1. Recruiting and Retaining Good Citizen Review Panel Members The State of Illinois

2. OUR MISSION Review policies and procedures as well as the practices established by IDCFS We review for effectiveness, gaps in the system, and various other issues/practices that may have a negative impact on how workers are best able to respond and help appropriately

3. HOW WE DO WHAT WE DO Most groups take one their quarterly meeting to work solely on Citizen Review business. This may mean reviewing cases, talking with administrative staff of the Department or reviewing legislation Some groups have chosen to develop a sub-committee from their larger group to work on Citizen Review matters

4. What often happens is an issue get worked over for a period of time All the work culminates in the development of recommendations to the Department for changes in policy, new initiatives, additional practice issues etc. The four groups have formed an Executive Council for Citizen’s Review

5. THE EXECUTIVE COUNCIL The Executive Council consists of the chairs and vice chairs of each of the groups. ( I should note that many of these members were instrumental in the Federal Review Process) Much of what comes to the surface in the individual groups gets channeled to the Executive Council for development and action

6. The biggest role of the Executive Council is to develop an on-going strategy for community outreach and public comment

7. POTENTIAL STRATEGIES Surveys Focus Groups Mediated question and response strategies Augmenting existing strategies

8. STAYIN ALIVE Look to those you know Look to new and potential retirees Keep it lively Pre-arrange meetings Use teleconferencing and call in Make sure your orient new members

9. Give new members copies of the last several meeting minutes to bring them up to speed Delegate… everything doesn’t have to be done in a big group