Peoria Standard

The Illinois Department of Children and Family Services Statewide Foster Care Advisory Council met via conference call April 22.

Here are the meeting minutes as provided by the Statewide Foster Care Advisory Council:

Welcome & Introductions – Sarah Olson, Chair, called the meeting to order at 9:07 a.m. Due to a scheduling mixup, a second meeting was convened at 10:00 a.m. where additional council members and staff discussed the content of the first meeting.

Final SWFCAC Reports to Director – Sarah Olson

There were no final reports to the Director. The monthly report to the Director from the SWFCAC Chair was emailed to SWFCAC members.

Approval of Minutes from March 18, 2015 SWFCAC Meeting

Mike Simpson made the motion to approve the minutes of the March 18, 2015, SWFCAC meeting.

Kellye Norris seconded. The minutes were approved as written.

NEW BUSINESS

Status of Agency Reviews - Gwenn Eyer

The Agency Reviews have all been scheduled and a couple have been rescheduled, due to illness. Gwenn expressed her thanks to those who stepped up when it was hard to fill reviewer positions. She also thanked those who did the foster parent surveys. She requested that all completed materials be submitted as soon as possible.

Sarah noted that we will soon be looking for new members to fulfil expiring terms and we will be looking to council members for recommendations. She reminded the council that the job description includes scoring implementation plans, conducting agency reviews, etc.

Annual Partnering With Parents Summit – May 6 - Terry McGlothlin

The Council will meet at 9:00 a.m. to cover SWFCAC business prior to the Summit. Council members will then join the Summit at 10:00 for a keynote speaker and a cafe style presentation, with lunch to follow. After lunch we’ll meet again as a council until 3 pm. The Summit will be held at the Northfield Center on May 6th. Debra Dyer-Webster will represent the Director at the Summit.

PRIDE Training Update - Sharva Hampton-Campbell

Sharva was not on the call due to illness. Terry asked her for a report and Sharva told her that they’re still working on the PRIDE revisions, but there is no solid roll-out date. They’re also working on training for the Emergency Foster Care program, to be piloted in late May/ early June.They are looking for 20 homes in Cook and 10 in each downstate region to become Emergency Foster Homes. Roll-out is anticipated for July 1. Jataun Rollins is the lead on this program. These are supposed to be short-term placements to give them time to better match children and families for longer term placements. The emergency foster parent will be salaried, with one vacation day awarded every two weeks. The current salary estimate is $15,695/year. It needs to be a two-parent home as one must be a full-time parent. The daily rate will be $54/day. There will be a maximum of two slots in the home, with no other foster care openings. Foster parents may not state a preference of boys or girls. There will be a No Decline policy. Foster parents may have birth and adopted children in the home, but no non-emergency foster care openings. The initial placement is for two weeks, and they may receive a waiver to extend seven days. A 2nd waiver to extend 7 days may be given, not to exceed 30 days. Hope referenced CWAC’s work with regard to this program and private agencies, noting that they will utilize both DCFS and POS homes in this program.

OLD BUSINESS

Committee Reports

*Adolescent Issues - Mike Simpson

No report.

*Policy & Legislative - Cathy McCoy / Darrin Holt

Darrin reported on legislation:

HB6233 – Criminal Bars to Licensure –the criminal bars to licensure should line up with criminal bars with placement.

HB4966 – Defines Quality of Care Concerns in a Foster Home – Committee will be taking a closer look at this one and reporting in May. You may go to www.ilga.gov to look up bills online.

Policy: Cathy reported that we submitted our comments and recommendations for 402. We have not yet gathered recommendations for 383, but will work on it next. Darren expressed his thanks to everyone who worked diligently last month to review and get the Council’s changes to 402 submitted.

*FPSS - Edith Cruz

No report.

*Respite - Gladys Boyd

No Report

Reports from Other Councils/Committees/Workgroups

CWAC / CWAC Training - Cathy, Pauline, Darrin, Hope

Hope reported that CWAC Foster Care met on the 15th and spent much of the time speaking about Emergency Foster Care. She did not provide additional detail, since we’d already discussed it.

IFAPA - Gladys Boyd

No report.

Regional Reports

Northern - Donna Gregory, Cheri Dreska

Donna reported that the officers met last month for a planning session. They set goals and planned their annual meeting calendar. Their next meeting will be the second Thursday in May in Aurora.

Southern - Michael Simpson, Mark McDaniel

The next Foster Parent Advisory phone call will be at 6 pm on Tuesday. They’re working on getting a lot more cafes going along with other training opportunities in the Southern Region.

Central - Carol Sheley, Stephanie Jones, Ken Keefe

Carol reported that they’ve been conducting a lot of cafes. The next council meeting will be May 10th in Jacksonville. They’ve elected officers and are putting together a more regular schedule.Throughout the region, councils have discussed the Prudent Parenting Standards, Lifebooks, Stewardship and Fictive Kin. Elizabeth reported that the various offices in Central Region have  their own groups and meet together, providing training. Each group has a foster parent representative, typically a Support Specialist, which meets monthly with leadership.

Cook North - Edith Cruz, Irma Dixon

No report.

Cook South - Pamela Webb, Kellye Norris

No report.

Cook Central - Charlene Burris, Gordon Hannon

No report.

Quality Parenting Initiative - The Southern Region group is meeting this morning. Hope stated that they’ve defined the mission and now are working to define their three objectives. 

Vanessa reported on the Twitter Chat planned for Monday, April 25th at 2:00 p.m. DCFS, Prevent Child Abuse-IL and the University of Chicago, School of Medicine will focus on child abuse, including a time for Q&A. #speakforkids

Adjourn

Mike Simpson made a motion to adjourn. Kellye Norris seconded and the meeting adjourned at 9:45 a.m.