Illinois Department of Human Services, Commission on Poverty Elimination and Economic Security met March 1.
Here are the minutes provided by the commission:
Subcommittee: Address Barriers to Paid Work, Education, and Advancement
Subcommittee members in attendance:
Jennifer Groce - Chairperson of Pillar 4 subcommittee
Danielle Hogue - representative from the Office of Senator Kimberly Lightford (Poverty Commission member)
Asst. Director Amaal Tokars - IWGP member
Anna Koeppel - IWGP member
Jason Horwitz - IWGP member
Crystal Bush - Public member
Gina Harris - Public member
Administrator: Dana Kelly, IDHS Chief Policy Officer
Introductions/Welcome/Roll Call
Jennifer Groce - Director of Community Promotions, Northern Illinois University
Anna Koeppel - Legislative and Policy Director, Department of Labor
Crystal Bush - UniServ Director, Illinois Education Association
Jason Horwitz - Deputy Director for Policy Development Planning and Research, Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity
Danielle Hogue - Deputy Director in Senator Kimberly Lightford's district office
Gina Harris - Culture and Climate Coach, District 97, Oak Park Illinois; member of High School Board District 200
Amaal Tokars - Assistant Director, Illinois Department of Public Health
Dana Kelly - Chief Policy Officer, IDHS; liaison to the Poverty Commission and the IWGP
Kari Branham - Special Projects Administrator, IDHS
Anna Conant - admin support for Dana Kelly
Dulce Hernandez - intern, University of Chicago
Public Comment - Subject to written comment in advance, none received.
Overview of Subcommittee Purpose and Activities - Chair Groce; Administrator Kelly
The subcommittee will work to come up with strategic actions to address barriers to paid work, education and advancement. Chair Groce encouraged all members to read the materials that Administrator Kelly previously sent if they have not done so because it will guide them particularly on the tactics under pillar 4. She also said they should identify other people of expertise that should be part of the group and help develop the work and can continue to meet on a continual basis.
Administrator Kelly proceeded with the overview and mentioned that the strategies outlined on the presentations were part of the Strategic Plan published by the Commission in March 2022. The strategic plan is focused on addressing the needs of those that are living in extreme or deep poverty. There are five pillars and each has its own subcommittee. The pillars are geared towards reducing deep poverty in Illinois by 50% by 2026 and childhood poverty by 2031 and end all poverty by 2036.
The work for the subcommittees is to identify at least three actions items that can be done within a year but will contribute to the 5-year goal of the Commission. The subcommittee will monitor the progress of each action item throughout the year, and will determine who will lead each action item, what is the process, how progress will be measured and what is the timeline.
Meetings can be quarterly, it's not required and the subcommittee can meet less but work will still need to be done in between meetings.
The subcommittee membership consists of Commission members, members of the Inter-Agency Working Group for the Poverty Commission and members of the public. Membership of other stakeholder experts is encouraged. Members can also think about what other additional information or resources are needed by the the subcommittee in order to figure out the action items.
Overview of Pillar 4 details/progress - Administrator Kelly; Pillar 4 is for addressing barriers to paid work, education and advancement.
a. The tactics include
Address Barriers That Prevent Consistent Work at a Living Wage, by Investing in Transportation, Childcare, Paid Leave, Broadband, Legal Aid, Reentry Services, Disability and Rehabilitation Supports, and Immigrant and Refugee Services;
Invest in Apprenticeship, Work Based Learning, and Barrier Reduction Programs So Individuals Can Learn and Train While Supporting Their Family; and
Expand Access to Legal Counsel for Illinoisans and Ensure Equitable Access to Court and Legal Processes.
b. State actions for FY23-
Home service provider and childcare collective bargaining agreement
Increase in Access to Justice funding
Illinois broadband expansion.
SAFE-T act reductions in permanency of certain types of convictions
Ongoing minimum wage increases
Aging - wage increases for in home caregivers
c. Asst. Director Amaal Tokars shared that when she worked with individuals experiencing incarceration, the solution usually offered to them was only a certificate program and that these individuals would come alive when people talk to them about their aspirations for higher education. And so, Dir. Tokars suggested to name ways to create more equitable access to higher education for incarcerated individuals for FY24.
d. Administrator Kelly said higher education can be addressed but the focus of pillar 4 that is within the State's reach is to incrementally increase wages of those who are earning basically nothing. She added that the cost associated to higher education is just a very difficult situation as well as finding affordable higher education.
e. Member Anna Koeppel shared that the Department of Labor has data on trends on how different populations are disproportionately affected by challenges such as violations of rights and discrimination that the subcommittee can use. She added that the Department is strategically focusing its resources on industries or populations where they see the most violations and to those low wage earners that are mostly affected. Administrator Kelly suggested that member Koeppel share the data and any enforcement mechanisms that the Department is using on the next meeting.
f. Chair Groce shared that the issue on higher education was actually discussed in the Commission level and she believes that the subcommittee definitely makes a place for it. There are programs and partnerships between the community college and bachelor or graduate schools that are happening starting from workforce development and moving into degree completion as goals. She believes 80-90% of their students in those programs have some type of financial aid or programmatic support because they are starting out their family structure in poverty.
g. Chair Groce suggested to use the document brief that Administrator Kelly previously sent to the group as a working document where members can add on additional issues or work they are doing or have done on specific items. Administrator Kelly agreed and added that members can rank up items in order of what needs to be prioritized. Chair Groce also added that since the Poverty Commission is statewide, members can also look at who needs to be involved in a state level like the Regional Transit Authority in terms of transportation.
h. Member Crystal Bush raised the issue on agile professors that are living close or below the poverty level whether there are studies or actions being done to address it. She also suggested to have somebody from a legal aid organization to be involved in the group to provide legal insights on legal resources needed as mentioned in the presentation.
i. Administrator Kelly agreed on the second point and shared that she has a list of legal aid organizations that she will be reaching out to with regards to membership to the committee. She also shared the results of the previous listening session where a lot of university members attended. Some of the main things that came up were the poverty among students and their need to build and strengthen food banks. Administrator Kelly also mentioned the relevant issue on pay and poverty levels among non-tenured faculties and graduate students and the potential unionization of schools in California.
j. Chair Groce agreed and said that it is important to look at access to fair and living wage for these people but she also said to be mindful of the Commission's overall definition which is centered on bringing people out of deep poverty. She suggested to put in the working document the base definition of the Commission's goal which is moving people out of deep poverty and the specific population that the Commission is trying to impact.
Generate FY2024 Pillar 4 Action Items - Administrator Kelly
Administrator Kelly asked members to share work that is being done in their organizations, progress or what they can commit for FY2024 or things that can use the support of the subcommittee.
Member Jason Horwitz from DCEO shared that in terms tactic 1 specifically on broadband, about one billion dollars in capital money was put in the Rebuild Illinois plan that was passed a few years ago but is still rolling out. The plan will be supplemented with more federal funds that will come out of the bipartisan infrastructure law that passed a year and half a year ago. Most of the money will go towards building out the broadband infrastructure in areas that include remote areas where people in deep poverty are most likely to reside.
Member Horwitz added that there are some resources to support access services from home as well as digital literacy training. He suggested to invite the head of their Broadband Office, Mr. Matt Schmidt to come and speak to the subcommittee if the group is interested to go over all the things that are going on at the office. He will also send a document to Administrator Kelly with regards to it.
In addition, DCEO kicked off a planning initiative today where they will be going to different regions to do workshops and info sessions with local folks to discuss access to broadband. This will go on over the next 10 weeks.
Chair Groce asked if there is a map that shows where the digital divide is or where the digital deserts are so that the committee can prioritize action steps following the planning initiative of DCEO for the next 10 weeks.
Administrator Kelly asked the timeline of the Rebuild Illinois plan for realizing the impact of the investments.
Member Horwitz shared that some $50 million have already rolled out and DCEO will be reposting and starting to dole out awards under new NOFOs and there is also an ongoing rolling NOFOs for more capital grants going forward. He added that there's a map in their website that shows where people have proposed to add broadband as well as where the gaps are now. There is also a tool that shows the connection speeds in different places around the State. He will forward more information to Administrator Kelly.
DCEO has also started on Barrier Reduction Programs or what is called in their side as Supportive Services for people participating in trainings which includes transportation, childcare or even mentor, counseling, mental health services and sometimes financial support (e.g. stipend during participation in the training program). DCEO will also support various programs thru a dedicated funding from ARPA such as JTED workforce development programming and the CJIA clean energy jobs under the Climate and Equitable Jobs Act passed a few years ago. The CJIA funding will be through 2045 but dedicated to a specific set of workforce development programming for the clean energy sector. For the JTED, it is using ARPA funds right now but going forward, member Horwitz said they may use GRF funding or other State resource.
Administrator Kelly asked if there or will be any formal evaluation of the barrier reduction programming or supportive services in the job training at DCEO. Member Horwitz said they plan on doing an evaluation procedure for JTED but still hammering out the details. For the CJIA programming, the program will start in the fall of this year so it would be another year or two before any evaluation can be done.
Chair Groce shared that there is a meta data center being built in their area where there is a program called advancing careers and trades similar with what member Horwitz described. She asked if it's a program that DCEO is watching or connecting with or if there are any programs like it that's falling under an umbrella that can potentially serve as models or provide data. Member Horwitz will have to look into it.
Member Horwitz also shared that DCEO has "navigators" assigned to their programs and workforce both for apprenticeships and procedures. These are people funded to do outreach and technical assistance to the hardest to reach potential beneficiaries of DCEO's programs.
Administrator Kelly requested member Horwitz to add any efforts that DCEO are doing that the Commission can propel into the working document that will be circulated after the meeting.
Assistant Director Tokars said she look forward to sharing the solutions that will be identified with all the Health Departments across Illinois because they do a lot of coalition work with other agencies and they always look for solutions that can be shared with others.
Next Steps and Adjournment
Coordinate with other task forces in the State - look at the report Future of Work in Illinois released by a group (administered by member Horwitz) in May 2022
Administrator Kelly will share the brief that will serve as a working document for the group-
Members can add current action/programs across member agencies and other agencies and include details
Subcommittees will report out during the Interagency Working Group and Poverty Commission full meetings on March 14th and 16th, respectively.
The subcommittee will potentially reconvene before July 2023 to agree on actions steps. Invite additional experts from Legal, Transit, etc. that can serve as members to the subcommittee.
Chair Groce especially mentioned the work that DCEO is doing, which fits in Pillar 4.
The meeting was adjourned at 11am.
https://www.dhs.state.il.us/page.aspx?item=149886
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