections between an December 13.2007 Mental Health Board Meeting Minutes Pape 4 Minutes approved individual's financial interests and their official duties while sen-ing in public office. It also highlights interests that may not influence an individual during their time in service. The benefit of the Disclosure system is to provide discouragement for an individual from acting on a conflict of interest over time, and to limit the ability of individuals to influence public officials who decide about their special inter- est. Ms. Taber -Puree continued that, generally speaking, individuals covered under the Ordinance may not solicit or accept anything of value from persons who have an interest in the work of that particular Board. Commission or staff decision. The Ordinance provision that prohibits gifts also applies to spouses and immediate family members. A gift from a prohibited source is defined as anything from any person that is seeking official action, doing business, or seeking to do business with any person who conducts activities regulated by the City officer or employee. Mr. Saver asked who was consid- ered to be in violation of the Ordinance if a spouse or family member were to accept a gift in that in- stance. Ms. Tobcr-Purze said that it would still be the City officer or employee. There arc twelve exceptions to the Ordinance surrounding gifts. Section 1-10-6 (c) of the Evanston City Code specifies those exceptions. The two monetary exceptions are that a person who must file the Statement can receive up to $75 in food or refreshments in a single day and up to 5100 for gifts in a calendar year from the same prohibited source. Ms. Tober-Purze gave several made-up examples to illustrate the point: • The Chair of the Zoning Board of Appeals is invited to holiday party by a prohibited source. The Chair may attend provided the cost of the food and refreshments at the party do not exceed $75 in value. • An architectural firm that designed a new senior center for the City provides key City stafTmem- bers with tickets to a banquet ceremony for which everyone else must purchase tickets. The City staff may attend, provided the total value of the gifts s accepted from the prohibited source does not exceed S 100 in the calendar year. Another area of concern is whether one's primary or secondary employment comes into conflict with working for the City, i.e., work that may be compromised by the interests of that person's employment. To illustrate, Ms. Tobcr-Furze provided a made-up example of a Mr. Siding, a construction foreman for a company that does business with the City. He is asked to serve on the Housing Commission, be- cause his expertise would be useful as the Housing Commission considers the building of affordable housing. Six months after Mr. Siding joins the Commission, it begins reviewing construction bids, in- cluding one from Mr. Siding's company. Not only must Mr. Siding disclose his employment on the Financial Disclosure Statement, he must also avoid participating in any aspect of the Commission's discussions or decision regarding the awarding of the contract. Ms. Tober-Purze said that it would be advisable for Vir. Siding to remove himself from the room during any part of the Commission's con- sideration of that award. Ms. Tobcr-Purze said that employment itself does not constitute a conflict of interest. Additionally, disclosure of employment on the Financial Disclosure Form cannot get one into trouble. It merely pro- vides a means of public acknowledgement by the filer before they begin service each year. The em- ployment information is requested in order to raise awareness of individuals that are filing that it is un- ethical to receive a benefit of employment through their work for the City. It is important that a person never misuse their position with the City for personal gain, either for themselves or for someone else. Such behavior is prohibited by the Ordinance for obvious reasons December 13, 2007 Merdat Health Board Meeting Minutes Page 5 Minutes approved Ms. Tober-Purze said that recently the Ordinance had been amended relative to what is called the "re- volving door" issue in government service. It provides that within one year of termination of service with the City an elected official may not represent any private interest in any transaction involving the City. This is to off -set the problem of private firms or businesses hiring former government officials to represent them before the same unit of government that the previously -elected official had represented. Such a switch of allegiance would constitute a conflict of interest for the former government official, who previously protected the interests of the community citizens, but now works to assure the interests and advantage of a private entity. The former afficial would bring to the employer advantages of knowing both the people and inner workings of government. This intimate knowledge of the City would provide an unfair advantage over others who do not have access to the same knowledge and re- lationships. As a result, the Ordinance was amended to forbid this activity within one year of govern- ment service. Mr. Saver asked how the City was able to sanction an individual who was no longer a part of City gov- ernment. Ms. Tobcr-Purze said the City could fine them, under the Sanctions Section of the City Code. She said this was pretty standard with other communities, as well. Ms. Grover asked whether there was an obligation to update one's Financial Disclosure Statement if there was a change in one's status mid -year. Ms. Tober-Purze said she thought that there was a moral obligation to do so in order to assure the proper and effective functions of government. However, there was not an obligation to submit the form more than once a year. Ms. Taber-Purze said anyone is free to contact the Board of Ethics about a question of public ethics governed by the Ordinance. Upon written request the Board will render an advisory opinion when a question cannot be answered immediately. Advisory opinions are kept on record and are useful in that they provide a written basis for future judgments. In order to protect the innocent from adverse public- ity, confidentiality is maintained by the Board through all stages of investigation and hearing. Find- ings of violations are open to judicial review. The Board of Ethics may enforce a finding of violation with sanctions or penalties. For examples, any person who purposefully violates the gift ban is subject to a fine in the amount of not less than S1001 and not more than S5000. In addition to any criminal or civil penalties that may be applicable, an offi- cer or employee who intentionally violates any provision of the Ordinance may be subject to censure, suspension, removal from office or employment, or other disciplinary action. Ms. Tober-Purze said she thought the best way to avoid a complaint was to avoid any situation or action that could give rise to it. The Ordinance is intended to make government be open, honest and fair. Ms. Tober-Purze said that while the Board of Ethics is not the sole means of government to preserve those qualities, it is their role to see they are preserved. in an era of heightened public insistence on ethical government in per- formance and appearance, the citizens of our City are not likely to allow the Board of Ethics to forget its duty and perform its obligation. Ms. Grover asked whether there might be a better name for the Financial Disclosure Statement because it really asks people to disclose much more than financial interests. Ms. Tobcr-Purze agreed and said that it was actually titled "Financial Disclosure and Affiliation Statement." Ms. Canter asked Ms. Tobcr-Purze if she had seen the policy that the Mental Health Board recently adopted regarding conflicts of interest. Ms. Tober- Purze said that Mr. Saver had sent her both the pol- icy and the disclosure statement. Ms. Canter asked whether it would ever be appropriate for an MHB December 13, 200T Mental Health Board Meeting Minutes Page 6 • Minutes approved member to support an agency that is funded through the Board, even with the Mental Health Board's disclosure statement. Ms. Tober-Purze said generally she would suggest that a fair test would be whether the issue or circumstance was something that could make it into the Evanston Review. If it is, it could give the appearance of a conflict. his. Tober-Purze said that if there was ever any question, one could submit a request to the Board of Ethics. They will submit it to the Advisory Board, and that body would be responsible for responding with an advisory opinion. The Advisory Board is in place to answer these types of questions on a case -by -case basis. Ms. Grover asked Ms. Tober-Purze if she would recommend that if someone had a question about whether their volunteering for a MHB-funded agency created a duality interest that might undermine their work on the Board; they contact the Law Department or the Board of Ethics. Ms. Tober-Purze said they could send the issue to her in her role as staff to the Board of Ethics. The Board of Ethics meets every third Wednesday of the month. Ms. Sittler asked how that should be handled in terms of the MHB. Ms. Grover said that she thought an individual with that type of concern might want or need to follow two tracks; disclose to the Mental Health Board and also pose the question to the Board of Ethics. Ms. Grover said that she thought the MHB's Conflict of Interest Policy was stricter than the City's Or- dinance in two respects. It includes an obligation to update information as it changes, and there is an obligation to disclose any volunteer work as well as stricter policy on gifts. Ms. Gauthier asked whether the value of food was something that was only applicable if the food was catered as opposed to home-made. Ms. Tober- Purze said she thought it had more to do with the spe- cific facility, and whether the food was provided off -site. She said this was identified as an area of the Ordinance where the language needed additional work as things moved forward. Mr. Terry said that when he started Evanston's language was much stricter regarding meals. The City was forced to adopt the State's guidelines, which are looser. He said he thought an individual had to use their best judg- ment with regards to homemade food. Ms. Sittler asked whether it would be a problem if she served on a committee of an agency for which she had been the Board Liaison. She explained that the agency was undertaking a project for which she would like to participate as a volunteer. Ms. Tober-furze said that if it does not feel right she would suggest that Ms. Sittler bring it to the Ethics Board for advice. Mr. Terry said that if Ms. Sittler decided to do the activity she should disclose that information to the Board and recuse herself from voting on any funding decision relating to that agency. Ms. Sittler said that in her case she will be off the Mental Health Board before the next funding decisions are made. Mr. Saver said that based on the MHB's policy it is still something she would need to disclose in January, when the Disclosure State- ments are due from all MHB members. Ms. Walker thanked Ms. Tober-Purze for taking the time to meet with the Board and for her presenta- tion. VI. AGENCY ACCOUNTABILITY Agency Liaison Reports (Board Member Reports) Ms. Grover introduced Pam Thomas from North Shore Senior Center (NSSQ/Evanston Skokie Valley Senior Services, who had an announcement from that agency. Ms. Thomas said that the NSSC Execu- tive Director, Sandi Johnson, would be retiring in the summer of 2008. She has been with the agency December 13. 2007 Mental Health Board Meeting Minutes Page 7 ' Minutes approved for 27 years. Ms. Thomas said that this was the most recent in a number of changes in key staff in the agency this past year. NSSC has a wonderful Board and succession process and they have already be- gun their search for a new Executive Director. Ms. Gauthier said she visited Housing Option's new Rose House. She said she and Mr. Saver visited several of the apartments. The residents were very open in talking about their situations. Ms. Gauthier said the facility was beautifully rehabbed, though no money was wasted. They also received some very generous furniture donations from Crate and Barrel to furnish each apartment. Mr. Saver said he thought Housing Options did a very thorough job in doing a gut rehab of the building. It had been very run-down before the renovations. He said that some of the neighbors had expressed concern about Rose House being developed in their neighborhood, but the apartment building and grounds looks much better than it has for quite some time. Ms. Canter said that Trilogy's Psycho -Social Activity Program, which is funded by the Board, is grow- ing very steadily.. The program staff thinks that if participation goes along at this rate, the number of daily participants may be over 1000 this year, double the participation level from three years ago. The one drawback to this growth is that the program is costing more money than it had in the past. Ms. Canter reported that Thresholds Transitions' workshop space closed. Most of the program mcm- bers who were employed there have chosen supportive employment. Transitions is increasing its Com- munity Support staff. They arc adding three more mentors to this part of the program. Mr. Krulee said he visited SHORE. Their services are continuing to go very smoothly. He said that one of the most outstanding things about the agency is their very strong and involved Board of Direc- tors. Mr. Krulce also visited Family Focus. Sandra Hill, the Director, is stepping down in early January. They are just starting their search for a new Director. Mr. Krulce said he also met with Kate Mahoney at PEER Services. Ms. Mahoney reported that the agency has been increasingly active in bringing their programs to ETHS students. Appointment of Liaison Assignments for 2008 Ms. Walker distributed the new assignments for the Agency Liaison for 2008. She announced that Ms Grover agreed to stay with the Board until her replacement is appointed. Her tern was up at the end of November. She will continue as the Liaison with the agencies she has been working with this past year. As a result of the Board funding a new agency this year, Ms. Canter agreed to be the Liaison for a third agency. V11. REPORT FROM CHAIR Ms. Walker said the MHB would need to begin to plan a Board Development schedule for 2008. The MHB has tried to have at least four presentations each year. Ms. Grover said that they could begin by looking at the list that they had brainstormed for the previous year. There were several suggestions for the Board's consideration that had previously been submitted: presentation by the Salvation Army about their services; changes in Evanston demographics (e.g., who is living in Evanston, what are the changes and trends); and, discussion about the role of the Faith -based community in responding to be - December 13, 2007 !mental Health Board Meeting Minutes Pape a Minulee approved havioral health issues. Ms. Walker asked Mr. Saver to send an email to the Board to solicit additional topics for consideration, and to identify other topics that had been previously presented or considered. Ms. Walker said that the Board had recently had a brief discussion about visiting 1101113-funded agen- cies for Board meetings. She asked staff about how to proceed. Mr. Saver said the Board should first decide if they want to pursue this, and what the purpose of the visits would be. He said from the dis- cussion initially, the focus seemed to be on seeing how an agency operated. It will be difficult for the Board to observe an agency's operations during the working day, but there might be an opportunity to see physical plants and have the agencies visited provide a brief report to the Board. The original sug- gestion was to start this in January but it will require some planning to pursue this. Ms. Walker said she would put it on the agenda as a planning item for the January meeting, to be implemented later. Ms. Gauthier asked whether the purpose was to view the facilities. Ms. Grover said that when the Board did this in the past, it often included a quick tour of the facilities, and an agency presentation about their plans for the future. Ms. Walker reported that she and Ms. Cantcr met with Julia Carroll, the City Manager, to discuss the MHB's proposed FY08-09 funding allocations. She said the City Manager was complimentary about the Board and that she would include the MHB's requested S15,000 increase in her proposed City Budget. Ms. Carroll said, however, that this is going to be a very tight budget year and this is no guar- antee that the City Council will approve the recommended increase. Ms. Walker continued that she, Ms. Canter and Ms. Grover will present the MHB's Annual Report and their allocation recommendations to the Human Service Committee at the January 7 Committee meeting. VII1. STAFF REPORT Mr. Saver reported that he sat in the Center for Independent Futures' Full Li fe Planning program at ETHS. He was able to observe 3.5 hours of the program, and observed two classes of freshman and sophomore students participating in the program. He said it was very well -organized, and it was it was interesting to see the ways that the young people responded to the curriculum. The students in the two classes clearly needed a great deal of direction, support and assistance to be able to participate. Some of the students struggled with some of the concepts. Ms. Sittler said she was told that some of the stu- dents were challenged in identifying a supportive core group in the community, to help them strive for their goals. Mr. Saver said that was one of the activities he observed. The students were asked to iden- tify their areas of interest and the people in their lives that might be able to help them reach those goals. CIF is also helping to recruit people from the larger community to also he identified as members of the students' supportive networks. The meeting was adjourned at 8:26 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Casey Solomon Secretary December 13, 2007 Mental Health Board Meeting Minutes Pape 9