Board of Health — Skokie, IL
Date: 2024-11-14

Skokie Board of Health
 Thursday, November 14, 2024
 7:00 pm
 Conference Room D&E, Village Hall, 5127 Oakton St

 AGENDA

I. Call to Order

II. Approval of Agenda

III. Approval of Minutes: October 10, 2024 Meeting

IV. District 219: Supporting Student Well-Being: Addressing Behavioral Health
 in Our School Community, Felix Caceres - Niles West School Psychologist
 and Tony Meier - Assistant Director of Student Services

V. BOH Chair Updates

VI. Director of Health and Human Services Updates, Mike Charley
 A. Cannabis Flyer & Education
 B. Backyard Chickens Update

VII. Old Business

VIII. New Business

IX. Public Comments

X. Adjournment

 Next Regular Meeting: December 12, 2024 @ 7:00 p.m.




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Skokie Board of Health
 Thursday, November 14, 2024
 7:00 pm

 Conference Room D&E, Village Hall, 5127 Oakton St



 MINUTES


In attendance: Dr. Bruce Gaynes, Dr. Michael Gottesman, Maureen Hanlon, Dr. Girijia Kalyan
Kumar, Margaret Keeler, Dr. Stephen Lupovitch, Dr. Kyungran Shim, Dr. Romil Sood, Patricia
Urbanus, Irtaza Usman, Ruth Varma, Sibyl Yau; Liaison (Vice-Chair); Staff Liaison: Mike Charley;
Not in attendance: Dr. Swapna Dave, Juliet Haido, Dr. Edward Linn (Chair), Heidi Nickisch Duggan,
Rohit Pandya, Dr. William Werner, Dr. Larry Williams; Trustee James Johnson Trustee Keith
Robinson

I. Call to Order at 7:00 PM

II. Approval of Agenda, Approved, first by Keeler, second by Hanlon

III. Approval of Minutes: October 10, 2024 Meeting, Approved, first by Keeler, second by
 Hanlon

IV. District 219: Supporting Student Well-Being: Addressing Behavioral Health in Our
 School Community, Felix Caceres - Niles West School Psychologist and Tony Meier -
 Assistant Director of Student Services. Mike Charley provided an introduction to this
 agenda item, communicating that at Dr. Werner had previously recommended that the
 BOH invite staff from School District 219 to come to a BOH meeting to discuss youth
 mental health. Charley reached out to District 219 and scheduled District 219 to present
 at tonight’s BOH meeting. Caceras and Meier presented on “Youth Mental Health in
 D219”, and their presentation included a Powerpoint presentation. They introduced
 themselves and first provided an overview of District 219’s four locations, Niles North,
 Niles West, Niles Central and Bridges, they included each school’s student population
 and an overview of the Student Services’ staffing at each location. There presentation
 answered the following questions:
 A. What are the most common behavioral health challenges students are facing
 today? Their list included School Refusal/Attendance, Anxiety/Depression,
 Unhealthy Relationships, Social Media/Cell Phone Use (shapes perceptions of
 self), Homelessness (behavioral/emotional issues related to homelessness),
 Immigration, Drug use/Vaping, Bullying
 B. How does the school identify students who may be struggling with behavioral
 health issues? They described that the school district uses a problem-solving
 team/pupil services team structure, which includes staff meeting weekly, using
 data systems to identify health issues, team discussion and a team approach to
 determining best supports for students. They use various indicators to identify
 behavioral health problems including such things as falling grades, problematic

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 attendance, increased usage of mental health days, student/parent self-reporting,
 statements/actions of self-harm, “Gaggle” alerts and a semi-annual Panarama
 Education survey.
 C. What specific behavioral health programs or interventions does the school offer?
 Examples of programs and interventions include: School based support providing
 individual and group support. Common group interventions (Mindfulness,
 Skittles, Transfer, Art Stress Reduction, Gratitude, Young Men, Young Women,
 Social Skills, Executive Functioning, Asian Pacific Islander, Anxiety/Stress, Latinx
 Affinity, Caught between 2 Worlds, Social Communications). They also use
 Panorama (data is used to create groups and identify students in need of
 individual support). They have partnerships with outside agencies: (Peer Services,
 National Alliance On Mental Illness, Go Lime Green, Freshman Coping Skills,
 Senior Transition From High School). They use restorative Practices through the
 Peer Reconciliation Committee. They also use Dean Interventions (Hate Speech,
 Vape Educate, etc.). They conduct staff training/awareness: (CPI, Trauma
 Responsive Educational Practices). Finally, they manage students identified with
 IEP’s and are on 504 Plans.
 D. How does the school involve families in addressing students’ behavioral health
 concerns? They conduct parent presentations and have a parent’s advisory
 council, they have parent advocates that provide for translation and school
 support, they conduct parent/teacher conferences, they have well attended open
 houses and have several student groups including: Cafesito (Latino Parents),
 AFFINITY (African/Black Caribbean), Chai Pe Charcha (South Asian), Suraye
 (Assyrian).
 E. What supports are available for students during a behavioral health crisis? They
 have immediate access to a Student Services team, they have a Threat
 Assessment Team, the conduct health/safety assessments, conduct homicidal
 assessments, they partner with Glenview Youth Services and have “Screening,
 Assessment and Support Services (SASS).
 F. How does the school collaborate with external behavioral health providers or
 community resources? Their Student Services maintains a list of
 mental/behavioral health providers, they hold an annual resource fair, they have
 a homebound tutoring post hospitalization program and they work with agencies
 like Glenview Youth Services, Peer Services and NAMI.
 G. How does the school collaborate with parents who are not proficient in English?
 They have District 219 Family Liaisons, which is a district team that provides
 translation support and assistance in navigating the school system. They also have
 several support groups including Affinity (African-Black-Caribbean), Arabic,
 Assyrian, Gujarati, Hindi, Korean, Spanish, Urdu. Finally, they use language line
 solutions that are on-demand telephonic translation services and support.

V. BOH Chair Updates: None

VI. Director of Health and Human Services Updates, Mike Charley: Charley provided some
 general updates including how Health and Human Services (HHS) is partnering with
 Advocate Health Care to provide free flu vaccine to children at 10 different Skokie
 schools, HHS recently launched the annual Assist a Family fundraising campaign and
 HHS’s senior health insurance program volunteers offer appointments to assist Skokie
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 residents with Medicare open enrollment that started on October 15 and ends on
 December 7. HHS recently promoted Derek Walker to a full-time Environmental Control
 Officer and hired Jess Baylon, a new part-time Community Health Worker.
 A. Cannabis Flyer & Education: Earlier in October HHS and the Village finalized the
 Cannabis education flyer that was developed through Board of Health research
 and guidance. Information on the safe and responsible use of cannabis was
 included in the Village’s weekly newsletter “the Scoop” on October 23. As part of
 the cannabis education campaign, HHS has 300 cannabis lockable stash bags to
 give away to Skokie residents.
 B. Backyard Chickens Update: The BOH voted at the October meeting to
 recommend the Village retain the prohibition on chicken keeping. Following the
 meeting Dr. Linn and Mike Charley drafted a memo to Mayor George VanDusen
 and Village Manager John Lockerby communicating the BOH’s recommendation.
 Backyard Chickens has been added as an agenda item under “New Business” for
 the Monday November 18, 2024 Village Board meeting. Dr. Linn will be
 presenting the Board of Health’s chicken keeping recommendation and the
 rationale behind the recommendation. Mike Charley will also be present at the
 Village Board meeting to support Dr. Linn and answer any questions that arise.

VII. Old Business: None

VIII. New Business: None

IX. Public Comments: Note

X. Adjournment at 8:06 PM

 Next Regular Meeting: December 12, 2024 @ 7:00 p.m.




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