Prairie State Wire

Illinois Department of Children and Family Services Institutional Review Board met Oct. 29.

Here is the agenda provided by the board:

I. Call to Order

II. Acceptance of Minutes

• September 24, 2024

III. Follow-up / Updates

• LaSota, Robin (2024-02): Amendment (October 2024) “Youth in Care aged 12+ Sexual Orientation, Gender Identity and Expectations (SOGIE) Supports Survey” Makes minor changes to the survey instrument, translation of survey and information sheet into Spanish, additional marketing material, and updated survey information sheet and supplemental guidance to staff. There is an updated survey open timeframe, but no additional risks to youth in care from these changes. Spanish captioning of the optional marketing video will be added at a later date.

• Pickett, Sue (2023-08) MEIL: Amendment 3 (July 2024) “Metro East Intact Family Recovery Program” Translation of study materials into Spanish by native speakers to enable conduting interviews in Spanish.

UPDATE: Updated translation received with changes requested by DCFS DEI and submitted to DCFS Policy to ensure consistency with existing program language.

• Schneider, Will (2024-09) EmPwR:

The study hypothesizes that a cash gift program will reduce economic and racial disproportionality in the child welfare system and lead to positive physical and mental health outcomes for children and caregivers. They study group is drawn from caregivers receiving Intact Family Services from Bright Point. It is anticipated that the project will demonstrate that unconditional cash gifts are an effective means of preventing child maltreatment and child removal. The study will last 12 months with a monthly stipend averaging $500/month adjusted for local cost of living and number of children. The intervention and research design have been crafted to meet the standards for federal matching funds for maltreatment prevention programs under the Family First Prevention and Services Act.

UPDATE: Request for clarification submitted to researcher and response received for discussion.

IV. New Proposals

• Schneider, Will (2024-10): “Chicago Empowerment Fund Evaluation”

This study evaluates the impact of a 32-million-dollar expansion of the Chicago Resilient Communities (CRC) guaranteed income pilot launched in 2022. The program provides 5,000 additional Chicagoans with $500/month for 12 months. The two priority populations for this evaluation are 1) families with young children ages 0-3 and 2) criminal legal system-impacted residents from 4-6 community areas. The research team hopes to measure the impact of $500 monthly unconditional cash transfers on outcomes such as recidivism, housing stability, employment, and child welfare outcomes. DCFS data will be analyzed for adults who are matched to DCFS files.

V. Manuscript Reviews

• Garibaldi, Patricia: Youth satisfaction across treatment domains in Illinois child welfare residential care: A survey of typically developing and intellectually disabled youth

VI. On Hold

• Nothing to report at this time

VII. Other

• Student Requests

• Trainings: Required trainings (Ethics, Harassment/Discrimination Prevention, DEI, and LGBTQIA+) due October 31, 2024. Training website: https://OneNet.Illinois.gov/MyTraining.

• Rule & Procedure: Draft Rule 428 Review – Establishment of Rules of Procedure and/or bylaws

• Next Meeting: November 26, 2024

VIII. Adjourn

https://dcfs.illinois.gov/content/dam/soi/en/web/dcfs/documents/about-us/impact-public-policy/documents/irb/irb-agenda-102924.pdf