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Record of Proceedings

Health and Community Service Committee Meeting - July 29, 2025

Committee Meetings — Tuesday, July 29, 2025
BodyLake County, Illinois
SessionCommittee Meetings
DateTuesday, July 29, 2025
StatusFILED
Video Record
0:00 / 42:37

Original source
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0:14

All right.

0:15

Good morning, everyone.

0:16

Today is Tuesday, July 29th at 832 AM.

0:21

I was about to say PM.

0:23

Um that would be weird.

0:25

All right.

0:26

So welcome everyone to today's Health and Community Service Committee meeting.

0:31

In addition to being able to attend in-person remote attendance has been made available to the public via Zoom at the link on the agenda.

0:37

This meeting's being recorded through Zoom.

0:40

I don't believe anyone is participating remotely.

0:43

Okay.

0:44

Physical quorum is present, so they may be marked as present and are eligible to vote on matters before the committee today is a reminder to all members attending remotely, which I don't believe we have any.

0:52

Please ensure your camera's on at all times.

0:55

All right.

0:57

Can I ask Member Kinesick to join me in the Pledge of Allegiance?

1:03

I pledge of allegiance to the fly of the United States of America.

1:07

And to the Republic for which it stands one under God.

1:12

India with liberty and justice for all.

1:17

All right.

1:17

Can I have a roll call, please?

1:19

Yes.

1:19

Vice Chair Altonic.

1:21

Here.

1:21

Member Castle.

1:22

Here.

1:23

Member Conning.

1:24

Here.

1:24

Member Dan Force.

1:26

Member Kinesek.

1:27

Here.

1:28

Member Maine's absent with our notice.

1:30

And Chair Park.

1:32

Here.

1:33

All right.

1:34

Is there any addenda to the today's agenda?

1:37

No addenda to the agenda.

1:38

Any public comments?

1:40

No public comment.

1:41

Chair's remarks.

1:42

I don't have anything other than it's been a while since I was not here in the June meeting.

1:47

So thank you, Vice Chair, for leading the meeting.

1:51

And I'm excited.

1:53

I think today is the director Jennifer Sereno show.

1:57

So excited for that today.

2:00

All right.

2:01

Any unfinished business?

2:03

No unfinished business.

2:04

All right.

2:04

New business 8.8 is uh the consent agenda.

2:11

Motion.

2:12

Motion by member vice chair Altenburg, second by member Kniesnik.

2:16

All those in favor say aye.

2:18

Aye.

2:19

All right.

2:20

We're also going to take eight items 8.2 to 8.4 together, since they are very similar in their presentation of uh grants from the D CEO.

2:32

So do I do I make a motion to take how do I do that exactly?

2:37

You would ask for a motion.

2:38

Motion to untaking items 8.2 to 8.4 together.

2:42

Can have a motion, motion by uh uh member uh Cunningham, second by member uh Kasbin.

2:49

All those in favor?

Discussion Breakdown — Share of Meeting
Workforce Development█████████████████████████████████████████████54%
Procedural███████████████18%
Youth Programs███████████13%
Technology and Innovation████████10%
Community Engagement███3%
Fiscal Sustainability██2%
Summary of Proceedings

Health and Community Service Committee Meeting - July 29, 2025

The Health and Community Service Committee convened on Tuesday, July 29, 2025, at 8:32 AM. Chair Park presided with Vice Chair Altenburg and members Castle, Conning, Dan Force, Kinesek, and Casman present. Member Maine was absent with notice. The meeting was conducted in person with remote access available. The committee approved a consent agenda and discussed multiple workforce development grants, a supplemental grant, a memorandum of understanding, and received reports from the Workforce Development Director and County Administrator.

Consent Calendar

  • Item 8.8 (Consent Agenda): Motion by Vice Chair Altenburg, second by Member Kinesek, passed unanimously.

Public Comments & Testimony

  • No public comments were made.

Discussion Items

  • Items 8.2–8.4 (DCEO Workforce Grants – Taken Together): Director Jennifer Sereno presented three joint resolutions:
    • 8.2: Accepting the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity (DCEO) Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) Program Year 2025 formula grant of $8,516,791 – a 24% increase over the prior year due to higher unemployment rates in Lake County. Funds support 30 staff positions, operations, and participant services (60% direct to participants, including over $1M in tuition, $1M in training wages, $500K in employee training, and over $600K in youth contracts). Pilot projects in manufacturing, AI, and apprenticeships were noted.
    • 8.3: Accepting a DCEO Quest grant modification of $135,000 to serve an additional 13 individuals in training and six with employer training wages.
    • 8.4: Accepting a DCEO Rapid Response grant of $350,000 to respond to layoff events. Since May 2024, 12 WARN events impacted over 1,000 workers; the grant will assist 28 impacted workers, 75 businesses, and support tuition and training wages.
  • Item 8.5 (Supplemental Grant – $232,774): Director Sereno explained this state-funded grant allows pilot programs without federal restrictions. The focus is on a program for young adults (high school graduates) not in employment or education, providing job readiness, life skills, digital literacy, and connections to apprenticeships or work-and-learn programs in professional services (customer service, accounting, marketing, graphic design).
  • Item 8.6 (MOU and Cost-Sharing Agreement): A joint resolution approving the Workforce Development Board MOU and cost-sharing agreement with the Job Center of Lake County. The job center has 14 partners; the facility cost is $228,000 (covered largely by College of Lake County). Workforce Development occupies the most space and will receive $51,000 back from partners.
  • Item 8.7 (Director’s Report): Director Sereno presented the Job Center annual report:
    • 21,000 individuals served in the past year (phone calls, visitors, outreach events, kiosks).
    • 8 kiosks placed at various locations (e.g., libraries, townships) for self-service access to job postings and partner links.
    • 10 Job Center on the Move locations in townships and libraries.
    • 125 U.S. Navy recruits assisted in transitioning to civilian workforce.
    • Summer Youth Program: 172 students placed at 30 worksites (including county departments), earning $15/hour for 20 hours/week over 6–7 weeks. Over 1,000 applications received; 150 students participated in a digital literacy program through the Lake County Digital Growth Initiative, earning a laptop.
    • Upcoming events: job fair on August 12, “Getting Hired After 50” Zoom event on August 7, and employer compliance training on August 20/22.
    • Members expressed strong support: Member Casman thanked Director Sereno for “inspiring work” and praised dynamic outreach. Member Cunningham requested that workforce development events be shared via board newsletters to reach residents. Another member (serving on Workforce Board) commended staff and noted that the WIOA funds increase aligns with national advocacy.
  • Item 9 (County Administrator Report): County Administrator Patrice Sutton updated the committee on the Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system implementation. Key points:
    • The project is in the “messy middle” with end-to-end testing beginning. Grant management, payroll, and compliance reporting are being integrated.
    • Staff augmentation in HR and finance is in place; departments are working extra hours.
    • Introduction of Regina Tuchek, new Chief Financial Officer and Director of Finance.
    • Member Cunningham praised the ERP system and highlighted that Lake County’s technology committee passed four resolutions at NACo.
  • Member Remarks: A member noted a new COVID-19 strain circulating and advised testing if symptomatic.

Key Outcomes

  • All motions (Items 8.2–8.4, 8.5, 8.6, and 8.8) passed unanimously. No opposed votes were recorded.
  • No executive session was held.
  • The next committee meeting is scheduled for August 5, 2025, where open and closed meeting minute recommendations will be reviewed.

Meeting Transcript

All right. Good morning, everyone. Today is Tuesday, July 29th at 832 AM. I was about to say PM. Um that would be weird. All right. So welcome everyone to today's Health and Community Service Committee meeting. In addition to being able to attend in-person remote attendance has been made available to the public via Zoom at the link on the agenda. This meeting's being recorded through Zoom. I don't believe anyone is participating remotely. Okay. Physical quorum is present, so they may be marked as present and are eligible to vote on matters before the committee today is a reminder to all members attending remotely, which I don't believe we have any. Please ensure your camera's on at all times. All right. Can I ask Member Kinesick to join me in the Pledge of Allegiance? I pledge of allegiance to the fly of the United States of America. And to the Republic for which it stands one under God. India with liberty and justice for all. All right. Can I have a roll call, please? Yes. Vice Chair Altonic. Here. Member Castle. Here. Member Conning. Here. Member Dan Force. Member Kinesek. Here. Member Maine's absent with our notice. And Chair Park. Here. All right. Is there any addenda to the today's agenda? No addenda to the agenda. Any public comments? No public comment. Chair's remarks. I don't have anything other than it's been a while since I was not here in the June meeting. So thank you, Vice Chair, for leading the meeting. And I'm excited. I think today is the director Jennifer Sereno show. So excited for that today. All right. Any unfinished business? No unfinished business. All right. New business 8.8 is uh the consent agenda. Motion.

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