Here is the agenda for today's (July 14) meeting: You can also find the link to attend the meeting here. s3.documentcloud.org/documents/2599…

At the following link you can find background information about the The Task Force on Missing and Murdered Chicago Women Act: icjia.illinois.gov/researchhub/ar…

Meeting begins at 12:05 and quorum is present.

Meeting minutes from last month (June 9) are approved at 12:10 pm.

Mandy Sark with Chicago Missing Persons Guild discusses the Report Writing Subcommittee. Sark reiterates that it is important that as many people as possible submit feedback and data in order for the study to adequately analyze the connections between poverty and violence.

Jennifer Greene from legal services organization Life Span presents past recommendations in preparation for this years annual report. The attached image is a slide of the Illinois Domestic Violence Fatality Initiative.

A few takeaways from the Review are that there need to be better fatality and near fatality preventions plans in place, the state of IL needs to examine how women who murder their abusers are treated within the judicial system and how mental health is addressed.

Greene mentions that children are also often hidden victims of domestic abuse, citing a CBS Chicago news piece that came out yesterday. Here is the link: cbsnews.com/chicago/video/…

Dr. Adrienne Adams brings up the issue of updating amber alert policies particularly among local law enforcement agencies.

At 12:30 a discussion regarding improvements in law enforcement as well as civilian education when it comes to reporting missing persons cases, particularly those that involve women and young girls. Sark states that waiting periods need to be addressed no matter the situation.

Diane Welsh from the Circuit Court of Cook County talks about defense cases that involve children and victims of domestic violence.

Senator Mattie Hunter talks about the importance of recommendations for funding for both government and nonprofit agencies.

February and April meeting notes are presented (no mtng in March). Emphasis on the intersections of racism, domestic violence, financial instability, community violence,. systems need to be addressed for the disproportionate number of missing and murdered Black women and girls.

Here are the key takeaways and recommendation discussion factors from the April meeting:

May meeting notes and recommendations are moved to be discussed at the next meeting (August 10) and Senator Hunter calls for public comment at 1:28 pm.

Jordan A. Scherer is the first public commenter and is a private detective. Mentions that missing persons video evidence is not analyzed and utilized as it should be. Scherer discusses racial discrepancies of missing persons that are found, saying that it must be addressed.

At 1:34 pm a motion to adjourn the meeting passes and meeting ends.

The meeting is now over - the next scheduled meeting is next month on August 12 at 1:30 pm.

Thank you all for following along at this meeting — I’ll see you at the next one!