Greater Cleveland Reentry Strategy Leadership Coalition Meeting 10:00 am 11:30 pm September 18, 2015 Minutes

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1 Greater Cleveland Reentry Strategy Leadership Coalition Meeting 10:00 am 11:30 pm September 18, 2015 Minutes Attendees: Marcus Bell Fred Bolotin Matt Carroll Robert Cranberry Ian Fraser John Garrity Lauren Gilbride Dr. Hussey Mary Kelley Carey Kleinschmidt Tammi Lampkin James Lawrence Bryan Luton Vikki Lyons Mary McElrath Illya McGee Hon.K J Montgomery Eric Patterson Florian Philip Maria Smith Chris Stormann Craig Tame Arlin Tobert Luis Vazquez Cynthia Willaims Welcome/Introductions: The meeting was called to order at 10:03 am by the Chair, Mr. William Denihan. Mr. Denihan welcomed all members and guests and called for introductions. A motion was made to approve the minutes of the previous meeting. The minutes were approved by the members. Office of Reentry Updates: Luis Vazquez provided an update on the Office of Reentry. The Office of Reentry will have an internal meeting on October 14, 2015 with a number of stakeholders, including the chair and cochair of the Leadership Coalition, Mr. William Denihan and the Honorable K.J. Montgomery. Also Cuyahoga County HHS Interim Director, Mr. Matt Carroll, Dr. Robert Gleason from Cleveland State University (CSU), and Dr. Gleason will be facilitating the meeting; The Office of Reentry is planning a Policy Forum for the coming year 2016, in partnership with Towards Employment; The Office Reentry has applied for three federal grants, 1 st Second Chance Act, on women s behavioral health; 2 nd is the (SAMHSA) Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration grant; 3 rd is the Second Chance Act Reentry Program for adults with co-occurring substance abuse and mental disorder. There has been no word as of yet whether Reentry will receive the grants. Reentry also facilitates the Seal Your Record orientation sessions at the North Star Neighborhood Resource Center, other groups and stakeholders has inquired about having the Seal Your Record orientation sessions at their facility. Any organization that is interested they can contact Fred Bolotin of the Office of Reentry, or fbolotin@cuyahogacounty.us. On September 28 th, Luis Vazquez will have his first formal meeting with the Cuyahoga County Executive and his Chief of Staff as well as the HHS Director regarding the Office the Reentry budget. Special Guest: Mr. William Denihan introduces and welcomes Mr. Matt Carroll, Interim Cuyahoga County Health & Human Services Director. Mr. Carroll provided a brief update on Cuyahoga County Health & Human Service; There has been a lot of good things happening with in the Health & Human Services Department, such as new leadership in the large agencies. Mr. Thomas Pristow was named the new director for the Department of Children & Family Services. Mr. Pristow is from the state of Nebraska, most recently served as Director of Children and Family Services for the Nebraska Department of Health and 1

2 Human Services; Mr. Richard Jones was named the new director for the Department of Senior & Adult Services, most recently Mr. Jones returned to Cleveland, prior was Administrator of Employment and Family Services for Cuyahoga County; Mr. David Merriman has been named the Director of Employment & Family Services. Mary Kelley, from the Office of Reentry provided an update on the upcoming event this month Safer Summit, next Thursday, September 24 th at the Word Church the Northeast Region Ohio Department of Corrections is holding their second annual Making Northeast Ohio Safer Summit. Vikki Lyons, provided information regarding Dr. Susan Blankenship, a professor from Lake Erie College. Dr. Blankenship is doing research on the Citizen Circles in Ohio, and other states that have adopted the concept, in an effort to bring much needed resources and support to the Citizen Circle Program. Dr. Blankenship would like to interview some of the clients, and sit in on some of the focus groups. Comments and questions were raised and appropriately addressed Arlin Tolbert provided the 6 month report on the new program called the Adult Transition Model, which started out of North Star Resource Center in December 2015, to help with individuals transitioning from incarceration to society. Standing Committee Reports & Updates: Comments and questions were raised and appropriately addressed 1. Personal Health Committee: Behavioral Health Noise interference, someone was dialing a phone or texting Physical Health 2. Community Support Committee: Citizen Circle Deacon Mike Davis provided the report on Citizen Circle sub-committee. Recently they have partnership with Volunteers of America; the committee is looking to start a mentoring program. Transportation Luis Vazquez provided a report on the Transportation sub-committee. Mr. Vazquez spoke about the survey monkey given a few years ago by to taking a look at the non-profit organizations and the cost of their investments for RTA tickets for transportation and how many clients are in need of transportation. The committee has been researching throughout the country, they have one particular model that their taking a look at, which is the Seattle model. Community Awareness Tammi Lampkin provided a report for the Community Awareness sub-committee. The committee is the process of generating a letter to recruit members to join the committee. 2

3 1) Personal Growth Committee: Education report provided by Lauren Gilbride, the committee is focusing on are; Judge Margaret Russo wants to do an Employment Employer forum, which is still in the planning process. They are focusing on groups with employers to identify barriers in hiring the reentry population. The committee is also working with Sealing Your Record. (Noise interference) Employment Housing report was provided by Maria Smith, the committee has met with the Advocacy Committee, the meeting was very positive, and they are pushing to get the subsidized housing landlords and hoping to get a positive report. Local Incarceration report was provided by Mary Kelley, Ken Mills has spoken to some people in public works, they trying to get the whole thing moved over Euclid City Jail, in order not to logistical issues, so that the committee can provide better services. 2) Juvenile Reentry: report was provided by Dr. David Hussey, the committee is looking at transition services for the youth, and there has been a remarkable reduction in our state for (DYS) Department of Youth Services. (Noise interference) 3) Research & Evaluation: report was provided by Dr. David Hussey, the committee has been working on recidivism analysis from the previous Second Chance Act. Member Roundtable Updates: Grant Update: John Garrity provided State and Federal Grant updates. The ADAMHS board has closed out on one of their grants, the Second Chance Act, Bureau of Justice Assistance; this has been with Frontline as a treatment plan. It has been pretty successful for women with a history of dual disorders and substance abuse in the criminal justice services. North Star Update: Marcus Bell provided a report for North Star Neighborhood Service Center. Last month North Star provided opportunities for clients to sign up for Section 8 Housing. For the month of August there were 338 individual s volunteered to become new members at the North Star Facility, North Star also had their first Blueprint graduation. They were also interviewed by the Homeless Street Chronicle Magazine. Marcus Bell is planning to meet with Chief Jenkins from Cleveland Probation Department to explain some of the North Star services, he also working on providing services to the Cuyahoga County Jail. In October Marcus Bell, Illya McGee and Mary Kelley will travel to Columbus for two days to do presentation at the (OJACC) Ohio Justice Alliance for Community Corrections Conference. Eric Patterson provided update on Duke Manufacturing hiring of ex-felons, the facility is expanding because of their demand is growing so rapidly. The company has been in business for 30 years, has never experienced any lay-offs. They have received contracts through the government and Eaton, and are guaranteed employment for the next 30 years. 3

4 Towards Employment: No updates at this time. Announcements: Fred Bolotin announced Giant Eagle Getgo gas stations are expanding to a café and are having a hiring day this coming Tuesday from 1-6 pm. The locations are Westlake, Strongsville, South Euclid, and Cuyahoga Falls. The Honorable K.J. Montgomery announced on Sept. 25 th, at 5 pm after work network party, including her rock band. Mr. Bryan Lutton announcement on Class A CDL careers and his opportunity to whereas hire 250 men a year, during the training the men could receive $450 per week and after training guaranteed jobs paying up to $750, Mr. Lutton is affiliated with a company called Steel Haulers which are interested in hiring ex-felons. Adjournment: A motion was presented to adjourn the meeting. The motion was approved and the meeting was adjourned at 11:55 am; the next meeting has been scheduled for Friday, November 13, 2015 from 10am to 11:30 am. (Location: ADAMHS Board, 2012 West 25 th Street, 6 th Floor, The Cuyahoga Room, Cleveland, Ohio 44113). Minutes submitted by Donnette Lewis, Secretary Cuyahoga County Office of Reentry (REC ) 4

5 Greater Cleveland Reentry Strategy Leadership Coalition 10 am 11:30 ADAMHS Board 2012 W. 25 th Street, Cleveland, Ohio th Floor Cuyahoga Room Meeting Schedule for 2015 November 13 th 2016 Meeting Schedule January 15 th March 18 th May 20 th July 15 th September 16 th November 18 th 5