(325 ILCS 27/15)

Sec. 15. Illinois Youth Development Council.

(a) Creation. In order to effectively achieve the policy established in this Act, the Illinois Youth Development Council shall be created. The purpose of the Council is to provide oversight and coordination to the State's public funds currently invested to support positive youth development programs and activities and to set systemwide policies and priorities to accomplish the following 5 major objectives: (i) set afterschool program expansion priorities, such as addressing gaps in programming for specific ages and populations; (ii) create outcome measures and require all afterschool programs to be evaluated to ensure that outcomes are being met; (iii) oversee the establishment of a statewide program improvement system that provides technical assistance and capacity building to increase program participation and quality systemwide; (iv) monitor and assess afterschool program quality through outcome measures; and (v) establish State policy to support the attainment of outcomes. The Council shall be created within the Department of Human Services.

(b) Governance. The Illinois Youth Development Council shall reflect the regional, racial, socioeconomic, and cultural diversity of the State to ensure representation of the needs of all Illinois youth. The Council shall be composed of no less than 28 and no more than 32 members. The Council may establish a defined length of term for membership on the Council.

(1) Membership. The Council shall include representation from both public and private organizations comprised of the following:

(A) Four members of the General Assembly: one appointed by the President of the Senate, one appointed by the Minority Leader of the Senate, one appointed by the Speaker of the House of Representatives, and one appointed by the Minority Leader of the House of Representatives.

(B) The chief administrators of the following State agencies: the Department of Human Services; the Illinois State Board of Education; the Department of Children and Family Services; the Department of Public Health; the Department of Juvenile Justice; the Department of Healthcare and Family Services; the Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity; the Illinois Board of Higher Education; and the Illinois Community College Board.

(C) The Chair of the Illinois Workforce Innovation Board and the Executive Director of the Illinois Violence Prevention Authority.

The following Council members shall be appointed by the Governor:

(D) Two officials from a unit of local government.

(E) At least 3 representatives of direct youth service providers and faith-based providers.

(F) Three young people who are between the ages of 16 and 21 and who are members of the Youth Advisory Group as established in paragraph (2) of this subsection.

(G) Two parents of children between the ages of 6 and 19.

(H) One academic researcher in the field of youth development.

(I) Additional public members that include local government stakeholders and nongovernmental stakeholders with an interest in youth development and afterschool programs, including representation from the following private sector fields and constituencies: child and youth advocacy; children and youth with special needs; child and adolescent health; business; and law enforcement.

Persons may be nominated by organizations representing the fields outlined in this Section. The Governor shall designate one of the Council members who is a nongovernment stakeholder to serve as co-chairperson. The Council shall create a subcommittee of additional direct youth service providers as well as other subcommittees as deemed necessary.

(2) Youth Advisory Group. To ensure that the Council is responsive to the needs and priorities of Illinois' young people, the Council shall establish an independent Youth Advisory Group, which shall be composed of a diverse body of 15 youths between the ages of 14 and 19 from across the State. Members that surpass the age of 19 while serving on the Youth Advisory Group may complete the term of the appointment. The Youth Advisory Group shall be charged with: (i) presenting recommendations to the Council 4 times per year on issues related to afterschool and youth development programming and policy; and (ii) reviewing key programmatic, funding, and policy decisions made by the Council. To develop priorities and recommendations, the Youth Advisory Group may engage students from across the State via focus groups, on-line surveys, and other means. The Youth Advisory Group shall be administered by the Department of Human Services and facilitated by an independent, established youth organization with expertise in youth civic engagement. This youth civic engagement organization shall administer the application requirements and process and shall nominate 30 youth. The Department of Human Services shall select 15 of the nominees for the Youth Advisory Group, 3 of whom shall serve on the Council.

(c) Activities. The major objectives of the Council shall be accomplished through the following activities:

(1) Publishing an annual plan that sets system goals for Illinois' afterschool funding that include key indicators, performance standards, and outcome measures and that outlines funding evaluation and reporting requirements.

(2) Developing and maintaining a system and processes to collect and report consistent program and outcome data on all afterschool programs funded by State and local government.

(3) Developing linkages between afterschool data systems and other statewide youth program outcome data systems (e.g. schools, post-secondary education, juvenile justice, etc.).

(4) Developing procedures for implementing an evaluation of the statewide system of program providers, including programs established by this Act.

(5) Reviewing evaluation results and data reports to inform future investments and allocations and to shape State policy.

(6) Developing technical assistance and capacity-building infrastructure and ensuring appropriate workforce development strategies across agencies for those who will be working in afterschool programs.

(7) Reviewing and making public recommendations to the Governor and the General Assembly with respect to the budgets for State youth services to ensure the adequacy of those budgets and alignment to system goals outlined in the plan described in paragraph (1) of this subsection.

(8) Developing and overseeing execution of a research agenda to inform future program planning.

(9) Providing strategic advice to other State agencies, the Illinois General Assembly, and Illinois' Constitutional Officers on afterschool-related activities statewide.

(10) Approving awards of grants to demonstration projects as outlined in Section 20 of this Act.

(d) Accountability. The Council shall annually report to the Governor and the General Assembly on the Council's progress towards its goals and objectives. The Department of Human Services shall provide resources to the Council, including administrative services and data collection and shall be responsible for conducting procurement processes required by the Act. The Department may contract with vendors to provide all or a portion of any necessary resources.

(Source: P.A. 100-477, eff. 9-8-17.)