Peoria Standard

Peoria County Board for the Care and Treatment Of Persons With A Developmental Disability met April 20.

Here are the minutes provided by the board:

Members Present: Alyssa Herman 

Greg Chance 

Todd Baker 

Joyce Harant 

Members Absent: Andrew Rand, County Board Liaison  

Others Present: Brian Gulley, Peoria City/County Health Department 

Amy Roberts, Peoria City/County Health Department 

Patti Gratton, CWTC 

Amanda Atchley, Camp Big Sky 

Julie Schifeling, Easter Seals 

Kim Cornwell, EP!C 

Ryan LaCosse, Best Buddies 

Call to Order 

Meeting was called to order at 11:02 am by Mr. Baker

Suspension of Bylaws to Conduct Care and Treatment Board Meeting Virtually Ms. Harant made a motion to suspend the bylaws to conduct the Care and Treatment Board meeting virtually. Motion was seconded by Mr. Chance. Motion carried (4,0).

Approval of Minutes from February 16, 2022

A motion was made by Mr. Chance to approve the minutes of the February 16, 2022 meeting. Motion was seconded by Ms. Harant. Motion carried (4,0).

Fiscal Reports and Summary

Capital Projects vs Services Funding

Mr. Gulley spoke with Jennie Cordis Boswell from the State’s Attorney’s office about this topic, and she stated she would like specific examples of projects to be funded before giving her guidance. Mr. Gulley stated looking at the statue, that services and facility cost could be covered. Mr. Chance stated he is not comfortable with the statue language being applied to grant dollars, legally and in terms of best use. Mr. Chance stated he would vote no to use Care and Treatment funds for capital projects. Mr. Baker stated he believes the funds are for purchase of services only.

Mr. Gulley reviewed the fiscal reports that were included in the packet. For 2021, property tax revenue came in at $672,517 and CPPRT revenue came in at $389,693. Mr. Gulley stated that there typically eight CPPRT disbursements a year. The total budgeted amount for 2021 was $187,170, which means an additional $202,523 came in. This was added to the fund balance. For 2022, there have been two disbursements made so far, the first one was $76,834 and the second was $100,625 for a total of $177,459. The increase that was seen last year, has continued to carry over to this year. For 2021, interest revenue was $1,661 for a total revenue of $1,063,871. For expenses, total grants for the agencies came in at $869,006. This made a surplus for the year of $194,866 and the fund balance at $667,298. The budgeted amount for CPPRT money for 2022 was $247,020 and have already received $177,000 of that. The budgeted expenditures of $1,050,000 reflects if the Board kept the increases through the end of this year. Assuming the funds came out as budgeted, there would be a deficit for the year of -$116,290, which would leave the fund balance at $551,008. After the already received CPPRT money and small amount of interest and since there have been no payments made to agencies, the total fund balance is currently at $845,140. Mr. Gulley reviewed the budgeted verses projected amounts for 2022. For CPPRT, $247,020 was budgeted and $390,000 is projected, which is what was received in 2021. Due to the large amount of CPPRT money come in, they will end with a surplus.

Mr. Gulley started the 2023 budget to get the discussion going. He estimated $1,312,500 for expenses, which is a 25% increase on the current grant amount of $1,050,000. Accordioning to Mr. Gulley’s estimates the Board would have $706,265 going in to 2023. He stated that the Care and Treatment Board is required to keep a 24% fund balance, which would be $315,000 of the $1.3 million. He kept revenues the same as 2022, and at the end of 2023 the balance would be $327,475. Mr. Gulley he reminded the Board that this was just for discussion purposes to go into the awarded amounts. Mr. Baker noted that he would like to spend down the fund balance, does not want to be holding on to a large amount of money to not be awarded to the agencies. Mr. Chance stated that the 24% is not appropriate for this public entity and would take that off the table. He also stated the CPPRT issue has been a political football for the last few years. He noted there is uncertainty for the next few years of the state’s financial situation. Mr. Chance suggested that Mr. Baker meet with the County Administration to verify that they know this Board takes their roles very seriously in terms of appropriate use of public dollars and because of the uncertainty of the CPPRT dollars they are challenged to ensure that they can continue invest those dollars wisely and meet the expectations of taxpayers, County Board, and the agencies providing services. Mr. Baker noted that he did have a meeting scheduled with County Administrator Sorrel, but the meeting was cancelled by Mr. Sorrel. Ms. Harant suggested adding more to the budget mid-year instead of all up front. Mr. Chance made a motion to accept the Financial Report and Summary. Motion was seconded Ms. Herman. Motion carried (4,0).

Grant Review

Mr. Baker added this to the agenda to discuss the upcoming grant awarding. Ms. Roberts stated the next meeting is May 18 and there is a following meeting on June 15. Grants are due at the end of the day on May 4. Mr. Chance suggested that in between May 4 and May 18 that the Board Members can score the grants and bring them with them to the meeting for presentations, more discussion can be made on May 18 as well and possibly award then. He stated that there may be a need for a follow up meeting after the May 18 meeting, but June 15 could be too late if the Board is not in agreement. The scoring matrix will be sent out to the Board. The agencies will present on May 18 and Mr. Baker will work with Ms. Roberts to create a schedule for agencies presenting. Mr. Chance suggested the Board can even create the framework for what they expect to hear in those presentations. Mr. Baker suggested this be an in-person meeting and be two hours.

Agency Visit Reports

Ms. Harant visited CWTC in February and had an open conversation with staff members. Ms. Harant got to walk through and visit with clients and talk about the pandemic and it was easily seen how they still worked hard through the pandemic. No other Board Members had completed reports. Ms. Herman had met with Best Buddies, but will work to get her report completed for next month’s meeting and is trying to schedule her meeting with EP!C.

Public Comments

Best Buddies – Ryan stated he was able to DJ for PUP (People with Unlimited Potential) and presented to parents and caregivers about Best Buddies. On April 30 they have a friendship walk in Normal. Their goal is to raise $75,000 and they are about $20,000 away currently. They have the only wheelchair accessible ride monster truck in the country. They have 400 people signed up. In July, they are planning on their Leadership Conference for their Chapter Presidents for schools across the country and Adult Friendship Chapter Leaders. This for education on allyship and advocacy for people with disabilities and how to go into their communities and grow their Best Buddies Chapter to grow their groups mission and create an inclusive space.

Camp Big Sky – Amanda stated they have CWTC on the schedule to come out and EP!C coming out for the volunteer training program. They are starting their 19th season and open on Tuesday, May 3. They have a lot of field trips and school groups coming out in May. They have had a lot of workdays, every Saturday where they try to get camp ready. They have a Caterpillar group coming out next week to do projects with them, Home Depot is coming out and building a new teepee for the sensory garden in which they got a grant through Easterseals for the Central Illinois Autism Association. They are doing a lot of staining and painting with help from Rotary of Peoria and Farmington Key Club. They hired an Education Intern who has a Masters in Counseling and Art Therapy, she will be running their volunteer training program and life skills this fall. The volunteer training is 6 weeks, May 25 - June 29 and have 11 participants so far signed up. The annual fishing tournament is Saturday, May 21 at Giant Goose Ranch. They have 21 participants signed up and 3 doing bank fishing, which leaves 18 boaters. They are looking for more experienced boaters to help individuals with disabilities come out and fish. They also will have free family activities.

CWTC – Patti stated they had their trivia event on April 1, which was postponed from January. They had good attendance and it was wonderful to have people feeling comfortable around each other again. She stated that for programming January and February were tough from the pandemic, but now they are out in the community, have been to the Riverfront Museum, planning to visit Camp Big Sky. They are looking forward to coming back to normalcy.

Easterseals – Julie also stated it was tough in January and February due to COVID. However, in March, they hit a record number of Early Intervention referrals with 145. Julie stated that April is Autism Acceptance Month, so they are hosting free trainings to the public. The first training was in Spanish. The new diagnosis training had over 80 members of the public sign up. They have two more trainings, promoting positive food experiences and behavior basics. These are all free to the public. They are currently in the middle of community rally week, which has replaced the telethon. They had a run/walk at the Levee District last weekend with 380 participants and the next one is this Saturday in Bloomington. The Black and Blue Ball was rescheduled to June 3, due to COVID in February. Their Eureka College students are doing a project on how to improve the work they’re doing. Julie should have a report on this in May.

EP!C – Kim stated they are excited to have Ms. Herman out there. She also stated that thanks to the weather, the garden has slowed down, but will still have a plant sale at the green house in May. Bon Appetit was wonderful, and they are thankful for the community involved, great attendance. They are looking forward to things opening and being more comfortable being around others again.

Miscellaneous

There were no Miscellaneous items.

Adjournment

Ms. Harant made a motion to adjourn the meeting. Motion was seconded by Mr. Chance. Motion carried (4,0).

The meeting adjourned at 11:45 am.

https://www.peoriacounty.gov/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Minutes/_04202022-1181