DeKalb County, Illinois |
|
Minutes of the
|
Board Members Present: Maureen Russell, Norm Gilbert, Doug Fraley, Bob
Krogman, , Mary Petruchius and Opal Zitka Board Members Absent: Regina Parker Other Persons Present: Staff: Jerry Lane and Sue Halbrader,
The Community Mental Health Board meeting was called to order at 7:35 p.m. by President Maureen Russell. AGENDA Motion to approve the agenda was made by Ms. Fullerton, seconded by Mr. Gilbert. INTRODUCTIONS None MINUTES Mr. Gilbert moved to approve the December 15 minutes, seconded by Mr. Krogman. On a voice vote, the motion carried unanimously. CORRESPONDENCE AND ANNOUNCEMENTS
FINANCE REPORTS Mr. Gilbert moved approval of the January agency claims as submitted; seconded by Mrs.Zitka. On a roll call vote the motion passed unanimously. Mr. Gilbert moved acceptance of the January office claims as submitted; seconded by Mrs. Petruchius. On a roll call vote the motion passed unanimously. COMMUNITY INPUT None COMMITTEE REPORTS Mr. Lane reported on the QYC drop-in center for gay kids on the street. QYC is looking for high school age people for their advisory council, a group serving youth with sexual identity issues. Approximately 20% - 60% of homeless youth have gender identity problems. Nearly 92% of homeless people in Chicago are turned away from shelters due to lack of space. The law does not permit Hope Haven to take in underage children, so the drop-in center serves as a place where kids can do their laundry, get warm, get something to eat, meet people who may be able to hook them up with needed social services. OLD BUSINESS Medicaid matching funds seem to be the only new source of dollars available for mental health - in decades. Community mental health boards are considering ways of using the program. With the expectation that the state will remain in financial trouble for at least the next two years, we are looking at a long-range program. Mr. Lane reported that the Illinois Department of Public Aid and local Mental Health Boards have a matching fund agreement. ACMHAI is putting together technical assistance for those of us who are not familiar with the system and the requirements to access matching funds. It looks as though we will take three steps over what may possibly be two years, to match funds. First, there is the need to work with medicaid certified agencies/programs by shifting eligible programs from a grant system to a purchase of care basis. Second, it may be necessary/possible for the Board staff to act as agents of certified agencies by overseeing service statistics and verifying eligibility. Third, the Board itself may become Medicaid certified and treat medicaid eligible programs as our service sites. The Spring Conference, which is usually oriented toward Board members, is scheduled for Tuesday and Wednesday, April 27 and 28. We have no specific information on the location or the theme of the conference so far. Flyers will be forwarded to Board members as soon as they are available. The DCCMHB is pleased to welcome our newest member, Doug Fraley from Sandwich, who brings our number to eight. We are looking for one more member to complete the Board, someone from the north of the county. The Board asked Mr. Lane to review previous applications to invite someone from the Genoa-Kingston-Kirkland area to serve. The County Jail Referendum, which has already been approved by the County Board pending voter approval, will be voted on in DeKalb County on March 16. Denny Sands, presently Chairman of the County Board explained the way in which jail expansion will be financed and programs included. He distributed brochures and information sheets that show the annual costs as well as the annual savings. Mr. Sands said this is a unique opportunity to allocate a substantial amount of money for persons with mental illnesses and/or substance abuse problems who become involved with the judicial system, to keep them out of jail and get them into treatment. The vote, designated the Public Safety ½ Cent Sales Tax, is not a property tax but will be added to sales taxes, excluding food, medicine, automobiles and farm machinery. The cost to the average citizen is estimated to be $3 per month or $36 per year. Alternative programs will help reduce the number of persons incarcerated by providing
|
| Home | Return
to top | A-Z Index | Return
to minutes |