Illinois Department of Children and Family Services Latino Advisory Council met July. 16

Illinois Department of Children and Family Services Latino Advisory Council met July. 16.

Here are the minutes provided by the council:

I. Welcome/Call to Order/Roll Call 

Roll call took place and quorum was established.

II. Meeting Minutes 

Council members received the meeting minutes for June electronically. June minutes – motioned by Chair Evelyn Martinez to approve; John Holtkamp motioned to approved second by Scribe Maria Gallegos. No abstention, all in favor, Motion carried unanimously.

III. Committee Reports and Updates 

– Child Safety, Risk Reduction, and Permanency – Lorena Hernandez reporting for this committee. Member of this committee: Moises Jimenez, John Holtkamp, Lorena Hernandez, Beatriz Ramirez, Yeni Rojas, and Angela Moncada.

Per Lorena Hernandez, no report for this committee as it is currently on hold to restructure and set clear goals and mission of this committee.

– Data Analysis, Disproportionality, and Staffing – John Holtkamp is reporting for this committee. Members of this committee: John Holtkamp, Maria Gallegos, Moises Jimenez, Guadalupe Toledo.

– Strategic Communications – Evelyn Martinez is reporting for this committee. Members of this committee: Evelyn Martinez, John Holtkamp, Julia Monzon, Jose Alex Medina and Beatriz Ramirez.

Noticias newsletter is being worked on to submit by mid- August deadline to be available by September 2025 before Family Institute event taking place in October. Template letter is set in place to be sent to new hires. There is a need for a LAC member to chair this committee. Ex-Officio Norma Machay volunteered to co-chair this committee. It is a goal to have a new Noticias available by September 2025 before Family Institute event taking place in October.

– Child Welfare Contributing Agencies (CWCA): Members of this committee: Damaris Acevedo, Tarciscio Ornelas, Celina Orozco, Juan Maldonado, Jacqueline Dimmick, and Maria Gallegos.

Meeting took place, see attached reported.

b. Mentoring Project – Lorena Hernandez is reporting.

This group met with DCFS Director Heidi Mueller to address mission statement of this project and address concerns regarding the projects possibility of overlapping with other efforts in place. SALUD is an affinity group created by DCFS Director’s office where the goal is to provide leadership to other Latinos with the inspiration to be promoted up. SALUD mentorship project has now become a project only led by SALUD and not a joint project with LAC. SALUD which is chaired by Yeni Rojas will continue to lead this project and send out invites to prospective future members interested in taking part in this project.

c. Division of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion – Jose J. Lopez, Chief of Office of Latino Services/DCFS

Recruitment continues to take place. Request will be made to OES to receive a copy of sign in sheets from recruitment events.

A task Force is being formed made up of DCFS deputies focusing on bilingual hiring issues and this effort is being supported by DCFS Director. A meeting will be set with CMS to discuss issues with applications received as CMS is also reporting the same concerns.

Continued efforts are being made to address how the Mexican Consulate received forms reporting families involved in protective custody. There were issues of forms been sent via fax, in the interim please email at DCFS.Mexican.MOU@illinois.gov

YANG is still trying to get more Latino youth involved, need help to identify and recruit these youth.

Affirmative Action reports are in progress however data reports are limited due to system changes as result of new system.

d. Language Access – John Holtkamp, SPSA, Special Projects, Office of Strategy and Performance/DCFS Report attached.

e. Ad Hoc Committee – LAC Bylaws – All LAC membership

In progress, meetings are taking place weekly.

IV. Old Business 

a. LAC Nominations/Election of Members – Two candidates submitted applications for LAC membership: Jose Alex Medina and Candy Flores-Brown. Jose Alex Medina was present, but Candy Flores-Brown was not present. LAC members voted and no abstention, all in favor, Motion carried unanimously in favor to accept Jose Alex Medina as a new LAC member.

b. LAC Position Paper and KIND Act Update – See attached copy of Position Paper Submitted to DCFS Director.

LAC Executive Committee met with DCFS Director, and other deputy directorsto address concerns pertaining to KIND Act changes taking effect on July 1, 2025. This effort resulted in the delegation of the following tasks which includes the Director herself taking on some part to address concerns pertaining to licensing, payment to unlicensed foster parents and researching what other states are doing to address this similar concern. Key items addressed: undocumented families be aware of federal government requirements; training and communication be offered to all DCFS/CWCA staff and not just front-line staff; this act will not remove children from homes, but families do need ITEN number for payment; and research will be done with Comptroller’s office to identify a way to pay families.

c. LAC Logo update – Current LAC logo has been in place for over 25 years, and this cannot be continued to be used as it’s originator is unknown. DCFS Communications is assisting with identifying options for new logo and will present 2 options for LAC to consider.

d. Latino Family Institute Day Planning – this is taking place at Aurora University on October 17th, 2025. Need to set up planning meetings, need speakers and volunteers to help plan for this event. Members and guests are encouraged to participate in the planning as continued efforts are being made to identify speakers, workshops topics, and entertainment. Planning meetings are taking place weekly Wednesday’s at 3pm virtually.

V. New Business 

a. Joint Council Update – Joint Council Meeting took place at the DCFS Harvey Field office hosted by the African American Advisory Council on June 23, 2025. Each advisory council was able to give updates on their group, but the main discussion was Youth in Care staying at offices. A position paper was created and drafted to be reviewed by chairs of each council before submitting to DCFS Director for review. Next Joint Council meeting will be hosted by LAC on November 19, 2025, at 1:00pm at Association House in Chicago.

b. In-Person/Virtual meeting locations – August 20th, 2025, 9:30am – 12:00pm, location to be TBD.

VI. Open Forum – none at the moment 

VII. Adjournment – The meeting was adjourned by Chair at 12:44 p.m.

https://dcfs.illinois.gov/content/dam/soi/en/web/dcfs/documents/about-us/impact-public-policy/documents/lac/lac-minutes-071625.pdf