The Law and Justice Committee of the DeKalb County Board met on Monday, December 17, 2007 @ 6:30p.m. in the DeKalb County Administration Building’s Conference Room East.  Chairman Rich Osborne called the meeting to order.  Members present were Marlene Allen, Ken Andersen, Sally DeFauw, John Hulseberg and Howard Lyle.  Ruth Anne Tobias was absent.  Others present were Russ Josh and Alice Elliott.

APPROVAL OF THE MINUTES

          Moved by Mr. Andersen, seconded by Mr. Lyle, and it was carried unanimously to approve the amended minutes from November 2007.

APPROVAL OF THE AGENDA

          Chairman Osborne requested that the committee move the Court Services Reports on the agenda to item #5 on the Agenda.

          Moved by Mr. Hulseberg, seconded by Mr. Andersen, and it was carried unanimously to approve the amended agenda.

PUBLIC COMMENT

          There was no public comment.

COURT SERVICES REPORTS

          Ms. Margi Gilmour, Director of the DeKalb County Court Services Department, was on vacation and Mr. Russ Josh and Ms. Alice Elliott attended the meeting in her place.

          Mr. Josh is one of the Intensive Probation Officers and Ms. Elliott is the Juvenile Supervisor for the Court Services Department.

          They summarized for the committee members what has been happening on the proposed Safe House Issue in Sycamore.

          They explained that the reason for creating a safe house in the County is to help the kids that are living in horrible conditions at home and need a place to stay with a foster family for a few days or weeks at a time until the Court Services Department can find a permanent home for them to live in with a relative or whomever. 

          This Safe House would be a home that would house a foster family and 2 to 5 kids at a time that are assigned to stay at the safe house from the Courts.  The type of home that they are looking for to place these kids in would be a home that is in a nice setting and where the kids are being taken care of with a trained foster family.  A Juvenile Probation Officer would also be meeting with these kids and the foster family on a regular basis.

          Another positive reason to have a Safe House would be the costs.  This proposed piece of property was donated to the City of Sycamore.  The costs currently associated with placing these kids in placement facilities run anywhere from $90 to $250 a day.

          If they could keep the Safe House in the Sycamore/DeKalb area then it would help to keep the kids in the same school systems that they are already attending and help to stop stigmatizing them more than what they already are.

          Mr. Josh and Ms. Elliott also said that the Judges are frustrated with the situation because they do not have enough foster homes to place these kids into currently.

          They also informed the committee that since they have been looking into this project the Historical Society, Sycamore Park District and YMCA are now looking at this site as a possible site for their offices.

          The committee asked Mr. Josh and Ms. Elliott what could the committee of the County Board do to help them with this issue?

          Mr. Josh and Ms. Elliott said that the County Board could voice their support of the project by contacting their City Aldermen.  A letter in support of the project from this committee or the full County Board could help them with the initiative too.

          Mr. Hulseberg suggested that if the Evergreen Village issue is taken care of through a future mitigation project, possibly the County could swap that land for the Engh property (suggested property for the Safe House) with the Historical Society, YMCA and Sycamore Park District.  The committee thought that it was a very good suggestion.

          After further discussion it was recommended by the committee that Chairman Osborne could mention this issue at the December County Board Meeting with a copy of the letter of support placed on the tables for the County Board Members to review.  If the County Board agrees with the letter of support then the Vice-Chairman could sign it and the Law and Justice Committee members could present the Sycamore City Council with the original letter of support at one of their City Council Meetings in January 2008.

          Mr. Josh and Ms. Elliott thanked the committee for letting them approach them about this issue.

PUBLIC DEFENDER’S REPORT

          Ms. Harris, DeKalb County Public Defender, was not present at the meeting tonight.  Chairman Osborne encouraged the committee members to please call her if they had any questions pertaining to her November Report.

JAIL REPORT

          Chairman Osborne mentioned that the average daily population in November was 107 inmates with 41 transports.  The Sheriff’s Department also spent $29,450.00, which is slightly lower than last year. 

ADJOURNMENT

Moved by Mr. Lyle, seconded by Ms. Allen, and it was carried unanimously to adjourn the meeting.

                                                 Respectfully submitted,

                                                 _________________________________

                                                 Richard Osborne, Chairman

RO:mcs

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