McHenry County

Mental Health Board - Regular Meeting

MINUTES

Tuesday, July 23, 2024 at 6:00 P.m. - 8:00 P.m.

Mental Health Board - Main Floor Conference Room

620 Dakota St., Crystal Lake, IL 60012

Members Present:

• Connee Meschini, 
• Greg Alexander, 
• Christina Bruhn, 
• Adam Carson, 
• Lindsay Keisman, 
• Amy Rath, 
• and Carolyn Schofield 

Members Absent:

• Mike Baber 
• and Ray Lapinas 

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1.

CALL TO ORDER - C. MESCHINI

Meeting called to order at: 6:00 pm by C. Meschini

Also in attendance: Leonetta Rizzi, Melanie Duran, Karin Frisk, Bridget Geenen, Eric Villa, and members of the public and provider agencies

Adam Carson arrived at 6:25pm.

2.

PUBLIC COMMENT-VIA CALL IN OR 24-HOUR ADVANCE NOTICE TO [email protected]

Bobby Gattone, Executive Director from New Directions, provides updates to the MHB regarding expansion of programs that has been possible with MHB funding. New Directions will be building an apartment building in Woodstock with ARPA funding for clients that complete the sober living program and there will be a capital request in FY25 to supplement the apartment building project.

Ian Hirshimanki states he went through the program at New Directions and is now employed by New Directions. Ian gives an overview of his history and how New Directions has helped him.

Dominick Vassos shared his personal history and went through the program at New Directions and is now employed by New Directions. Ian states he is grateful what New Directions did for him and believes in the program.

Courtney Behrens is a LCSW and works for Options and Advocacy. Courtney spoke regarding the LGBTQ Professional Network Committee and described the committee as a group of agencies within the county focused on creating a more inclusive environment and supporting those who are LGBTQIA. The committee has a website and has been providing trainings and looking into supporting some requested trainings.

Tiffaney Valkema Program Manager, Options and Advocacy Autism Resource Center extends gratitude to the MHB for participating in the annual community picnic and resource fair. There were over 200 attendees and over 40 agencies in the resource fair.

3.

APPROVAL OF MINUTES - FOR ACTION

• Mover: Carolyn Schofield
  Seconder: Christina Bruhn

  Approve previous minutes

  Aye (6)	Carolyn Schofield, Connee Meschini, Greg Alexander, Amy Rath, Lindsay Keisman, and Christina Bruhn
  Absent (3)	Ray Lapinas, Adam Carson, and Mike Baber

  Recommended (6 to 0)

3.1

Minutes of the June 25, 2024 Regular Board Meeting

4.

PRESENTATION

4.1

Speaker/Microphone Procedure & Preparation for Live-Streaming

B Geenen gives an overview of the microphones and the visual of how the live streaming will look.

• Need to press your buttons to speak and need to speak into your microphones as that is how the system will be able to record what you are saying.
• Once your button is pushed you are put in a que in the order of the button push.
• If your button is blue, you have a request in.
• Board president will recognize the board members in the que, in order
• Once you are done speaking either push your button or state you are done, and the next member can be recognized by the board president.
• If board president moves on and there are still members waiting to speak, a staff member will state 'member in the que' to alert board president there are still members in line for discussion.
• Voting
  • A board member will speak I make motion to....
  • A board member will make a second to the motion
  • Board president will call for discussion
  • Once discussion is complete board president will call for vote.
  • Vote will be pushed through to the microphones
  • Tap your screen and make your vote choice
  • If board president calls on the public or staff, a staff member will turn on the microphone
• Reminder that live streaming is instant and if there are side conversations or multiple conversations the audio will have a hard time determining the audio to pick up. It is strongly encouraged to maintain one conversation to allow public the best chance to hear all discussion.
• Board members that call in for a meeting may have a microphone next to the phone so they can be heard. The board president may ask the call in member if they have any discussion to add and the member on the phone will be asked by the board president how they vote on each item up for vote.

5.

REPORTS

5.1

President's Report - C. Meschini

5.1.a

MHB Board Self-Assessment

C. Meschini has offered to have all board members call and discuss this further as the evaluation is rated lower this year and she would like to improve.

5.1.b

NatCon25 | May 5-7, 2025 | Philadelphia

C. Meschini states that we should have more information by next month to discuss whether any members would like to attend.

5.1.c

Educational Opportunities - See Appendix

C. Meschini mentions the NAMI walk in September and encourages all to join.

5.2

Director's Report - L. Rizzi

ED summarizes and highlights portions of the Executive Directors report which begins on page 17 in the agenda packet and can be read in full.

• MHB office space update: The agency we had secured for would like a space for client services which we cannot offer on the second floor so we will explore other interested parties before we contract with a realtor.
• IT Projects update: Door project is anticipated to be completed this week and new badges will be issued next month. The Board Room live-streaming camera project should be ready for the August board meeting due to delays with connections to the e-scribe system. These meeting links will be posted on the website and only accessible to those who click specifically on the link. 
• Our Trauma Coordinator, Gary Rukin, in collaboration with others, put together a 2 -hour video on trauma-informed care for school professionals to aid in meeting state regulations : https://youtu.be/YBIGGL3vHCE
•  Youth Empowerment Alliance received a transformation grant for their great efforts in empowering youth.
• CCCS – Consumer Credit Counseling Services recent news feed: https://www.fox32chicago.com/news/fed-datamissed-car-payments-what-means-you
• All funded Providers are now meeting the Electronic Payment requirements set in the FY24 contracts. Payments that were being held have now been released.
• Two walks coming up
  • September 28, 2024 | Never Walk Alone – Suicide Prevention Walk – details to come. Join MHB Team.
  • October 5, 2024 | NAMI Walk & Resource Table opportunity – let ED know interest | Veterans Acres - CL

5.3

Finance and Audit Committee - L. Keisman

The Finance Report can be read in full in the agenda packet starting on page 19.

L. Keisman gives an overview of the July Finance meeting with highlights below:

• Discussed mid-year reconciliations and moving dollars around with the goal to move funds back to client services. This topic will be discussed later on in this meeting.
• Adjustments to the FY25 Budget and there will be a few more adjustments to come.
• Opioid settlement dollars that have come in and how to split the dollars between FY25 and FY26 and how it is challenging to predict the dollars that will be coming in each year.
• Reviewed over-utilized and under-utilized budgets within the funded agencies.

6.

CONSENT AGENDA

• Mover: Lindsay Keisman
  Seconder: Amy Rath

  to approve the consent agenda

  Aye (6)	Carolyn Schofield, Connee Meschini, Greg Alexander, Amy Rath, Lindsay Keisman, and Christina Bruhn
  Absent (3)	Ray Lapinas, Adam Carson, and Mike Baber

  Recommended (6 to 0)

6.1

202407-49 Finance Reports for the Period Ending June 30, 2024

6.2

202407-50 Opioid Fund Reports for the Period Ending June 30, 2024

6.3

202407-51 MHB Monthly Bills

6.4

202407-52 Mental Health Board 2025 Holiday Schedule

6.5

Annual Review of Board Policy, Rules, and Procedures

7.

OLD BUSINESS - FOR DISCUSSION/FOR ACTION

7.1

Funding Application Timeline Review

L. Rizzi states that the FY25 applications are due July 31, 2024 at 4:30pm.

• Approximately $10,830,000 is budgeted for Client Services MHB funding and $650,000 budgeted for Opioid Settlement $ available for FY25.Staff reviews and input will be completed in the Foundant system in August for Board review/input to follow.
• MHB Board Members will be able to access and review applications in Foundant and will receive hard copies for review.
• MHB staff recommendations will be presented at the September MHB Regular Meeting.
• The 2 MHB Special Board meetings are October 9 and October 16 for new programs and new applicant presentations and board questions.

7.2

202407-53 FY25 Budget Adjustments

M. Duran gives the overview of the adjustments.

• Mover: Lindsay Keisman
  Seconder: Greg Alexander

  The McHenry County Mental Health Board, Board of Directors, hereby approves the FY25 Budget Adjustments as presented in this Decision Memo and directs the Executive Director to update the FY25 budget entry in the D365 system accordingly. 

  Aye (7)	Carolyn Schofield, Connee Meschini, Adam Carson, Greg Alexander, Amy Rath, Lindsay Keisman, and Christina Bruhn
  Absent (2)	Ray Lapinas, and Mike Baber

  Recommended (7 to 0)

8.

NEW BUSINESS - FOR DISCUSSION/FOR ACTION

8.1

202407-54 General Policy Statements

Policy is updated to reflect sales tax vs. property tax.

• Mover: Lindsay Keisman
  Seconder: Amy Rath

  To approve the changes to the General Policy Statements

  Aye (7)	Carolyn Schofield, Connee Meschini, Adam Carson, Greg Alexander, Amy Rath, Lindsay Keisman, and Christina Bruhn
  Absent (2)	Ray Lapinas, and Mike Baber

  Recommended (7 to 0)

8.2

202407-55 FY25 Budget Forms

• Mover: Carolyn Schofield
  Seconder: Lindsay Keisman

  To approve the FY25 Budget Forms required by the county

  Aye (7)	Carolyn Schofield, Connee Meschini, Adam Carson, Greg Alexander, Amy Rath, Lindsay Keisman, and Christina Bruhn
  Absent (2)	Ray Lapinas, and Mike Baber

  Recommended (7 to 0)

8.3

202407-56 FY24 Budget Adjustments

Efficiencies found in budget that MHB staff would like to move to client services.

• Mover: Lindsay Keisman
  Seconder: Carolyn Schofield

  The McHenry County Mental Health Board, Board of Directors, hereby approves the FY24 Budget Adjustments as presented in this Decision Memo and directs the Executive Director to update the FY24 budget entry in the D365 system accordingly

  Aye (7)	Carolyn Schofield, Connee Meschini, Adam Carson, Greg Alexander, Amy Rath, Lindsay Keisman, and Christina Bruhn
  Absent (2)	Ray Lapinas, and Mike Baber

  Recommended (7 to 0)

9.

MEMBERS' COMMENT

G. Alexander mentions an article regarding neurodiversity hiring practices for non-neuro typical people and it can be sent out to anyone interested. L. Rizzi will send out to IDD group.

C. Schofield recommends that meeting minutes can be consolidated vs. verbatim, and we can add verbiage in future meeting minutes stating 'see video/link for full discussion'. There is a consensus of the board to consolidate the minutes.

C. Bruhn provides an overview of the agency visits she attended. The agencies visited were Consumer Credit Counseling Services, Turning Point, Northern Illinois Recovery Center, The Break, Pioneer Center. Feel free to contact her for any questions.

10.

APPENDIX

11.

EXECUTIVE SESSION - AS NEEDED

No Executive Session

12.

ADJOURN

• Mover: Lindsay Keisman
  Seconder: Carolyn Schofield

  To adjourn the meeting at 6:53 pm.

  Approved by Voice