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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, August 5, 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, Dr. Conway, Ms.
Dubin, Mr. Metzger and Robert Pritchard. Mr. Haines
arrived later. Others present were
Greg Millburg, Ken Johnson, Margi Gilmour, Ray Bockman, Judge Klein, Jill Olson,
Sheriff Scott, Mary Olson and Margaret Whitwell.
Moved
by Ms. Allen, seconded by Mr. Metzger, and it was carried unanimously to approve
the minutes from the June 2002 meeting.
Mr. Bockman
requested that an additional Personnel item could be add-ed to the agenda under
Executive Session. Moved by Mr.
Metzger, seconded by Ms. Allen, and it was carried unanimously to accept the
amended agenda.
COURT SERVICES REPORT
Ms. Margi Gilmour, Director of Court Services, said
that her numbers on the Adult Court Services Report remain very consistent.
The Community Restitution Report for the first time all year had more
hours completed in the month of June than were ordered in the month of June.
Adult and Juvenile Work Programs have been going very successful this
summer.
The Juvenile Report for the month of June reflects
that they have no juveniles in residential placement. They had 13 detentions with one juvenile being detained twice
for the month of June. Of those
admissions, 1 was detained twice, 5 were for the 1st time, 3 for the
2nd time, 3 for the 4th time, 2 for the 5th
time.
The Intensive Probation Program is now staffed and up
and running. They are working on developing procedures and policies, said Ms.
Gilmour. She doesn’t believe that
they have had any juveniles ordered to this program yet, but she expects that it
is only a matter of time until they do. She
further stated that she is looking forward to seeing how the program turns out
since she feels it is a good program for the county.
The Multi-Family Problem Solving Group continues to
operate with an average of eight to ten kids and their families. They are almost
done with the research project that the NIU intern has been working on relative
to this program. The Group has been
operating for the last five years and they feel that they have enough data to
work off of to see if they may have to change or keep the program.
Ms. Gilmour also stated that she has received a memo
from the Administrative Offices of the Illinois Court that stated that DeKalb
County’s subsidy for salaries was cut 11% for the 13 positions that are in her
department. That will take effect
on July 1st, 2003 because that is the start of the State’s fiscal
year. Larger counties in the State
received even bigger losses. She
will not lose any positions over this, however, it will affect the salary line
item in the budget by approximately 11%.
PUBLIC DEFENDER’S REPORT
Mr. Ken Johnson, DeKalb County Public Defender,
briefly reviewed his report for the month of July 2002.
He said that the numbers are consistent with the last few months. Ms.
Morelli is working at capacity and that he has been handling her more serious
cases. His office was moved in the
basement of the courthouse and that it went very well.
He wanted to thank Mr. Bockman, Mr. Hanson and Mr. Campbell for their
assistance with the move. It turned
out wonderful and the office space turned out very nice.
He invited everyone to come visit the new space.
CASA UPDATE
Ms.
Jill Olson, Executive Director of the DeKalb County CASA Office, updated the
committee members on their program and what they did last year.
Ms. Olson said that they are professionally trained court appointed
volunteers. They have 39 advocates
and 78 children that they helped at the end of 2001.
In 2002 they increased the advocate number to 45 while still servicing 78
children. They are staying at the
same level because in order to increase the number of advocates it would require
not only training, but support staff and additional continuing educational
requirements that they have for their advocates on a yearly basis, of course,
this all requires money. For the
first time, her board of directors is asking the County Board for $25,000.00 to
help support the program and increase the number of advocates.
They
are appointed by the juvenile court judge and play a very active role in their
cases assigned to them. When you
stand in that courtroom on juvenile court day, everyone virtually in that room
is funded by this body except for CASA. The
concern maybe, she feels, would be if this is going to open the flood gates to
every non-profit group to approach the County Board and say, please give us some
money. CASA’s distinction is that
they are part of the court system, not an isolated non-profit group, Ms. Olson
stated.
Ms.
Olson continued by stating that if you total up the numbers of what they provide
in services, it is well over $140,000.00 a year based upon their budget,
volunteers time and pro bono attorneys. They have 45 volunteers that roughly
produce about $50,000.00 worth of time to the county and 23 pro bono attorneys
that donate their time to the county to the tune of $20-$25,000.00 a year.
They currently are operating on a budget for a little over $72,000.00.
They need to have the ability to grow with this program.
Based upon the numbers that the State’s Attorney’s Office has
provided to them, they currently are only serving roughly, only 60% of the
cases. They are constantly being
asked, by Judge Klein, the State’s Attorney’s Office, the Juvenile Court
Judge, if they have any CASA advocates available to assign to cases.
The cases are getting more and more complicated and a lot more involved.
It is crucial to be able to move this program forward, continued Ms.
Olson. Even if you were to assign
these cases to another individual on a contract basis, that one person at the
tune of $25 - $30,000.00 a year is not going to be able to provide you with the
services that we provide you with. In
effect we are saving the county that kind of money because we are providing
those services on behalf of those children and for the benefit of the juvenile
court.
They
will be presenting an application for funding, Ms. Olson said, for the county
board’s consideration. They realize that these are lean times for everyone.
Only 17% of their funds come from a public body and those are in the form
of grants and typically have restrictions attached to them on what the funds can
be used for. They will be asking for $25,000.00, which is under 30%.
They are the only current CASA program in the northern part of the State
that doesn’t receive any sort of county funds. All the surrounding counties
receive some kind of funding either directly or indirectly.
Ms.
Allen asked Ms. Olson where the rest of CASA’s money comes from?
Ms. Olson said that it comes from fundraisers, grants, foundations and
appeals.
Ms.
Dubin asked Ms. Olson if the $25,000.00 that she is asking for would increase
her budget? Ms. Olson said
yes, that it would increase the budget by roughly $01 - $15,000.00.
She said that she has a waiting list right now for advocates.
Ms.
Olson further explained that funding varies from county to county.
All the way from Winnebago and Will County, for example, CASA’s staff
consists of full-time employees with benefits.
All the way from LaSalle County, which has a relatively new program going
on, they have received funding for getting their program started, and from
everywhere in between
CONSOLIDATED DISPATCH DISCUSSION
Sheriff Scott approached the committee regarding the
consolidated dispatch Memorandum of Agreement that was sent to all committee
members. He said that they have
been working with the City of Sycamore, City of DeKalb, and other agencies over
the last year and a half talking about consolidated dispatch. He said that in
1995 they could not get the program underway because of 24-hour staffing issues
at the Police Departments. The
bottom line is that it has come to a point now where the City of Sycamore is
meeting tonight to discuss their willingness to participate in the consolidated
dispatch center at the Sheriff’s office.
He is here to present this to the committee tonight and ask for their
support and to get it before the county board pending the approval of the
Sycamore City Council. They will
provide one consolidated center for Sycamore, Genoa and the Sheriff’s Office
and many of the other rural towns and fire departments that they already have
throughout the county to build a solid base for the future.
Ms. Dubin said that in the newspaper it is mentioned
that there will be several additional positions available.
What’s going to happen to the people in these other positions?
Sheriff said that the City of Genoa has no dispatchers, that’s why they
contract with Sycamore. Sycamore
dispatchers will be able to test for positions with our office through the Merit
Commission. The Commission was the
one that established the eligibility list for him to hire off of.
He can’t hire anyone unless they have been certified by the Merit
Commission. They will be looking
for quality operators to bring in and train if those Sycamore dispatchers test
with us and pass through the examination process.
They also have to go through a background check, polygraph test and a
whole range of other background investigation before they are hired.
Ms. Dubin said that with all of this new technology would his staff have
to be trained and retrained? Sheriff
said no, we have new technology, that the county board had the foresight several
years ago when they moved the dispatch center to the main floor of the public
safety building. Sycamore is trying
to move into that technology based on what we have done already, he continued.
Sheriff said that their current operators are fully trained on
everything. Ms. Dubin asked, what
about the Sycamore people? Sheriff
said that they would go through the same field-training program that all new
telecommunicators go through. They
would be treated as a new employee, all the merit rules and regulations would
apply to them. Sheriff said that
these people would go into the Sheriff’s budget. He would like to hire three
(3) people at a time. There will be
a total of 12 people and the City of Sycamore will be contributing money to this
program, too.
Sheriff Scott said that Genoa is currently contracted
with Sycamore until July 2003. At
that time, Genoa will have to decide if they are staying on board or not.
The goal to get this all in place would be
January/February of 2003.
Mr. Brown asked that in the paper it stated that
Sycamore was going to give some “upfront” money towards equipment, that
doesn’t need to be in the agreement? That
they are going to give $60,000 - $70,000 towards equipment updating?
Mr. Bockman said that the Agreement generally obligates them.
Sheriff Scott said that the Agreement would be evaluated annually as to
the cost that they need to pay and that the initial contract is for five (5)
years with a one-year cut-off notice.
Moved by Mr. Metzger, seconded by Mr. Brown, and it
was carried unanimously to positively recommend the Memorandum of Agreement for
Consolidated Dispatch to the full board for approval.
Mr. Pritchard wanted to compliment Sheriff Scott and
his staff for all of their work on this project over the last year and a half.
INTENSIVE PROBATION PROGRAM UPDATE
Judge Klein explained to the committee that based on
what Ms. Gilmour told the committee this evening, it is no accident that there
are no kids in placement because he and Judge Engel have held back until this
program could begin. He continued
that he wants to be open about the program and discuss the automobile situation
with regards to the intensive juvenile probation officers. He knows that the decision is his, but he welcomes any input
or advice. He doesn’t discuss
cases that are pending before him and he can’t discuss cases that are likely
to come before him and that’s by the Supreme Court rule. He certainly can discuss administrative procedures and
policies. He really believes that a judge should be held accountable to the
Presiding Judge for the procedures and policies that he/she institutes.
He wants to be open and he wants people to feel that they have a right to
call him with any concerns about what he is doing.
He is glad to discuss it with them.
Having said that he would like to discuss the
automobile bids. He was going to
purchase two automobiles. These are
not purchased with taxpayer dollars; they are purchased with user fees that are
in the probation department. They
discussed what type of automobiles they would purchase.
It is anticipated that the intensive probation officers will drive on a
daily basis from one end of the county to the other at a minimum of twice a day,
in all types of weather. He thought
that perhaps a four-wheel drive vehicle would be appropriate.
Judge Engel believed that it was inappropriate and a waste of money.
They bid the job for two, four-wheel vehicles.
He was disappointed with the bids that he had received.
They were higher than he thought they should be.
He and Judge Engel agreed to rebid the project asking for standard
automobiles. When he asked to be
placed on the agenda, those decisions hadn’t been made yet, and he had
intended to tell us that he had selected a, b, or c of the bids to purchase the
four-wheel drive vehicles, but we aren’t doing that now.
If he feels that the bids are not appropriate, then he feels he may buy
them through the state program. He
prefers to give our local dealerships an opportunity to bid it, to either match
or beat the state program, but if they don’t then we will reject those bids
and buy two standard automobiles from the State Purchasing Program.
Ms. Dubin asked if the local dealers want to bid,
could they access the state program in the computer? The Judge said that it’s on a website and it’s public
information.
Dr. Conway asked if the intensive probation officers
would be driving any of their clients around?
Judge Klein’s initial thought is no.
When we need to transport these individuals for reasons related to their
behavior, these probation officers will not be doing it.
Customarily, the Sheriff’s Department provides the secured
transportation and that will be the method that we will employ in the future.
However, having said that, as the youngsters build a relationship with
the intensive probation officers, which we hope they will, we think, on a
case-by-case basis, that it will really be up to Ms. Gilmour and Ms. Cady.
Dr. Conway asked, what happens if they get into an accident while
transporting juveniles? Judge Klein
said that we have insurance to cover it.
Mr. Haines, asked if the money is from the judiciary
budget? Judge Klein said that it is
out of the probation fund and statute says that it can’t be spent without my
approval. The statute also mentions
County Board approval, Judge Klein said. Mr.
Bockman explained that the county board must appropriate funds annually.
Once they are appropriated they can only be spent at the Judge’s
direction, he continued.
Mr. Haines, then said that Judge Klein had mentioned
earlier user fees that will be used to purchase the vehicles with.
What else do user fees get spent on if it isn’t a vehicle?
Judge Klein said that we haven’t been spending them and we have built
up quite a fund. Next summer he and
Ms. Gilmour will be trying to get a program in place for older youths that are
not in school. Right now he can get
children that are 12 and under into programs and camps for the summer. He can’t get 13, 14, 15 or 16 year olds into programs and
there is a real need for this. It
is his intent that there will be a program that will involve other agencies to
help fund these programs so that we can place these kids for the summer.
Mr. Pritchard complimented the Judge on his wise use
of the funds and the way to spend them. Ms.
Allen also complimented him on trying to keep the kids out of placement.
Judge Klein said that it was initially Judge Engel’s idea and they then
went to Ms. Gilmour with their idea to set in place.
Judge Klein further stated that Judge Engel, Ms.
Gilmour, Ms. Cady and himself sat down and listed the qualities that they would
be looking for in the candidates. They
wanted people with experience, life experience, long-standing citizens to apply
for these positions. They knew to
attract people to this level would be difficult, but they weren’t interested
in hiring 21 or 22 years old kids with brand new bachelor degrees in psychology
or sociology. They felt that it was
not in the best interest of the program to have these young people telling
30,40or 50-year-old parents how to raise their children. They didn’t think that it would be in the best interest of
the program for these people to be dealing with 16, 17 year olds telling them
that they are not making a success of their life.
They wanted older people with experience.
They
received 21 resumes and whittled it down to 10 candidates.
The candidates were interviewed by Judge Engel, himself, Ms. Gilmour and
Ms. Cady, said Judge Klein. All
four of them interviewed all of the candidates.
When they were done, they made their selection.
They decided to offer the position to Mr. Josh and to Mr. Zank.
This is not an entry-level position.
He said to remember that these kids are the worst kids that will be
entering the program. They are the
toughest, most defiant, most stubborn type of kid, etc. The pay for these
positions are entry-level, that is the only entry-level thing about this
position. These officers will be
working alternating weekends, 7 days a week, 12 hours a day.
He said to remember that the union dictates what the salary is for these
positions.
He knew that finding people in that stage of life
would be difficult. When Mr. Josh
applied, he was very excited. He
said that it is no secret that Ms. Josh and he are close friends and he admires
and respects her greatly. She came
to him and asked him not to hire Mr. Josh and said that it will be politicized,
and she will be criticized because she is the Circuit Clerk. He told her that
Mr. Josh wanted to do it for all the right reasons. He said that he didn’t get any applicants with those types
of qualities and if Mr. Josh was willing to do it, then he was going to offer
him the job and work it out with him.
Judge Klein said that he is very passionate about
this program and wants this program to succeed. He doesn’t want another generation of juveniles waiting to
go to prison or waiting to be supported by the taxpayers. I want this program to succeed and we are going to put every
effort we can to get it to succeed. He
welcomes input from anyone.
Ms. Dubin asked Judge Klein about the other person
appointed that happens to be 25 years of age?
Judge Klein said that it was a consensus. That person has experience as a probation officer and he had
two people that were on his side. That
person was offered the job. The
more and more the Judge gets to know Mr. Zank, the more he feels that he will
work out.
COMMUNITY SERVICES DEPARTMENT UPDATE
Ms. Mary Olson, Director of the Community Services
Department, briefly reviewed her 2nd Quarter Report.
She said that most of the programs have spent about 86% of the budget at
the current time. She said that they are having a hard time getting parents to
enroll in the parent training classes. They
need to look at the program closer and see why.
They will be surveying the people in the program and get their feedback.
She further stated that there are no Section 8 Certificates available
with now. They have approximately
300 to over 400 people on the waiting list.
Ms. Olson then passed out a chart showing how many
families they have served. This is
only the people that have been served for emergency assistance.
Compared with the last couple of years they are seeing a lot more people.
EXECUTIVE SESSION:
Moved
by Mr. Pritchard, seconded by Mr. Haines, and it was carried unanimously to go
into executive session to discuss personnel – exempt employee evaluations.
Moved
by Mr. Metzger, seconded by Mr. Haines, and it was carried unanimously to return
to open session.
Moved by Mr. Haines, seconded by
Ms. Dubin, and it was carried unanimously to adjourn the meeting.
Respectfully
submitted,
_______________________________
Sue Leifheit, Chairman
_________________________
Mary Supple, Secretary
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