Joint Committee: Health and Human Relations; Public Safety
Chicago City Council
Health
Politics
Chicago, IL 60602 (Directions)
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Reporting
Edited and summarized by the Chicago - IL Documenters Team
Live reporting by
Megan Wadin
Youth summer employment, Violence prevention
megwadin
@megwadin
Hi Everyone! Today I’ll be live-tweeting the Chicago City Council's Joint Committee Meeting for Health and Human Relations & Public Safety
@ChiDocumenters #ChiDocumenters @ChiCouncil
@ChiDocumenters #ChiDocumenters @ChiCouncil
01:04 PM May 4, 2021 CDT
Chairman Taliaferro calls meeting to order promptly at 1:04pm. Reviews agenda items to be discussed: calls for a hearing on expanding community based gender-based violence prevention & on addressing increasing violence ahead of post-pandemic months.
Public Comment begins with Lala Gutierrez: a 15 year old resident of Little Village & a freshman at Little Village Social Justice High School
Little Village police budget is over-inflated, community remains highly polluted, and mental health services remain under-funded. Policing is not the solution for Little Village, investment in fighting environmental exploitation and community services is.
Connor Keyo, of the 25th ward in Pilsen, draws attention to a lack of attention to local parks. Keyo argues parks can be a violence prevention tool by providing recreational activities & jobs for community.
Joseph Perry, a former homeless resident, discusses issue of homelessness & lack of attention given to re-purposing vacant units. It is wrong that homeless individuals continue to suffer through Chicago winters while units remain empty.
Ricardo Barra, member of Chicago’s Union of the Homeless & resident of Roosevelt & Des Plaines for over 3 years, notes that there is a city-wide problem in rising homeless populations. Greater funding needs to be allocated to fighting homelessness.
Barra encourages City to work with Union of Homeless as an ally & a resource to understand homeless populations across the city.
Barra addresses City: 'You have the resources and we have the knowledge' to address rising homelessness.
Ms. Young, addresses need for greater youth programs. Programs are needed to help youth navigate social media in times of violence & issues surrounding policing. Mental health services are desperately needed.
As a member of the Chicago Union of Homeless, also requests seat at table to address increases & support City's efforts by providing valuable insight. 'We want to work with you.' Wants to work with @chicagosmayor & Tracy Scott on Homeless Board. To reach Union: 312-620-5122
Katelyn Savado, a 13 year old community organizer with Cops out of CPS, our communities our suffering, particularly our black & brown communities, the city has failed to invest in healing solutions & alternatives to harm.
Savado criticizes City leadership for lack of action, resources & opportunities in black & brown communities. Advocates for Peacebook Ordinance & argues that behind violence is trauma. To fight violence we need to heal trauma.
Item before the community: calls for hearing on state of social services, programs, and strategies available in addressing increasing violence ahead of post-pandemic spring & summer months. Subject matter hearing only, no votes taken.
Chairman Sawyer introduces Alderman Sigcho Lopez, 'COVID-19 pandemic has shined harsh light on inequities in our city' in order to ensure money is invested responsibly to combat violence, we need to assess status of current programming
Chairman Sawyer introduces first speaker, Jitu Brown, National Director of the Journey for Justice, racist institutions can be invisible, institutional change is key to fighting disparities. Educational disparities remain stark in the City j4jalliance.com
Brown argues that fighting against school closings is key, curriculum needs to become culturally relevant & responsive. Police need to be removed from our schools. Counselor to student ratio is currently 400 to 1, needs to be 50 to 1. Gentrification needs to be fought.
Arturo Carrillo, Director of Health & Violence Prevention Brighton Park Neighborhood Council & organizer for Collaborative for Community Wellness, disparities on mental health access in city is severe, research indicates access to care is number 1 barrier to care, not stigmas
The Collaborative's research has shown mental health services are non-existent, under-funded, or inadequately communicated to communities across City. Violence is a symptom of untreated trauma. To prevent police violence, we need to remove police from crisis encounters.
Investment in public infrastructure to address crisis situations outside of policing is critical.
Amrit Mehra, Senior Advisor for Education & Human Services @ Mayor's Office, 'My Chi My Future' seeks to connects Chicago's youth with opportunities to explore & cultivate talents, to build relationships, and to explore pathways to college, career & beyond.
Norman Kerr, Acting Deputy Mayor for Public Safety, Mayor's Office is focused on working across City to formalize all city response for safety this summer. Will be implementing to approach to address 15 most violent beats in City
Alonzo Williams, Chief Program Officer with @ChicagoParks , offerings organized into three categories, programs, jobs & events. Offerings include sports leagues, teen centers & 'summer kickback series' for teens to lead programming.
Summer day camps will be held in person, & parks are scheduled to hire for over 3,000 positions this summer. Night Out in Park program will offer over 500 events over the summer, music, movies, etc.
Ric Estrada, CEO Metropolitan Family Services, lives in 45th ward, but grew up 5 blocks from where Adam Toledo was killed in Little Village. COVID-19 pandemic has caused disproportionate health & economic harm to black & brown communities as a result of chronic disinvestment
We now have an opportunity to make a generational change to mobilize resources and change prospects for individuals in black & brown communities. Funding should be allocated to provide summer employment for our youths.
Communities Partnering for Peace has grown to now serve 28 communities working with 14 partners. The group works alongside community groups & police to provide civil legal aid, job training, and other services for local communities. For more information: metrofamily.org/cp4p/
Angel Novalez, Commander with Chicago Police Dept Office of Community Policing, the best way to deter crime, is to prevent it in the first place. This requires building & maintaining partnerships with communities. Officers should build relationships with communities they work in
The goal of the Neighborhood Policing Initiative is to meet people where they are, churches, schools, etc. The latest round of training began days ago to include additional beats & has integrated new psychiatric training for Officers working with youth who have experience trauma
Rebecca Estrada, Deputy Commissioner for Youth Services at DFSS, majority of youth are high-functioning, just living in neighborhoods suffering from disinvestment. DFSS is committed to supporting youth with $1.6 million from City & CARES Act to expand services
Offerings include: mentoring services, peer navigator program to support with career services, financial literacy training & One Summer Chicago: onesummerchicago.org
Chairman Sawyer directs first question to Alonzo Williams: there are some concerns about a lack of applicants for the roles available, is that an issue you've identified?
Williams: Yes, particularly with lifeguards, however not just a City issue, there is a national lifeguard shortage. To combat this we have poured extra funding into advertising open roles with local media & community organizations to promote.
Alderman Hadden, question for Normann Kerr: No one has spoken to me regarding anti-violence plan for Rogers Park 49th ward, feels like our ward isn't included, when can we expect to be brought into the conversation?
Kerr: focus for today has been on the 15 most violent districts, but Rogers Park is a priority as well as will make it a priority to continue conversations and support your area.
Hadden: are there any financial breakdowns available for how the violence prevention funding has been allocated more specifically?
Alderman Sposato: question for Alonzo Williams, many residents want to stay & work in their own communities for summer roles, will local roles be available?
Williams: We work to allocate youth staffing roles locally, but if the demand is high in a particular neighborhood, we may not always be able to accommodate in-neighborhood employment.
Sposato: are jobs enough to stop crime? Director Brooks: crime might not be stopped, but jobs do mitigate level of crime & contributes to overall safety of community.
Sposato: for Ric Estrada, northwest side was hit hard by COVID 19 as well, do you have statistics on racial disparities? Estrada: hardest hit communities were black and brown, will send over a full report breaking down data to highlight disparities.
Jitu Brown: Pat Quinn's former program, 'Put Illinois to Work' put teens to work in communities & crime rate went down. Employment connected youth to city & opportunities. Tax credits for businesses that hire our youth is one approach to incentive this solution.
Alderman Reboyras: are there any plans to open additional mental health centers? Sybil Madison: CDPH invested millions to support mental health services & trauma informed centers of care in 32 community based health centers across the city. List will be shared.
Reboyras: after a fire, firefighters go door to door to issue fire detectors to neighbors, is there a community policing strategy to visit neighbors after an incident?
Brooks: after tragic incidents, we will conduct an "Operation Wakeup" and go door to door. Many Commanders are also conducting post-shooting canvassing providing information to community. Will become more standard protocol, for now we provide referral services in three districts
Novalez: In the aftermath of a violent incident, CPD investigates vacant areas, lack of lighting, etc that may facilitate violence to make interventions that could prevent future violence.
Arturo Carrillo: there is not a current system in place to care for those who have experienced harm. Treatment on Trauma campaign has been unifying across the City looking for a solid investment in social workers, therapists & paramedics to serve as first responders to violence
Alderman La Spata: Data shows that jobs do reduce crime, those at high risk for violence that participate in job programs see a 40% reduction in involvement with crime. Question for Kerr, what is plan for engaging with regional Alderman? DPD may serve as model for this engagement
Kerr: nothing formal planned, but can set up monthly conversations to formalize engagement. Question for DFSS, what're the supports needed to mobilize funding for homelessness initiatives for example?
Alisa Rodriguez: it is a capacity issue & a delegate agency issue. We have gotten money out of the door for homelessness, domestic violence, workforce development etc. but we need to broaden our RFP circulation to bring on additional opportunities for expansion.
La Spata: What additional support do delegate agencies require? Rodriguez: Complicated question, additional staffing is one solution, but that takes time. Exact staffing needs are difficult to determine at this time.
Ric Estrada: We'd be happy to provide pro bono capacity building for organizations to run their own finances, HR, etc. La Spata: need to work together to ensure resources are there to get $$ where it needs to go
Alderman Rodriguez-Sanchez: Do we have a master plan to address violence, and if so what evidence are we using to design it? Kerr: "there needs to be more balance". Budget has increased from $10million to $30million, goal is to direct funds to violence prevention & elevate it
Rodriguez-Sanchez: would like to work towards development of master plan & in terms of investment, would love to have CDPH involved today to discuss crisis response as key players in program
Carrillo: as a social worker in non-profit sector, master plan appears to be to privatize & subcontract to private sector for a variety of needs. Part of his concern as a social worker is therapists are often pulled from public sector to well-paying private practice
Carrillo: where and how is the City looking to become the public operator for healing trauma and combatting violence?
Rodriguez-Sanchez: question for Jitu Brown, what is the scale of investment that would meaningfully reduce crime? Brown: holistic view is necessary, it extends beyond social services to include self-determination infrastructure; home-ownership, employment, education
Brown: this movement can't be led by City agencies, 'metrics of equity can't be accurately determined by seats of privilege', have to start engaging communities, leading listening projects is key
Brown: 'the first pillar of equity is governance', black & brown communities need decision making power
Alderman Sigcho-Lopez: has the City identified programs to fund specifically because they reduce violence? how much funding will be granted to these programs in comparison to Police Department?
Rebecca Estrada: with passing of 925 ordinance, we received $640k from CARES Act to support enrichment of out-of-school programs, mentoring opportunities, One Summer Chicago & Chicago Youth Service Corps. Unsure of differences in funding from CPD.
Kerr: unsure of CPD funding itself, but Office of Violence Reduction specifically has $30 million for 2021, argues it still is not enough to fund all the work we want to do (i.e. street outreach, capacity building of smaller orgs)
Ric Estrada: MFS gets $9.475 million to fund 16 communities, 5 on west side, 10 on south side and 1 on east side, each receiving roughly 500k.
Vaughn Bryant: notes that through CARES Act City has received additional $3 million to be spread across 3 of the 15 priority communities
Sigcho Lopez: how do you see rising suicide rates as related to violence prevention work? Carrillo: emblematic of how elevated mental health problems have become & the lack of access communities have to resources
$1.8 billion dollars coming to City is unique opportunity to invest in achieving change and combating access to care disparities
Ric Estrada: adding 500 more social workers and 300 more school counselors to CPS would cost roughly $80 million, very affordable investment given the money coming in
Estrada: policies to ensure pay parity for mental health workers in the public sector is action we must push for
Alderman Raymond Lopez: homicides have been attributed to the pandemic, public sentiment towards police, lack of jobs, yet one reason hasn't been mentioned, the state of our families. Funding is needed to strengthen families.
Carrillo: distraught parents dealing with adolescents are often calling 911 to intervene in disputes, crisis response program proposes instead a social worker is on the response team to administer crisis care to families rather than police.
Lopez: argues that crisis response program is reactionary, how can we repair broken families prior to crisis? Ric Estrada: our mission is to strengthen family unit, all programs have parenting components, including young fathers program
Estrada: mental health programs include parental training curriculum, difficult problems to address, but continue to work to address them best way we can.
Chairman Mitts: to combat violence, children need culturally sensitive education to promote entrepreneurship & career development. to combat violence, people within the community need to design and implement programming themselves, outside influence will not be as effective
Mitts: what programs exist to support mothers & families of those lost to gun violence? many families never get justice, continue to wait for legal system or police to provide answers, how do we support them to cope with this trauma?
Alderman Rodriguez: beyond jobs, nothing stops violence like a career. career attainment is a holistic approach to individual empowerment & violence prevention. what are current summer job application rates at?
Currently 13,501 youths have completed the One Summer Chicago application, numbers are slightly down from last year, but with marketing efforts ramping up, we expect to see increased applications for 27,000 opportunities available.
Rodriguez: what would optimal effort look like to support Dr Carrillo's Crisis Intervention Program? Carrillo: individuals would be given choice between 911 or alternative response team & sufficient investment in follow-up care
Rodriguez: Communities for Peace has done a lot to professionalize the career of an outreach worker, is there anything more that would help support that work? Bryant: outreach is work we believe is transferable to a variety of career paths; i.e. community health worker
Bryant: providing clearer transitional pathways for outreach workers for a lifelong career is critical
Alderman Cappleman: what are the measures used to determine if an agency is reducing youth violence? what steps will be taken if an agency is not achieving set metrics? homelessness initiatives successfully overcame siloed efforts, how to translate to violence reduction?
Rebecca Estrada: DFSS has implemented learning cohorts to give agency an opportunity at every level to learn best practices & review research. Novalez: Affinity officers designated with task of ensuring police seek out supplemental resources in community to serve area ho
Sigcho Lopez concludes with calls for us all to invest in our communities. Meeting is adjourned at 4:30pm. For more meeting coverage, check out documenters.org!
Agency Information
Chicago City Council
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