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DeKalb County, Illinois |
Minutes of the
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The
Public Services Committee of the DeKalb County Board met on Monday, February 4,
2002, at 6:30 p.m. at the Administration Building's Conference Room East.
Chairman Sue Leifheit called the meeting to order. Members present were Marlene Allen, Ed Brown, Dr. Conway,
Eileen Dubin, Jeff Metzger and Michael Haines.
Robert Pritchard was absent. Others
present were Ken Johnson, Mary Olson and Dennis Miller.
Moved
by Ms. Allen, seconded by Dr. Conway, and it was carried unanimously to approve
the minutes from the December, 2001 meeting.
Ms.
Dubin asked if the agenda could be amended to include process and procedures
under the senior services tax levy section?
Moved
by Ms. Allen, seconded by Dr. Conway, and it was carried unanimously to approve
the amended agenda.
PUBLIC
DEFENDER’S REPORT
Mr. Kenneth Johnson, DeKalb County Public Defender, briefly reviewed his report for the committee (on file in the Public Defender’s Office). He said that the numbers in the jail were high for December and January. Last week alone there were 90 inmates in the jail population. He and the States Attorney are working hard to move these cases through the court system as fast as they can. Ms. Dubin asked if he is seeing more serious cases than in the past? Mr. Johnson said yes, that many prisoners in the jail today will be looking at Department of Corrections time. Right now he is seeing more paper crimes and theft because of the unemployment levels.
COURT SERVICES REPORT
Chairman Leifheit said that Ms. Gilmour was out ill and that she would briefly review the reports (on file in the Court Services Department). She said that the Adult Court Services Report was consistent with the past months. The Juvenile Court Services Report for the month of December shows that there are currently 3 juveniles in placement.
Chairman Leifheit then reviewed the Intergovernmental Agreement Annual Report
for the Youth Detention Center in Kane County. She pointed out that in the fourth paragraph of the report its states that “If the monthly average remains consistent with FY2001, the balance will be depleted in early 2005 ($9,600 x 12months = $115,200 x 36 months = $414,720). Chairman Leifheit said that this amount has lasted longer than what the County anticipated. They felt that we would have depleted the money by now. She then told the committee that if they had any questions about this report or the two others that they could ask Ms. Gilmour at the March meeting.
COMMUNITY SERVICES UPDATE
Ms. Olson reviewed her Fourth Quarter Report for the committee. She said that most of the work programs are showing over 100%. She explained that under the Parent Training Program that not as many people responded as they had first thought. She then explained the Tenant Advocacy Program where people work with the Housing Authority to seek and secure housing. She said that some of their clients receive a HUD voucher but do not know how to go about applying and interviewing correctly for the application process. What her office does is assign each client to a Case Manager who in turn helps the client with a rental resume, goes over sample scenarios with them for the interview process, etc. So far the five clients that have used their services have received housing.
Under the Emergency Assistance Program she wanted to point out to the committee that the Year-to-Date number that we see on her report reflects not only the head of the household, but now it also needs to include every member in the household, including children. That is why the number is so high.
She said that since moving into the new facility at the Health Facility that she has seen the same amount of people, if not more, as she had seen at the old facility. She also said that her office has served more people than the years before from August 2001 to the present. These are mostly unemployed people in the county.
Ms. Olson then passed out a one-page document that explained the distribution of funds for the FEMA Emergency Food and Shelter Program and her 2001 Annual Report. The Annual Report explained her Block Grant, Programs, expenses, income and demographics in greater detail. (Both reports are filed in the Community Services Department).
Chairman Leifheit thanked Ms. Olson for her reports and said that the Annual Report was very good.
SENIOR SERVICES TAX SCHEDULE, PROCEDURE AND PROCESS
Ms. Olson, DeKalb County Community Services Director, said that the approval for the funds to be allocated to which agencies needs to be approved at the May County Board Meeting. She does not know the amount yet, but believes that it is in the budget book. Ms. Dubin asked if V.A.C. and Family Services Agency get the bulk of the money? Chairman Leifheit said that those two agencies provide the vast majority of services for seniors in this County. She said that each member needs to look at the numbers and listen to what each agency has to say and then vote at that time on whatever amount you seem fit. She told the committee that they need to come to the meeting prepared and with an open mind. She also suggested to the committee that if they have any questions pertaining to the materials that they receive from the individual agencies’ applications in March relative to the Senior Services Tax Levy, that they should call the Director of that individual agency or Ms. Olson.
Ms. Dubin asked if each agency could sit in during the others presentation? Chairman Leifheit, of course, since it is an open meeting. They are all invited to sit and listen if they want, but she feels that they do not out of common courtesy.
CORONER’S ANNUAL REPORT
Mr. Dennis Miller, DeKalb County Coroner, said that his Annual Report for 2001 (on file in the Coroner’s Office) is pretty self-explanatory. He said that the most important pages to look at are pages 10 – 13 that deal with the statistical data for cause of death. He said that there were more motor vehicle deaths this year over last year. He also explained that an autopsy now costs $625.00 each. And that cremations have decreased over last year. The County does make some kind of profit on each cremation, he said. He believed that is was $10.00 per permit. To date his office has had 28 cremation requests.
ESDA’S ANNUAL REPORT
Mr. Miller then reviewed his Annual ESDA Report (on file in the ESDA Department) for the committee. He said that a large amount of the time spent in training ESDA personnel this past year was devoted to domestic terrorism. The County of DeKalb has had discussions with the Health Department, Hospital, etc., to discuss what to do if something like this happens in DeKalb County. He feels that we will make it and will be well prepared. He further stated that DeKalb County has a good working community with the fire, police, emergency services, etc., and that they would work very well together.
Moved by Mr. Brown, seconded by Ms. Allen, and it was carried unanimously to place all the reports on file that were presented this evening.
Moved by Mr. Haines, seconded by Mr. Metzger, and it was carried unanimously to adjourn the meeting.
_______________________________
___________________________
Mary Supple, Secretary
a:committe\publicservices\020402.DOC
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