Marc D. Smith - Director, Illinois Department of Children and Family Services | Illinois Department of Children and Family Services
Marc D. Smith - Director, Illinois Department of Children and Family Services | Illinois Department of Children and Family Services
Illinois Department of Children and Family Services Latino Advisory Council met Aug. 20.
Here are the minutes provided by the council:
| Members Virtual | DCFS Guest Virtual | |
| Evelyn Martinez - Chair | Tarcisio Ornelas (BSF) | Ivonne Calderon (DCFS) |
| Lorena Hernandez – Chair Elect | Beatriz Ramirez (DCFS) | Rosalinda Cruz (DCFS) |
| Damaris Acevedo- Past Chair | Guadalupe Toledo (DCFS) | Candy Flores-Brown (DCFS) |
| Maria Gallegos – Scribe | Josue Gutierrez (DCFS) | |
| Jose J. Lopez – LAC Liaison | Kara Hamilton (DCFS) | |
| Coty Corcoles (DCFS) | Members Excused | Ivonne Huizar (DCFS) |
| Jacqueline Dimmick (AH) | Norma Machay – Ex-Officio | Angela Moncada (DCFS) |
| John Holtkamp (DCFS) | Jose Alex Medina (DCFS) | Violeta Montoya (DCFS) |
| Moises Jimenez (DCFS) | Zulema Ocampo (DCFS) | |
| Juan Maldonado (DCFS) | Maria Paredes (DCFS) | |
| Rosa M. Molina Lassalle (DCFS) | Griselda Parra (Casa Central) | |
| Lesby Ortega-Melgar (DCFS) | Maribel Rodriguez (DCFS) | |
| Angelina Sutor (DCFS) |
Roll call took place and quorum was established.
II. Meeting Minutes
Council members received the meeting minutes for July electronically. July minutes – motioned by Chair Evelyn Martinez to approve; John Holtkamp motioned to approved second by Guadalupe Toledo. No abstention, all in favor, Motion carried unanimously.
III. Old Business
a. Latino Family Institute Day Planning – 37th Annual Family Day Institute Day is taking place at Aurora University on October 17th, 2025. This year’s theme, “Estamos Unidos: Apoyando a Niños y Familias con la Fuerza de la Comunidad" We Are United: Supporting Children and Families with the Strength of Community”. Members and guests are encouraged to participate in the planning as continued efforts are being made to solidify exhibitors, and other items such as giveaways and baskets to be raffled. Efforts to complete necessary steps for registration to submit to communication department is in the works. Planning meetings are taking place weekly Wednesday’s at 3pm virtually.
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 directors to address concerns pertaining to KIND Act changes taking effect on July 1, 2025, on May 30, 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. As a continuation of ongoing steps to address these concerns, Chair Evelyn Martinez was a part of a meeting that took place with officials from the State of Oregon with respect to how this state is addressing the same concerns as their policy is to not ask about legal status. Other steps continue to be planned and more will follow.
c. LAC Logo update –DCFS Communications is assisting with identifying options for new logo and will present 2 options for LAC to consider. No confirmation has taken place currently.
V. New Business
a. In-Person/Virtual meeting locations – September 17th, 2025, 9:30am – 12:00pm, location to be in person at Aurora University.
Kara Hamilton - Associate Deputy Director, External Communications and Advisory Groups from Office of Communications gave a presentation about the Open Meetings Act (OMA) training which must be completed by every new board member within 90 days of your appointment in addition to discussing member etiquette, communication, and proper steps to follow when member elections take place.
b. 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. A position paper was drafted to be reviewed by chairs of each council before submitting to DCFS Director for review. This position paper is in the final stages of being completed to be submitted to the Director. The next Joint Council meeting will be hosted by LAC on November 19, 2025, at 1:00 pm at Association House in Chicago, one of our CWCA partners.
IV. 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 and no updates reported.
- Data Analysis, Disproportionality, and Staffing – John Holtkamp is reporting for this committee. Members of this committee: John Holtkamp, Maria Gallegos, Moises Jimenez, Guadalupe Toledo.
Meeting took place, see attached reported.
- 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.
Articles have been collected for the next Noticias newsletter to be drafted before August deadline. 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.
Per Damaris Acevedo, no meeting took place and no updates to report.
c. Division of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion – Jose J. Lopez, Chief of Office of Latino Services/DCFS Meeting is being planned to include division heads to address issues of bilingual recruitment retention as the state services assurance plan that requires for us to have bilingual staff in our department. DCFS has not been meeting the requirements since 2008 in terms of how many bilingual workers the agency should have and has been ongoing concern. There are current positions that are not matching the demand. The Director has assigned DEI Deputy Director to begin the process of meeting with executive staff and dealing with this situation.
Working closely with OES to address concerns regarding bilingual staff who leave their bilingual position and then come back. Same concerns with CWCA agencies, they should be able to prove they were Burgos certified without having to retake the exam. Recruitment continues to take place. A request will be made to OES to receive a copy of sign in sheets from recruitment events.
DEI continues to work with the disability survey, to ensure all staff complete this to address any issues or concerns with reference to accommodations. Attempts are being made to collect as much data as possible to ensure staff are supported.
IL Connect; the new system that is replacing SACWIS has postpone all reports that were previously given to Office of Latino Services. This has made it difficult to keep track of current bilingual workers. Efforts are being made to reinstate these data reports. The annual Affirmative Action Plan booklet FY26 will shows the number of new hires, promotions and what DCFS has done in the past year.
d. Language Access – John Holtkamp, SPSA, Special Projects, Office of Strategy and Performance/DCFS
John Holtkamp had to leave the meeting early and was not unable to make report. However, he did submit a report which is attached.
e. Ad Hoc Committee – LAC Bylaws – All LAC membership
Chair Evelyn Martinez reported progress is being made such as making use of correct language that adheres to Robert’s Rules in addition to ensuring the flow of the bylaws make sense. Meetings are taking place every Friday morning for about an hour. After discussion of proper protocol for member election and presentation made earlier in the meeting by Kara Hamilton with reference to Open Meeting Act (OMA), an election of new member will be postponed for next meeting, due to item not listed on the agenda.
VI. Open Forum –
- Moises Jimenez shared he is currently covering for Juanita Calderon current AA for Permanency in Cook County due to loss of a family member. No word on funeral arrangements currently. Chair Evelyn Martinez added that Ms. Calderon has been a long-time member of LAC and previous chair, and this info can be found on the D-NET.
- Jose J. Lopez shared the Latino Caucus is having their annual conference on September 18, 2025, at UIC forum, free to the public. This is a great opportunity to learn about what is happening with state government for Latinos.
VII. Adjournment – The meeting was adjourned by Chair at 12:31 p.m.
https://dcfs.illinois.gov/content/dam/soi/en/web/dcfs/documents/about-us/impact-public-policy/documents/lac/lac-minutes-082025.pdf
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