Chambana Sun

Champaign Human Relations Commission met Monday, Nov. 7.

The Champaign Human Rights Commission consists of nine members who are appointed by the mayor for three-year terms. Meetings are held at 5:30 p.m. on the first Monday of each month in the Council Chambers, 102 N. Neil St.

Here are the minutes as provided by Champaign:

NOTICE OF PUBLIC MEETING HUMAN RELATIONS COMMISSION 102 North Neil Street Champaign, IL 61820 (217) 403-8830

Monday, November 7, 2016

5:30 p.m.

Champaign City Building, Council Chambers, 1st floor 102 North Neil Street Champaign, Illinois 61820

MEETING NOTES

I. Call to Order

5:30

II. Roll Call

FELTY: William Jones no longer on Commission – thank you for your service to the Commission. No officer here at the moment – Felty will chair the meeting – no votes taken unless officer shows up. Commissioner Creighton Comer ill tonight

III. Approval of Meeting Minutes: October 3, 2016

Corrections to meeting minutes: Page 2 – sea change not seat change (LaDue) After presentation: asked staff to draft a letter to City Council requesting the change SRO presentation: Add short paragraph of discussion and questions and answers – “lively discussion,” what measures are in place to note their claim of success for students; asked them to report back to us to ask what Urbana’s SRO situation is Front: Draft of letter to Council would appear under New Business Note under New Business: draft of Human Rights Ordinance Orlando Thomas’s title was incomplete

MOTION: Elmore: approve minutes with those directions for changes Bressner: 2nd Passes unanimously

IV. Correspondence/Announcements

a. HRC Commissioners’ Retreat – Doodle Poll

i. Only 6 responses so farii. Preferred time of those respondents – Monday, February 6, 4:00-5:00 PM

V. Staff and Committee Reports – Rachel Joy, Community Relations Manager/Compliance Officer

a. Community Relations Office Monthly Activity Reports Since the October 3, HRC meeting, there has been: One discrimination case closed in the Community Relations Office. CRO currently has no open cases.

Since the October 3, HRC meeting, the Champaign Police Department: Has opened one new citizen complaint. There are currently two open cases with the Police Department.

Reentry Resource Fair – October 11, 2016: On Tuesday, October 11, staff from the Community Relations Office attended the Champaign County Reentry Resource Fair. Event was held at the Illinois Terminal. Purpose of this event was to offer a “one-stop-shop” venue to link citizens returning to the community after incarceration to local resources Local resources may include things such as: obtaining employment, education, health care, etc. The staff from CRO educated participants about Champaign’s Human Rights Ordinance and what to do if they feel they are being discriminated against during their process of reintegration back into their community. There were approximately 32 local agencies available to the 66 participants who attended the 3-hour event.

disABILITY Resource Expo – October 15, 2016: On Saturday, October 15, the City of Champaign Community Relations Office/Human Relations Commission partnered with the City of Urbana Human Relations Office/Urbana Human Relations Commission Hosted a resource table at the 10th Annual disABILITY Resource Expo Held at the Fluid Event Center in Champaign. Commissioner Elmore attended this event with CRO staff. Barbara Bressner, Champaign Human Relations Commissioner serves as Expo Coordinator Most well attended event in the ten years since its inception.

Expungement and Record-Sealing Summit – October 22, 2016: On Saturday, October 22, CRO staff and Human Relations Commissioners were on site at the Resource Fair of the first annual Expungement and Record Sealing Summit.

Event was hosted by the Champaign County Circuit Clerk’s office and was the first of its kind in Illinois, outside of Cook County. Held at Stone Creek Church in Urbana. Hundreds of volunteers, and hundreds of participants. Event was considered a success by its planners. Commissioners who attended this event with CRO staff were: Elmore, Felty, and Young. b. Activities for October:

Since the October 3, HRC meeting, there has been:

• One discrimination case closed in the Community Relations Office.

• CRO currently has no open cases.

Since the October 3, HRC meeting, the Champaign Police Department:

• Has opened one new citizen complaint.

• There are currently two open cases with the Police Department.

Update from Commissioner Bressner: disABILITY Resource Expo – October 15, 2016

• 1500-2000 participants

• 92 exhibitors there

• Very happy to have the Penguin Project – even saw a few tears in the audience

• Art fair – 27 artists/entrepreneurs selling various items

• Still going through evaluations. We use those as tools to help plan the next year.

• Working on a new venue for next year due to Fluid Event Center Closing so open to suggestions Update: Expungement and Record-Sealing Summit – October 22, 2016

• Elmore – great event by Katie Blakeman’s office. Great event. Very well attended. I voted early today, it was packed, I got in there and right as I was about to vote someone came up to him and recognized Kenton Elmore from the Expungement Summit. The guy said he was there voting and had he not been to the Expungement Summit, he wouldn’t have known he was eligible to vote.

• Felty – will this be an annual event? Elmore answered: there was certainly indication that they will continue to have every year. c. Hiring Report: In the month of October, the City of Champaign hired one white male,

one white female, one who identified as “other.”

VI. Audience Participation

• None

VII. Community Presentation

a. Champaign County Health Care Consumers

• Adani Sanchez, Client Service Coordinator

• Affordable Care Act – open enrollment started Nov 1

• History

1. Health care advocacy and assistance organization that has been fighting for health care justice since 1977. 2. Unique organization that does both direct services and community organizing. 3. CCHCC has many partnerships and collaborations with other organizations to serve our community.

• Services

1. Enrollment in free or affordable health insurance 2. Access to free or affordable health care 3. Medicaid and SNAP applications 4. Access to free or affordable dental care, eye exams and glasses, and prescriptions 5. Dealing with medical bills and applying for hospital financial assistance 6. Medicare (CCHCC is a certified SHIP site) 7. Help with insurance problems (denials of claims, etc.) 8. Most staff are Bi-Lingual (English/Spanish)

• Services available to anyone, free of charge

• Primarily focused on finding insurance through Medicaid, Medicare, Health Insurance Marketplace

• Who is uninsured in Illinois?

1. 741,000 people 2. Uninsured rate has dropped from 17.8% (2013) to 10.6% 3. Of the non elderly uninsured (2016): 4. 2% are children, 5. 28% are eligible for Medicaid 6. 16% are eligible for Tax Credits on the Marketplace

• Who is uninsured locally?

1. According to Illinois Economic Policy Institute, 8% of Champaign County residents are uninsured (2015). 2. A majority of uninsured Champaign County residents are located in the Champaign-Urbana area

• Goals for the ACA

1. Expand health insurance coverage 2. Improve coverage for those with health insurance 3. Improve access to, and quality of care 4. Control rising health care costs

• Benefits & Protections of ACA

1. Benefits

a. Allow adult children to remain on their parents’ health insurance policy until age 26 b. Certain preventive services are covered at no cost including well-care visits

c. Contraceptive coverage and STI testing/counseling with no co-pays 2. Protections

a. No lifetime caps or limits b. Insurance companies cannot drop coverage because of illness c. People with pre-existing conditions cannot be denied insurance or

charged more (2010 for children and 2014 for adults) d. Medical loss ratio

• Some of the plans expand into private health insurance

• Up to 138% of federal poverty level

• Tax credits for income between 139%-400% FPL

• Medicaid expansion

1. Public health insurance program through the state of Illinois. 2. Expanded by the ACA to include single adults between the ages of 19-64 and up to 138% of the federal poverty level. 3. Offers comprehensive coverage, including mental health, lab work, dental, and vision. 4. No premium for most types of Medicaid and very low cost-sharing.

• Where to apply for Medicaid

1. Online at abe.illinois.gov or healthcare.gov. 2. By mail with a mail-in application to the DHS Champaign County Family Community Resource Center 705 N Country Fair Dr., Champaign. 3. In person at the DHS Champaign County Family Community Resource Center 705 N Country Fair Dr., Champaign. 4. Or with CCHCC!

• The Health Insurance Marketplace is a “one stop shop” where people can enroll or find out if they are eligible for private health insurance plans and Medicaid.

• The Health Insurance Marketplace can be accessed through HealthCare.gov.

• Consumers can also find out if they are eligible for tax credits and cost-sharing reductions by entering their income.

• Open enrollment for the marketplace is November 1 – January 31, 2017 for insurance to start as early as January 1, 2017

• Who can shop in the marketplace?

1. Uninsured individuals 2. People on individual health insurance plans 3. People who purchase dependent coverage 4. People with COBRA health insurance 5. Self-employed people with no employees 6. Families 7. Small businesses 8. People whose health insurance is unaffordable (more than 9.5% of their annual income) 9. Must be U.S. citizen, permanent resident, or visa holder

• Who cannot shop in the marketplace?

1. People with Medicare 2. People with Medicaid 3. Incarcerated people 4. Undocumented individuals

• Encouraging everyone to put in your income, see what kind of eligibility plans you’re approved for

• When you submit your taxes, you will have to say if you had insurance and if not you will have to pay a fine to IRS

• Exemptions & individual responsibility

1. Individuals were required to have health coverage that meets minimum standards starting in 2014 2. Individual responsibility requirement spreads costs among whole population and is enforced through the tax system 3. Not having coverage for more than 2 months in 2016 will result in tax penalties-- $695 per adult ($347.50 per child under 18), up to a family maximum of $2,085 or 2.5% of your income (whichever is greater). 4. The fee is calculated 2 different ways – as a percentage of your household income or a flat fee per person. You’ll pay whichever is higher. The fee rises with inflation in future years. 5. Exemptions for certain groups: if you are part of a religion that opposes having an insurance policy, undocumented immigrants, incarcerated persons, if your income is below the threshold for filing a tax return, or if you have to pay more than 8% of your income towards health insurance.

• Impact on community

1. Thousands of uninsured people will get health insurance and gain access to health care. 2. Unreimbursed care at hospitals and clinics will go down. 3. More competition among insurers. 4. Employers able to offer better coverage; employees and dependents get coverage. 5. Stimulate local economy and grow health care sector. 6. Improve overall health of community; reduce morbidity and mortality.

• Open enrollment & Medicaid enrollment periods

1. Open enrollment for the Marketplace: November 1, 2016 – January 31, 2017, for insurance to start as early as January 1, 2017. 2. Some individuals might experience life changes that qualify them for Special Enrollment Periods throughout the year. 3. Medicaid enrollment is open year-round.

• FELTY: Where did you get the numbers of uninsured? How are those numbers generated?

• CCHCC: Illinois Economic Institute

• CCHCC: We don’t have a database of everyone in Illinois and whether or not they have insurance. It gets difficult to track everyone because situations can change. The Rantoul pockets I was talking about the data comes from PUMA. Not even precise numbers. Part of the problem is just figuring out where people are at a given time.

• We work with our statewide partner, Get Covered Illinois, to make sure they do advertising here. I also go to Rantoul once a month. We post fliers. Make sure we’re doing press. A lot of what happens in our office is word of mouth but those people may not necessarily be the people who have been uninsured. Post fliers at library, social media.

• The hospitals actually have their own strategies in place for situations of uninsured. We do have a referral situation for Carle social workers.

• ELMORE: Great presentation. In regard to business owners particularly small business owners, do you have a lot of business owners come in? 1. No, most of them just call with general questions about SHOP 2. SHOP marketplace, is for small business owners and we can help with that

VIII. New Business

a. FELTY: Status on the recommendation to Council to change the Human Rights Ordinance?

Staff is working on it. The Community Relations Office will give updates as we have them. That is something staff will draft, so what we will report back to the Commission is where we are in the process. YOUNG: Has the recommendation been given directly to City Council?

It has to go to City Council and we will continue to report back as we get updates. The vote to make the recommendation to City Council to remove the language about conviction is the only action that HRC needed to take for that item.

b. FELTY: Should we talk about appointing a new secretary since William Jones is no longer on the commission? YOUNG: Any volunteers to step up to be the Secretary? The duties of Secretary include reading the minutes before each meeting. ELMORE: Gladly volunteers to take the position of secretary

YOUNG: Is there anyone else? Seeing no others, I would like to call for a vote that Mr. Elmore be secretary of the Human Relations Commission for City of Champaign.

VOTE: passes unanimously

IX. Audience Participation a. None

X. Commissioners’ Comments

ELMORE – My earlier question was in regard to how many small business owners go to the Champaign County Health Care Consumers office to see about going to the marketplace to get insurance for employees. Planning & Development here at City of Champaign has done a lot in regard to businesses in our community. I think it would be worthwhile to get Adani in touch with them, specifically with TJ Blakeman. There is definitely value there.

YOUNG: At a recent meeting of the Ministerial Alliance, questions arose about the make-up of the committee for the MLK Countywide Celebration and how the individuals on the committee are chosen to be on the committee? How can we make that transparent to the pubic? There was question about certain groups chosen to receive the award. There are other groups who have submitted nominations but have never been chosen. How do you choose the groups who get the awards on that day?

JOY: The committee is taking nominations until November 14 and we have not received one nomination. People may contact the Community Relations Office about how to nominate. It would be great if we get some nominations this year.

YOUNG: My understanding was that there has been a lack of nominations. There was kickback that we have submitted these nominations and the groups were never selected. We do have to take people’s valid concerns. I’m glad that you made the statement that there are not any nominations.

JOY: Nominations may be submitted for individuals or organizations.

FELTY: City of Champaign, City of Urbana, County Board, U of I, and Parkland are the organizations on committee. Representatives from City of Urbana – Alex Bautista, Tony Weck, Stacie Burnett (new to the committee). Representatives from City of Champaign – Rachel Joy, Sara Alvis, Amy Felty. From the County – Giraldo Rosales & Tammy Asplund. From Parkland – Marietta Turner & Kathleen McAndrew. From U of I – Tracy Kleparski & Assata Zerai.

YOUNG: I also want to point out that there is another committee. Rev. Dr. Shelby is chairperson for that committee and sometimes people get the two confused.

FELTY: We do need people to contact either of the cities. Can also go online to submit nominations.

XI. Adjournment

YOUNG: MOTION TO ADJOURN ELMORE: SECONDS MOTION Meeting adjourned at 6:26 PM