Chicago Children’s Advocacy Center
June 12, 2015; 3:00 – 5:30 PM
Board of Directors Meeting
Chicago Children’s Advocacy Center, 1240 S. Damen
MINUTES
ChicagoCACBoard of Directors
Tom SampsonPresidentPresent
Julie SheltonVice PresidentPresent
Barry P. SiegalSecretaryPresent (Phone)
Maribel Mata-BenedictOutgoing Legal CounselPresent
Michael G. MelzerKattenMuchinRosenman, New Legal CounselPresent
Carina MarkelMember-at-LargePresent (Phone)
Melissa SherrodMember-at-LargePresent
Michael DoughertyMember-at-LargePresent
Sarah PaulsenMember-at-LargePresent
Sheila McGinn-DormanMember-at-LargePresent
Stanley Stevens Member-at-LargePresent
Suneel MandavaMember-at-LargePresent
Tabrina DavisMember-at-LargePresent (Phone)
Thresa NelsonMember-at-LargePresent (Phone)
Victoria LautmanMember-at-LargePresent
William DoddsMember-at-LargePresent
ChicagoCAC Key Staff
Char RivetteChicagoCAC Executive DirectorPresent
Jan WatersChicagoCAC Sr. Director of Clinical ServicesAbsent
Jim VondracekChicagoCAC Chief External Affairs OfficerPresent
Meg O’RourkeChicagoCAC Director of Strategic InitiativesPresent
Michelle MedvinChicagoCAC Executive AssistantPresent
Michelle SwensonChicagoCACControllerPresent
Shawnte JenkinsChicagoCAC Sr. Dir of Advocacy & Investigative Svcs.Present
Susan HoganChicagoCACChief Operating OfficerPresent
Absent
Kevin BerryTreasurerAbsent
Adrienne FasanoMember-at-LargeAbsent
Diane Johnson MayMember-at-LargeAbsent
Michael MontalbanoMember-at-LargeAbsent
Ozzie GodinezMember-at-LargeAbsent
Terry HoltMember-at-LargeAbsent
Welcome & Introductions Tom Sampson
At 3:09 PM on June 12, 2015, Tom Sampson welcomed all Board members and called the meeting to order. He acknowledged the many contributions of out-going Board member and Board Treasurer Kevin Berry, and also those of outgoing pro bono legal counsel Maribel Mata Benedict. Maribel commented that it’s been a pleasure and a privilege to serve ChicagoCAC and she is sorry she can no longer serve as pro bono counsel now that she’s moving from Katten to Miller Canfield. Maribel introduced Michael G. Melzer of KattenMuchinRosenaman. He has a history with ChicagoCAC, having served on the Associate’s Board, and is pleased to be here. Char presented Maribel with a tile for her contributions to the center.
It was noted that a quorum was present.
Approval of Minutes from March 12, 2015 Board Meeting Tom Sampson
From now on Board members will be noted as “Directors” rather than “Members,” as the By-laws state “there are no members.”
M0615-01Approval of Minutes
MotionMotion to Approve March 12, 2015 Meeting Minutes
ProposedDodds
SecondedDougherty
Passed Unanimously
Case Highlight—Partner Perspective Joan Pernecke, Chief, Child Protection Division, Cook County SAO
Joan has worked with ChicagoCAC since it opened and continues to work closely with the multi-disciplinary team. Juvenile Court is responsible for the civil court proceedings for children believed to be abused or neglected. There may be corresponding criminal cases as well. Joan’s division screens all cases in Cook County and prosecutes them through to adjudication and disposition. They may also file a petition to terminate parental rights in the most egregious cases and those where parents have not addressed untreated mental health issues, domestic violence, substance abuse, etc. ChicagoCAC is a crucial part of the juvenile court’s investigation. ChicagoCAC coordinates investigations even if the child is too young to be interviewed. Joan noted that her cases involve children from infancy through adolescence and highlighted some specific examples. She stressed the importance of the on-site medical clinic and doctors who know what they’re doing when evaluating children. Too many well-meaning physicians don’t know the best way to examine children who have been victims of sexual abuse. More than anything, the central housing of knowledge and meeting of the minds on the proper course of action for specific cases that is possible because of ChicagoCAC cannot be underestimated. It makes a huge difference in the way these cases progress.
Organization Highlights/Experience in Republic of Georgia Char Rivette
Char shared that this has been a challenging quarter. The percentage of cases receiving Forensic Interviews and/or Advocacy services has increased dramatically over the last few months. The percentage of children 12 and under receiving FIs, which is part of ChicagoCAC’s mandate, hit an all-time high of 91% in March. That means almost every reported case resulted in an interview. FIs for children 13 and older is a goal ChicagoCAC has been working towards for some time. It’s not part of the mandate but simply the right thing to do. In the past, CPD has been the stumbling block to increasing this number, but now we have agreement from all partners. The goal for this year was 15% and that percentage has been doubled, tripled, or even more over the last few months.
Char recently traveled to the Republic of Georgia through a program calledProject Outbound, paid for by the American Counsel. While there, she held a round-table meeting with different ministries responsible for law, education, and human services. She also met with a coalition of young professionals, many of whom work for the government and do child welfare work “on the side” as there is no not-for-profit funding anywhere in Georgia. Char also visited a small agency working to start up a CAC: a pediatrician who came to ChicagoCAC about five years ago to learn about the model went back to Georgia and started to create one. Her funding comes from international aid, mostly the European Union, and they are still trying to convince law enforcement to bring children there for services. Char noted that the trip really invigorated her, reminding her of the importance of the grass-roots effort and how crucial the people who work on the front lines, doing the work every day, really are to children’s lives.
A social worker Char met with is particularly interested in working with children with disabilities, and is now writing a proposal for funding for consultation on protection of kids with disabilities. The hope is that ChicagoCAC will be able to assist (and be compensated for) with policy, procedure, technical assistance, and eventually sending some staff over there to work.
Tom noted that this kind of a trip is a true testament to Char and ChicagoCAC’s leadership in the arena. The Board agrees there must be some way to leverage this. Sheila McGinn Dorman pointed out that we also need to find a way to
advertise the number of people ChicagoCAC is training, particularly the work that is currently happening with Chicago Park District employees. Meg O’Rourke agreed that the Park District needs to be tooting their own horn on this, as no one else in nation is doing this kind of training for their park districts.
**Action Item: Communications and Development Committees should discuss how training and education can be leveraged for both public awareness and as a potential money-maker.
Report of Governance Committee Tom Sampson
The Governance Committee had a good meeting last month and has two things to present for official approval today.
M0615-02Election of Officers to Two-Year Term (Tom Sampson, President; Julie Shelton, Vice President; Barry Siegal, Secretary; Michael Dougherty, Treasurer)
MotionMotion to Approve Above Slate of Officers
ProposedStevens
SecondedMcGinn Dorman
Passed Unanimously
M0615-03Approval of New Pro Bono Legal Counsel Michael G. Melzer
MotionMotion to Approve New Pro Bono Legal Counsel
ProposedDodds
SecondedStevens
Passed Unanimously
The Governance Committee continues to look for additional financial and HR expertise for the Board. They are currently going through the pre-membership steps with Richard Sherman, who has a finance background. Diane Johnson May is using her Kraft team to assist theOrganizational Development Committee with HR issues, but if anyone has any connections with this type of expertise, we are eager to meet with them. We are also continuing to work on increasing Board diversity. All Directors should look to their networks for people with the necessary expertise and diversity.
**Action Item: All Directors should consider those in their networks with the expertise needed on the Board.
Report of Finance & Administration Committee Michelle Swenson
- FY2015
The FY2015 cash flow forecast is less than ideal. We still haven’t been paid anything from DCFS for the 4th quarter. There has also been a change in terms of the way we get paid from the City of Chicago; it is no longer a grant arrangement and we are considered a “delegate agency.” This isn’t because of anything we did or didn’t do, just part of the way the city is tightening things up. As a delegate agency, we are no longer on a quarterly payment system and we need to submit monthly vouchers, and this wasn’t laid out very well for us at the beginning of the new fiscal year.There has been a learning curve and we are now catching up. We are currently missing $484,000 from DCFS which should be in by the first week of August at the latest. The City of Chicago owes us $225,000 from April and will owe another $225,000 in July. Michelle explained that she made a strategic borrow of $200,000 from our line of credit this week, a line of credit that had previously been unused for three years (and in fact had been reduced because we hadn’t used it). If we do need more, we should be able to extend the line of credit within two weeks. We are budgeting for revenue to be down about $200,000 total for FY2015. There was a City of Chicago increase we applied for and didn’t receive, and we missed some targets in Foundations & Corporations, partially due to the turnover in the External Affairs department, that we are hoping to recoup next year. Expenses are also down about $200,000 due to restructuring, turnover, and hiring delays. All told, we are forecasting a small deficit of $14,000.
- FY2016 BUDGET
Based on conversations with our DCFS Grant Monitor, we have budgeted for flat revenue from DCFS for FY2016. We do have some contingencies in place if there was to be an unexpected decrease. We are budgeted for flat government revenue across the board, and are currently looking to ramp up in terms of private money, aiming for a 60-40 split of public vs. private money. Tom commented that historically ChicagoCAC hasn’t stretched much in terms of development and have instead managed any shortfalls by managing expenses. Now that we are in a larger facility with a growing staff, we need to push ourselves more in that regard. Suneel Mandava noted that the Finance & Administration Committee made it a point to make sure the Development Committee was also tied into the budgeting process in the future.
Regarding foundations, we don’t have the option of reapplying to either Robert Wood Johnson-local funding partners or VNA for the coming fiscal year. This equates to us needing to make up $200,000 in grant dollars from new sources. Looking for new potential partners is crucial and something the External Affairs team has already been focusing on for months. This budget assumes nearly a quarter of a million dollars in money from new foundation partners, which is a very aggressive goal. We are also looking to build on the success of our events in FY2015 and have budgeted to increase revenues there. In terms of the Annual Fund, we are aiming for steady 10% growth over the next few years. Tom noted that the logic to this stretching is that the External Affairs department is currently fully staffed and has recently received a private grant to pay for a new staff member to focus specifically on individual giving. The Board questioned how realistic the budgeted increases in the Annual Fundand Growing & Giving Campaign are. Jim noted that a 10% increase in the annual fund is a significant goal in terms of percentage, but not in terms of dollars. It’s a challenge, but an appropriate challenge. Growing & Giving is more difficult to speculate about. We need to raise about half a million dollars in new gifts and pledges for the campaign in FY2016. This will be one of the specific focuses for the new staff member. Char noted that having a staff member to focus specifically on individual gifts was a recommendation made by the Alford Group several years ago. The Board discussed whether public awareness of the center is related to an increase in individual gifts. It is related, but public awareness campaigns are not a substitute for fundraising. Rather, public awareness is the background against which we fundraise.
Stan Stevens noted there was a decrease in the line for the Kids Holiday Party in the upcoming Fiscal Year. That is due to a large match that was booked through that event in FY2015, which is not the kind of thing that can be counted on. We have looked at other ways to sponsor the KHP in the past, but it’s always been a money in/money out situation.
The Board requests that ChicagoCAC develop a broad set of metrics to use as key performance indicators (KPIs) in terms of how often/how many grant proposals, LOIs, etc.go out.
**Action Item: The External Affairs department and Development Committee should develop these metrics.
Jim noted that, despite the focus on how we can improve, we are actually very close to our FY2015 target for private fundraising; as of the end of May we were $18,000 away and are now unofficially even closer.
We briefly touched on expenses and noted that 73% of ChicagoCAC’s expenses are salary, benefits, and other personnel expenses. Currently we are at 64 staff members and will be bumping up to 68 in FY2016; 59 FT and 9 PT.
Michelle Swenson shared the contingency plan of options in case there is an unexpected decrease in State funding. One option is to pass along the cut to the medical subcontractors and adjust headcount. Another option is to eliminate raises, makes cuts in staff training, and cut staff morale events like milk and cookies on Fridays. Neither of these are ideal options but they are viable. Char noted that we supply services in exchange for money. If the state cuts our funding, there is a point at which we need to respond by cutting services.
M0615-04Approval of FY2016 Budget
MotionMotion to Approve FY2016 Budget
ProposedDodds
SecondedPaulsen
Passed Unanimously
**Action Item: Michelle Medvin will send today’s meeting PowerPoint to the full Board.
Report of Strategic Initiatives Committee Stanley Stevens & Char Rivette
The Strategic Initiatives Committee met in April and is scheduled to meet again in July. The committee spent most of their first meeting talking about their mission. They will discuss their Charter at the July meeting, after which they will bring it back to the full Board for approval. Stan noted that this committee wants to focus on how to be the best Board possible without stepping on the jurisdiction of any other committee. The bottom line is that this committee exists to help Char and her staff think strategically rather than operationally, and come up with measurable goals.
Report of Development Committee Sheila McGinn Dorman
The Development Committee is a small but mighty committee currently consisting of Sheila McGinn Dorman (Co-chair), Adrienne Fasano (Co-chair), Tom Sampson, Melissa Sherrod, and Tabrina Davis. They are currently hoping to addHarry Harczak, Mara Walsh, and possibly Alan Bell. They have committed to monthly meetings and will get dates on the calendar as soon as possible.
Tom offered praise to Sheila for her role in the success of the Luminary Award Dinner. Sheila noted again that we are currently less than $18,000 away from our private fundraising goal for FY2015.
Report of Organizational Development Committee Tom Sampson
Tom reiterated that this committee is tapping into Diane Johnson May’s HR department at Kraft. That team seems very pleased to be applying their expertise to a worthy organization. The first phase of the committee and Kraft team’s work will include focus on manager and supervisor training, succession planning, and compensation and benefits.
Report of Communications Committee Sarah Paulsen
The Communications Committee has aligned on their Charter and is hoping to add people with public relations and media landscape skillsets. They will meet monthly at a minimum but have been touching base bi-weekly of late. They want to put a strong plan in place and tie in strongly with the Development Committee.
Report on Growing & Giving Campaign Jim Vondracek
We are currently at 1.088 million dollars against our 2.5 million dollar total campaign goal. There are five particular components for the plan moving forward: Lead Gifts, Committee Leadership, Prospect Pool and Research, Staffing and Moves Management, and Data Tools. A key point is that this campaign morphs into an operating fund, and that’s what the Development Committee needs to frame out. Securing lead gifts will be a major focus of FY2016. A possible endowment also has to be one of our next steps for the future. Bill Dodds questioned whether,if someone initially committed to Growing Giving,we are seeing it turn into an Annual Fund gift. The answer to that is not yet, as many people were solicited for both at the same time, but that is certainly something we will attempt to see happen at the conclusion of the campaign.
Executive Session Tom Sampson
No executive session was held.
Adjournment Tom SampsonMeeting was adjourned at5:39pm.
M0615-05Adjournment
MotionMotion to Adjourn
Passed Unanimously