Illinois Department of Children and Family Services, Latino Advisory Council Met June 16.
Here are the minutes provided by the council:
Present: Nancy Rodriguez, Vanessa Castro, Jennifer Contreras, Juanita Calderon, Azalea Mejia, Beatriz Ramirez, Patricia Aguilar, Julia Monzon, Sydnie Juarez, Yeni Rojas, Evelyn Martinez, Coty Corcoles, Olivia Chaves, Rosa Maria Molina Lassalle
Excused: Dennis Delgado, Liliana Romero, Daizy Salgado, Jose Garcia and Jose Lopez
Guests: Kara Hamilton, Deborah Lopez, Juan Maldonado and Cristina Chambers
A. Welcome
Participants were welcomed and introductions were complete.
B. Review & Approval of May 2021 Minutes
The May 2021 minutes were reviewed, amended and approved by majority vote. Evelyn Martinez abstained.
C. Positive Vibes
Members were able to share positive experiences.
D. Committee Reports:
a. Final Committee Selection
b. Child Safety, Risk Reduction and Permanency – Yeni Rojas
Please see the committee report for more information. The CSRP committee is working on the following tasks:
1. Licensing team to review and update available Foster Home Vacancy List regularly.
2. Identify Traditional, Specialized, and Adolescent foster homes statewide
3. Identify barriers on foster home recruitment
4. Explore foster home recruitment external collaboration resources
5. Spanish Speaking Foster Homes Retention Initial and On going Foster parents Online/Virtual training in Spanish • Committee is waiting for a response from Veronica Sanchez as they are interested in looking at the foster parent training curriculum and trainings offered.
6. Working in collaboration with DHS for CILA placement options for youth in care with special needs for long term care.
• The committee is waiting for a response on a CILA Training.
c. Data Analysis, Disproportionality and Staffing – Nancy Rodriguez
The Data Analysis, Disproportionality and Staffing Committee met with the Child Safety, Risk Reduction and Permanency Committee to provide support. They gather data to address disproportionality.
d. Strategic Communications – Julia Monzon
Strategic Communications members were assigned projects for the upcoming “Noticias” Newsletter. The deadline for articles was June 15, 2021 however members have been given an extra two weeks to submit articles.
Deborah Lopez and Jennifer Contreras are working on articles.
The committee will be sending a welcoming letter to new bilingual staff and will be recognizing current bilingual employees. Jose Lopez will need to provide the information on new hires. Juanita Calderon will need to follow up on certificate templates for employees getting promotions or degrees.
Pictures are needed from the last Professional
Development Day. Send pictures to Julia Monzon and she will upload to Teams.
e. POS – Jennifer Contreras & Jose J. Lopez
The POS Committee is working on the upcoming
Professional Development Day. They are connecting with Loyola University as they will host the event. The next meeting is 6/23/2021 at 11:30am.
E. Diversity, Equity and Inclusion report:
There was no report as Jose Lopez is on vacation.
F. Foster Care Recruitment
a. Darryl Johnson- Foster Care Home Availability
Darryl Johnson was unable to present at today’s meeting.
G. Old Business:
a. By-Law
Bylaws were submitted to Kara Hamilton and she submitted to the Director’s Office. Kara Hamilton reported the Director does not need to approve Bylaws.
b. Joint Council Meetings
Nancy Rodriguez had contact with the Asian American Council and reports they are waiting for the African American Council to respond in order to reinitiate the Joint Council meeting and any projects. Julia Monzon will contact Tracey Marshall. Future collaboration meetings will need to be explored.
c. Mandatory Training
Members to complete the mandatory 2021 Ethics and Harassment Training. Please send certificate of completion to Nancy Rodriguez. Nancy will follow up with Ethics Officer to inquire on trainings for POS members as they do not have access to the OneNet Training site.
The Open Act Training is not available for new members to complete. Kara Hamilton will let LAC know when the meeting becomes available.
d. Director’s Meeting
LAC members need to start working on tasks given by the Director on recruitment. There is a need for increased participation of members. The next committee meeting is July 7, 2021 at 10am.
e. New Business:
a. Open Meetings Act-New Members
b. Update LAC Forms
LAC forms will be updated for a more professional appearance.
c. SharePoint for LAC in Teams
Microsoft Teams is the new platform that can be a SharePoint for LAC membership. Members can upload files in Microsoft Teams.
f. Open Forum for Members and Guests
a. Guests:
There was discussion regarding self-nominations and Bylaws not reflecting POS membership.
b. Members:
A new distribution list will be created as the current distribution list is only under Nancy Rodriguez.
Juan Maldonado was voted in as a new member of LAC by majority vote.
g. Next Meeting: July 21, 2021
https://www2.illinois.gov/dcfs/aboutus/policy/Documents/LAC/LAC_Minutes_061621.pdf
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