Illinois Criminal Justice Information Authority s2

MINUTES

Illinois Criminal Justice Information Authority Budget Committee Meeting

Friday, September 8, 2000 120 South Riverside Plaza Chicago, Illinois

Call to Order and Roll Call

The Budget Committee of the Illinois Criminal Justice Information Authority met on September 8, 2000 in the conference room on the 21st floor at 120 South Riverside Plaza. Vice Chair Waller called the meeting to order at 8:42 a.m. Other Committee and Authority members in attendance were Authority Chair Bensinger, Authority Vice Chair Buckwalter, State’s Attorney Devine, Superintendent Hillard, Mr. Apa, Sheriff Bukowski, Director Goetten, Director Jurkanin, Mr. Piland, Ms. Pucinski and Mr. Spence. Also in attendance were Executive Director Candice Kane, Laura Egger, Karen Richards, Robert Taylor, and other members of Authority staff.

Approval of the Minutes of the June 2, 2000 Meeting

Vice Chair Waller directed the Committee members’ attention to Tab 1 of the meeting packet and Mr. Apa made a motion to approve the minutes of the June 2, 2000 Budget Committee meeting. The motion was seconded by Authority Vice Chair Buckwalter and passed by unanimous vote.

Approval of the Anti-Drug Abuse Act FFY98 & FFY99 Plan Adjustments

Vice Chair Waller directed the Committee members’ attention to Tab 2 of the meeting packet consisting of a memo from Mr. Taylor, dated August 23, 2000, regarding the proposed adjustments to the FFY98 and FFY99 ADAA plans. He called on Mr. Taylor to explain the memo.

Mr. Taylor introduced Ms. Egger, the administrator for all Office of Justice Programs grants with the exception of the Victims of Crime Act and Violence Against Women Act programs.

Ms. Egger stated under the FFY98 Plan Adjustment the division of the Administrative Office of the Illinois Courts that has administered the Domestic Violence Coordinating Council grant has been moved to the Illinois Violence Prevention Authority. Staff is recommending that the funding for these trainings be re-designated to the Illinois Violence Prevention Authority.

Ms. Egger next discussed the FFY99 Plan Adjustment. She stated that under the Criminal History Record Improvement set-aside the Illinois Department of Corrections was designated FFY96 ADAA funds to establish livescan fingerprint capability within the two Juvenile Division Reception and Classification Units at St. Charles and Warrenville. She explained the Illinois Department of Corrections had requested additional funds in order to establish livescan fingerprint capability at a new Juvenile Reception & Classification Unit to be established at Harrisburg. She stated that staff was recommending the designation of $47,755 in FFY99 ADAA CHRI funds to complete this additional site and added that this designation would be matched with $15,919 in general revenue funding.

Ms. Egger reported that under Information Systems the Illinois State Police Computer Evidence Recovery grant was originally funded out of FFY98 ADAA funds, and was being continued with FFY99 ADAA funds. She claimed the program was funded with the intention of focusing on crimes against children and since the original designation for this program, the Illinois State Police has received a grant from the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention which focuses on the same crimes against children as the ADAA grant does. She informed the Budget Committee members that the Illinois State Police was requesting to refocus the ADAA grant funds from crimes against children to criminal investigation and evidence recovery in all other cases involving crimes of violence and/or drugs.

Authority Vice-Chair Buckwalter made a motion to approve Draft Resolution S. The motion was seconded by Mr. Apa, and passed by unanimous vote.

Approval of the Juvenile Accountability Incentive Block Grant Program FFY98 Plan Adjustment #4

Vice Chair Waller directed the Committee members’ attention to the green packet sent in a supplemental mailing that took the place of materials behind Tab 3. These materials including a memo from Mr. Taylor entitled Juvenile Accountability Incentive Block Grant Program FFY98 Plan Adjustment #4 revised, dated August 31, 2000 and Draft Resolution T. He called on Ms. Egger to explain the memo.

Ms. Egger reminded members that states are required to hold JAIBG funds in an interest bearing account. She stated that through May 30, 2000, JAIBG funds earned $517,088, of which $357,429 was previously approved by the Budget Committee to provide supplemental funding for juvenile probation services and $25,043 was used for supplemental funding for the ten Blueprint programs, leaving a balance of $134,616 in interest earned. She informed members that since the last Budget Committee meeting, the Authority received notifications from seven additional entities declining FFY98 funds. She said that the total undesignated local funds representing declinations and interest earned was $196,747. Ms. Egger said the undesignated funds could be used to either supplement the funding of existing programs or fund new programs. She reminded Committee members that the FFY98 funds must be expended by the end of March 2001.

Ms. Egger informed Committee members that on August 31, 2000, the Juvenile Crime Enforcement Coalition conducted a meeting and discussed a proposal submitted by Bloom Township for a Neighborhood Restorative Justice Mediation Program. She stated that the request was to expand the program that was initially developed in the Cook County Sixth Municipal Court District to the other suburban districts. She said the Juvenile Crime Enforcement Coalition recommended that $67,500 in FFY98 JAIBG funds be designated to Bloom Township for expanding the program’s operations in the Sixth Municipal Court District, and to implement the program in the Second and Fifth Districts.

Illinois Criminal Justice Information Authority Budget Committee September 8, 2000

Ms. Egger stated that staff would make recommendations for the use of the remaining undesignated funds, $129,247, at a later date.

Ms. Egger reminded Committee members that 160 governmental entities were originally eligible for direct formula funding through the JAIBG FFY98 program and that eligibility was based on a formula established by the federal government, which is determined by the amount of criminal justice expenditures and reported Part I Violent Crimes. She stated that eligible entities were required to establish a Juvenile Crime Enforcement Coalition that is required to develop a plan for use of the JAIBG funds.

Ms. Egger reported that 31 local entities eligible for direct funding have declined funds. She directed members’ attention to the table on page 2 of the memo, which provided an overview of the number of entities declining JAIBG funds. She stated that most agencies declining the funds stated there was too much involved for the funds available.

A motion to approve Draft Resolution T was made by Mr. Apa, seconded by Mr. Piland, and passed by unanimous vote.

Approval of the Juvenile Accountability Incentive Block Grant Program FFY99 Plan

Vice Chair Waller directed the Committee members’ attention to Tab 4 of the meeting packet consisting of a memo from Mr. Taylor, dated August 23, 2000, regarding the proposed adjustments to the FFY99 JAIBG plans. He called on Ms. Egger to explain the memo.

Ms. Egger reported that the Illinois FFY99 award for the JAIBG program was $8,700,000. She informed Committee members that federal requirements for the JAIBG program include a 75 percent pass through to local units of government based on a formula of two-thirds criminal justice expenses and one-third violent crime data compared on a statewide basis. She explained that funds were then directly distributed to those entities that qualify for $5,000 or more. She stated that this formula qualified 158 entities for direct funding, which were then sent notices requesting them to notify the Authority of their intention to use these funds. She informed Committee members that 109 entities agreed to either use the funds or waive their funds to the county. She explained that funds from the declining 49 entities had to be recalculated into the amount to be received by the 109 entities. Ms. Egger said the remaining $817,914 was reserved for local programs that began with FFY98 funds and were not eligible for direct funding. She reported that funding recommendations for these programs would be presented at the December 2000 meeting.

She stated that 25 percent of the total award was reserved to fund state level programs and 10 percent of these state level funds were reserved for administrative costs. She said the remaining $1.3 million would fund state programs, of which staff is recommending $1.2 million be used to fund the continuation of the Illinois Department of Corrections program begun with FFY98 funds. Ms. Egger informed members that the Illinois Department of Corrections submitted a revision to the original plan for the FFY98 funds, which restructured staffing according to the Illinois Department of Corrections’ reorganization of parole services. She announced that the

table on page 2 of the memo showed the staff distribution by payroll title and district as revised during the Illinois Department of Corrections’ FFY98 funding cycle.

She said that this left the undesignated state level amount of FFY98 JAIBG funds at $114,420.

A motion to approve Draft Resolution U was made by Mr. Piland, seconded by Ms. Pucinski, and passed by unanimous vote.

Ms. Kane clarified that all parole agents were juvenile parole agents.

Approval/Designation of the Residential Substance Abuse Treatment Program Plan Adjustment/Plans FFY97, FFY99, & FFY00

Vice Chair Waller directed Committee members’ attention to Tab 5 of the meeting packet, consisting of a memo from Robert Taylor dated August 23, 2000, regarding the proposed adjustments to the RSAT FFY97 and FFY99 Plan Adjustments, and the RSAT FFY00 Plan.

Ms. Egger stated that under the FFY97 Residential Substance Abuse Treatment program, designations were made to the Illinois Department of Corrections and the Cook County Department of Corrections to continue programs initiated with FFY96 RSAT funds. She said that $60,159 remained undesignated and available to the Illinois Department of Corrections to initiate a new program. She stated staff recommends that $23,364 of the additional funds be added to the designation for the Illinois Youth Center—St. Charles program to increase a part-time program manager position to full-time to meet program management needs.

Ms. Egger commented that the Illinois Department of Corrections was requesting that the remaining undesignated funds of $36,795 be allocated for psychological testing materials, and related scoring and report applications. She said a battery of psychological tests would be administered by RSAT funded professionals to eligible juvenile offenders during the intake process and that the testing would be a component of the evaluation conducted to diagnose youth with co-oc- curring disorders of mental illness and substance abuse.

Ms. Egger informed Committee members that both of the FFY99 and FFY00 awards were less than the FFY98 award. She stated that staff recommended that designations be made to the Illinois Department of Corrections and Cook County Department of Corrections to continue programs that received FFY98 designations, but with slight reductions in funding for each program. Ms. Egger commented that the FFY99 award was approximately 3 percent less than the FFY98 award and the FFY00 award was approximately 2 percent less than the FFY98 award. She directed the Committee members’ attention to the table on the bottom of page 2 of the memo, which reflected the reductions.

Ms. Egger commented that the Authority would retain the allowed 3 percent for administration of the program out of each fund year.

A motion to approve Draft Resolution V was made by Superintendent Hillard, seconded by Vice-Chair Buckwalter, and passed by unanimous voice vote.

Approval of the Victims of Crime Act FFY97, FFY98, & FFY00 Plan Adjustments

Vice Chair Waller called Committee members’ attention to the colored memo at members’ places, consisting of a revised memo from Robert Taylor dated September 8, 2000, consisting of proposed VOCA FFY97, FFY98, and FFY00 Plan Adjustments. He called on Karen Richards to explain the memo.

Ms. Richards directed members’ attention to the table on pages 1 and 2 where the information was summarized. She stated that the table included funds lapsing from FFY97 and FFY98 programs at the end of their periods of performance and funds that will not be expended prior to the end of the fund life.

Ms. Richards stated that staff was recommending that the designations to the programs be reduced by the amounts shown in the table. Ms. Richards commented that the City of Chicago was returning an additional $55,000 in FFY97 funds for the Services to Victims of Domestic Violence Program because the program did not get started until August.

She also commented that the Metropolitan YWCA Services to Victims of Sexual Assault Hotline program had been waiting to hire staff until after they moved to a larger location, so the program would be unable to use $30,000 in FFY98 funds by the end of the fund life. Ms. Richards said that staff was recommending that all of the lapsing FFY97 funds and a portion of the FFY98 funds be reallocated at this time.

Ms. Richards stated that because FFY97 funds die on September 30th, staff was asking that all of the $107,147 in lapsing FFY97 funds be designated to the Authority to print several informational brochures including the Bill of Rights for Illinois Victims of Crime. She said that the brochure would be printed in both English and Spanish and that all brochures would be disseminated primarily to victim service agencies and state's attorney's offices. Ms. Richards said that the designation to the Authority would use up all remaining FFY97 funds and match would be made through general revenue funds.

Ms. Richards explained that staff was further recommending that additional funds be designated out of FFY98 to the McLean County Child Advocacy Center's Court Appointed Special Advocate program for its Child Advocacy Center Services Program. She informed Committee members that the county recently underwent a reclassification study that resulted in salary increases. She said that staff was recommending that funds in the amount of $8,028 be designated to this two year program and that $6,977 in FFY00 funds be designated to the McLean County CASA program for its core grant to cover reclassification increases for the program.

She stated that this would leave approximately $34,000 in FFY98 funds and $9.1 million in FFY00 funds available.

Ms. Richards continued by saying that staff was recommending that funds be designated to 14 transitional housing programs. She reminded members that at the Budget Committee’s June 2000 meeting, funds had been reserved for a request for proposals (RFP) for transitional housing and accompanying services from VOCA FFY00 funds.

She stated that the RFP was for programs to provide transitional housing and related support which would allow victims of domestic violence to pursue financial independence and participate in services which will ensure long-term safety for themselves and their children.

Ms. Richards informed members that 19 proposals were received, but only 18 were scored because one was disqualified for not including the required number of copies. She explained the scoring and review processes. She stated that additional information was needed from each of the programs that were being recommended for funding before designation amounts could be specified.

Ms. Richards explained that because of the large number of proposals recommended for funding, the $950,000 available in VOCA FFY2000 funds would not be sufficient to cover the cost of all 14 programs. She continued by stating that staff had been in contact with the Violence Against Women Office (VAWO) in regard to the VAWA Rural Domestic Violence and Child Victimization Enforcement Grant program, which has made $400,000 available to Illinois. She said that staff was recommending that three transitional housing programs designed to provide services in rural counties receive funding from this program, which would enable the Authority to fund all of the recommended requests for transitional housing programs.

Ms. Richards directed Committee members’ attention to the table on page 6, which summarized the programs being recommended for funding. She stated that staff was requesting that the Budget Committee approve up to $950,000 in VOCA FFY00 and $330,029 in VAWA FFY99 Rural Domestic Violence and Child Victimization funds to be designated to these programs with individual amounts to be determined during the negotiation process. She commented that staff was seeking approval to proceed to contract with these agencies once exact funding levels were determined.

Ms. Richards said that staff would return at the December 2000 Budget Committee meeting with an update on the individual programs funded and exact funding levels.

A motion to approve Draft Budget Committee Resolution W was made by Mr. Apa, seconded by Authority Vice Chair Buckwalter, and approved by unanimous voice vote.

Ms. Kane explained the new approach that staff had taken with the Transitional Housing RFPs. She informed Committee members that staff had invited the agencies to meetings to discuss the proposals and how to make improvements on them.

Approval of the Violence Against Women Act FFY96-99 Plan Adjustments

Vice Chair Waller directed Committee members’ attention to Tab 7, consisting of a memo from Robert Taylor dated August 23, 2000, consisting of proposed Violence Against Women Act FFY96-FFY99 Plan Adjustments. He called on Ms. Richards to explain the information.

Ms. Richards stated that staff was recommending that lapsing funds from nine VAWA programs be rescinded because their periods of performance have ended. She directed members’ attention to the table on page two, which summarized the lapsing funds by fund year and type of funds.

She pointed out that the bottom of the chart showed the amounts available per year based on the current plan. She commented that the total available did not include funds that were reserved by the Committee previously.

Ms. Richards reported that staff was recommending a number of designations including designations for continued funding of current programs using funds reserved at the June 2, 2000 Budget Committee meeting. She directed members’ attention to the chart on page 6 where all designations were listed.

Ms. Richards stated that staff was recommending that $30,000 per year in reserved prosecution funds out of VAWA FFY98 and FFY99 be designated to the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office Resource Center. She informed members that the center provided assistance and referrals to victims of domestic violence with long-term issues such as child support and childcare, employment, and education.

Ms. Richards said that Granite City had recently been added as a domestic violence protocol implementation site. She stated that staff recommended that $153,250 per year in reserved law enforcement funds out of VAWA FFY98 and FFY99 be designated to the Granite City Police Department for continuation of the programs. She further stated that staff was recommending that Phoenix Crisis Center, the local service provider for the Granite City Police Department, receive $28,200 per year in reserved discretionary funds out of VAWA FFY98 and FFY99 for the continuation of the program.

She stated that Macon County had also been added as a domestic violence protocol site. She said that staff recommended that $138,982 per year in reserved prosecution funds out of VAWA FFY98 and FFY99 be designated to the Macon County State’s Attorney’s Office, while $38,084 in reserved law enforcement funds be designated to the Macon County Sheriff’s Department. Ms. Richards said that staff recommended that $42,882 per year in reserved law enforcement funds out of VAWA FFY98 and FFY99 be designated to the Decatur Police Department and $30,000 per year in reserved discretionary funds out of VAWA FFY98 and FFY99 be designated to Dove, Inc., the local service provider.

Ms. Richards informed members that the Winnebago County Sheriff's Department had recently been added to the Winnebago Domestic Violence Protocol Implementation Site. She said that staff recommended $110,000 per year in reserved law enforcement funds out of VAWA FFY98 and FFY99 be designated for the continuation of the program.

She stated that staff recommended that $30,000 be designated to the Office of the State’s Attorney’s Appellate Prosecutor to continue its program to train prosecutors on issues related to domestic violence and sexual assault. She said that staff recommended that $20,798 in prosecution funds and $9,202 in discretionary funds be designated to the program. Ms. Richards said that staff was also recommending funding for five new programs using lapsing funds and other undesignated funds.

She reminded members that FFY96 funds expire on December 31, 2000. She stated that staff recommended that $22,436 in lapsed FFY96 law enforcement funds, $2,909 in lapsed FFY96

prosecution funds and $3,281 in lapsed FFY96 discretionary funds be designated to the Illinois Criminal Justice Information Authority. She said that this would allow the ICJIA to offer training scholarships to law enforcement officers and prosecutors from domestic violence units within the Domestic Violence Protocol Implementation sites. She stated that the total amount designated would be $28,626.

Ms. Richards stated that the Normal Police Department had requested funds to train law enforcement officers from Illinois State University on the model protocol, as well as laptop computers that would allow the officers of the Normal Domestic Violence Unit to take notes and write reports while talking with victims and witnesses. She said that staff recommended that $21,083 in lapsed FFY96 law enforcement funds be used for this program.

Ms. Richards informed Committee members’ that staff was recommending that funding for one assistant state's attorney be designated to the Peoria County State's Attorney's Office. She said that staff recommended that $36,920 per year out of FFY97, FFY98 and FFY99 prosecution funds be designated for the expansion of the Domestic Violence Protocol Implementation program.

She continued that staff was recommending that the Peoria Police Department receive $39,900 per year in law enforcement funds out of FFY98 and FFY99 to hire a follow-up investigator for evidence gathering and follow-up contact with victims and witnesses of domestic violence.

Ms. Richards reminded members that Champaign County was one of the Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner pilot sites. She stated that the department was requesting funding to train officers and other non-sworn employees from the surrounding communities and university in the Sexual Assault Guidelines and related issues and also the purchase of an alternate light source. She said that staff recommended that $51,000 in reserved Sexual Assault Guideline law enforcement funds out of FFY97 be designated to fund this program.

Vice Chair Waller inquired about what Peoria County State’s Attorney’s Office’s response was to only having funding available for one state’s attorney. Ms. Richards explained that she had not talked to anyone directly, but they were aware that this was the case.

Ms. Pucinski questioned what the effect on court staff would be if the current staff is facilitating more cases. She asked if additional funding was available. Mr. Taylor stated that several sites did support additional court staff, but Peoria County did not.

A motion to approve Draft Budget Committee Resolution X was made by Ms. Pucinski, seconded by Superintendent Hillard, and passed by unanimous voice vote.

Approval of the Violence Against Women Act FFY00 Plan

Vice Chair Waller called members’ attention to Tab 8, containing a memo from Robert Taylor, entitled FFY2000 Violence Against Women Act. Vice Chair Waller called on Ms. Richards to explain this information.

Ms. Richards reminded members that the Violence Against Women Act of 1994 authorized $1.62 billion dollars over a six-year period to combat violence against women. She stated that the Violence Against Women Act of 1999 had been introduced to reauthorize the 1994 Act and said that action must be taken by both the House of Representatives and the Senate by September 28, 2000, otherwise funding to states may be interrupted or non-existent beginning with FFY01.

She said that Illinois had not received its FFY00 Violence Against Women Act Award yet, but the Violence Against Women Office had assured staff that the award would be made shortly.

Ms. Richards stated that the anticipated award amount for FFY00 was $5,098,000. She stated that this amount represented a $287,000 reduction in funding from Illinois' FFY99 award of $5,385,000.

Ms. Richards continued that because the future of VAWA was uncertain, staff was recommending that current initiatives be continued with the FFY00 funds instead of beginning new initiatives for which continuation funding might not be available. She stated that because several programs will require continuation funding by mid-December, staff was recommending that designations be made immediately, contingent upon receiving the award.

Ms. Richards stated that staff was recommending that the VAWA FFY00 service provider funds be evenly divided between the Illinois Coalition Against Domestic Violence and the Illinois Coalition Against Sexual Assault to continue current initiatives. She said each was recommended to receive funding in the amount of $605,338.

Ms. Richards directed members’ attention to the chart on page 2 that summarized the designations to each of the model protocol sites. She stated that the current protocol programs and the Peoria County State's Attorney’s Office’s new program would each have three years of funding available to them and would allow the programs to end at the same time if additional VAWA funding was not forthcoming.

Ms. Richards stated that staff was recommending the continuation of the Services to Female Inmates Program through the Illinois Department of Corrections. She said that the program would continue to be funded at $90,000, drawn from discretionary funds. She informed members that the program would provide educational and counseling services to female inmates who are victims of domestic violence and sexual assault.

She said that staff was also recommending that funding to the City of Chicago for its domestic violence helpline be continued. She stated that the program would remain at its current funding level of $350,000 in discretionary funds.

Ms. Richards informed Committee members that staff was recommending that $75,000 in prosecution funds be designated to the Cook County State's Attorney's Office to continue its resource center program which helps victims of domestic violence make informed life choices.

She stated that staff recommended that $14,129 in prosecution funds and $15,871 in discretionary funds for a total of $30,000 be designated to the Office of the State’s Attorneys Appellate Prosecutor to continue training on domestic violence and sexual assault.

Ms. Richards said that staff was recommending that $150,000 in law enforcement funds, $100,000 in prosecution funds, and $60,000 in discretionary funds be reserved for implementation of additional sexual assault guideline sites.

Mr. Piland asked for clarification about the program for incarcerated victims of domestic violence. Ms. Richards stated that the program received $90,000 and stated that the rate of domestic violence and sexual assault against women who have been incarcerated is extremely high. She said that the goal of the program was to help these victims so they have a better chance of ending the cycle of violence.

Mr. Taylor added that there was a caveat to the program. He stated that women who have been convicted of domestic violence or sexual assault charges are not able to participate in the program.

Superintendent Hillard stated that the City of Chicago and the Chicago Police Department had developed a Chicago Response Protocol, which is given to police officers and prosecutors and is intended to assist with the helpline. He distributed a copy of this protocol to Committee members. Ms. Kane stated that the U.S. Attorney General had plans to visit Chicago to model this program.

A motion to approve Draft Budget Committee Resolution Y was made by Mr. Devine, seconded by Authority Vice Chair Buckwalter and passed by unanimous voice vote.

Livescan Update

Vice Chair Waller called members’ attention to Tab 9 containing a memo from Robert Taylor entitled Livescan Sites. He called on Ms. Egger to discuss this information.

Ms. Egger reminded members that they had requested an updated livescan map at the last meeting. She directed members’ attention to the map behind Tab 9 which showed current livescan sites.

Chairman Bensinger observed that there were no southern counties funded for livescan machines and inquired about providing a regional site to these underserved areas. Ms. Egger explained that regional sites were difficult to utilize because of the large area they would have to serve. She stated that a possible solution would be a “deadscan.” She explained that a deadscan was similar to a fax machine. She said the fingerprints could be submitted that way and then scanned through the livescan machine.

Old Business

New Business

Vice Chair Waller called members’ attention to letters behind Tab 10 and from a supplemental mailing from Sheriff Sheahan’s office requesting discussion of the South Suburban Gang Initiative. He called on the Undersheriff John Robinson to discuss these materials. Mr. Robinson introduced himself and Mr. Buddy Weinstein, commander of the anti-gang unit.

Undersheriff Robinson asked members to disregard the letter’s request for additional funding, as he had become aware that it was not available. He stated that the program has been running for approximately eight years. He said that initially the program was focused solely on drugs, but in the past four years had been focused on gangs. He informed the members that the Cook County Sheriff’s Office was asking the Authority to allow them to participate in the gang initiative at a different level. He stated that specifically they wanted to look at conspiracy and gang leadership for an additional 18 months. He said that because of the work that has already been done in these communities, the communities have become dependent on the Sheriff’s Office. He also explained that the Sheriff’s Office was unable to fund the entire project because currently the actual expenditures are 65 percent of their budget. Undersheriff Robinson stated that while the Cook County Sheriff’s Office was aware that it could not obtain funding at this time, they were asking if they could return to the Authority for consideration at a later date.

Chairman Bensinger inquired about the actual amount of funds requested and asked for clarification if the program they were discussing was a continuation or a new initiative. Undersheriff Robertson stated that the amount of funds needed would be approximately $600,000, but some of these expenses would be offset by corporate funds.

He stated that there would be a transition in the program, from focusing on gangs to focusing on the leadership of those gangs. He stated that the goal was to get into the upper levels of the gang

and eliminate the leadership from the process. He explained that it would be a natural progression from the start of the program. He reminded members that the first four years of the program focused on drugs then started looking at drugs and gangs, and that they anticipated that the proposed modification would make a significant impact. Chairman Bensinger asked if the current program was primarily tactical. Mr. Weinstein verified that it was indeed tactical.

Mr. Taylor stated that the staff’s concern was 48 month federal funding limitation. He raised the concern that a second transition after another 4 years would possibly be something that needed to be discussed with the federal government. Mr. Taylor said that another concern was that there was limited ADAA funds available to new, local initiatives and those funds were being reserved for the what resulted from the criminal justice planning process. He stated that he was also unsure of how much funding would be provided for 2001.

Chairman Bensinger stated that the area covered by the Cook County Sheriff’s Office’s South Suburban Gang Initiative, is uncovered because the Cook County MEG is no longer functioning. He said that the initiative did not have to be voted on today and that the Sheriff’s Office could come back in December for consideration. He reiterated that it was important that this part of the state be covered in this manner.

Undersheriff Robinson stated that it was the Sheriff’s Office’s goal to return in December, in order to identify for the Authority additional funds that the Sheriff’s Office would contribute. He stated that the Sheriff’s Office had already contributed 40 percent to the program.

Vice Chair Waller then called on Mr. Taylor to discuss the 2000 Local Law Enforcement Block Grants Program. Mr. Taylor stated that staff was asking for direction on what to do with these funds. He stated that staff would go ahead with an RFP unless something came out of the Criminal Justice Planning Process that needed to be discussed. He said that additionally, minimally 75 percent of the funds would be used for communities with under 25,000 population, with a range of $5,000 minimum to a maximum of $20,000 for equipment only, and preference would be given to those communities that had not previously received LLEBG funds. He mentioned that approximately $1 million is available to local communities through this program.

Adjourn

A motion to adjourn was made by Chief Millner, seconded by Authority Vice Chair Buckwalter, and passed by unanimous voice vote. The meeting was adjourned at 9:51 a.m.