Last week, we shared that Mississippi senators amended House Bill 924 to create an Interagency Coordinating Council for Children and Youth (ICCCY) executive committee comprised solely of state agency heads without representation from families, family-run organizations, or other partners. It doesn’t even include all of the state agencies. We shared that the composition of this committee flies in the face of the mantra, “Never about us without us.” We also shared that legislators likely did not have all the accurate information they needed when they added this amendment. So, they must hear what families think about this amendment.
The bill has gone to a conference, which means that three senators and three representatives will now work together to craft a bill that is acceptable to both sides. The conference is good news because it means you have time—it may not be much time, depending on when the conference committee meets—to let the committee members know whether or not you think the executive committee of the ICCCY should have family and family-run organizations on it. According to the legislature’s rules, this conference must post the times of their meetings, which must be open to the public. They should post notices here.
These are the conference committee members and their contact information. You can also leave messages for any legislator at the Capitol switchboard at 601-359-3770. The most important members to contact are the Chairmen because they will lead the negotiations between the two sides:
- Chairman for the House: Representative Kevin Ford kford@house.ms.gov 601-359-9473 (Capitol), 601-218-8185 (cell)
- Representative Daryl Porter dporter@house.ms.gov
- Representative Clay Mansell cmansell@house.ms.gov 601-924-9059 (home) 601-990-9511 (work)
- Chairman for the Senate: Senator David Parker dparker@senate.ms.gov 601-359-4088 (Capitol), 662-893-3300 (work)
- Senator Bart Williams bwilliams@senate.ms.gov 601-359-4088 (Capitol)
- Senator Jason Barrett jbarrett@senate.ms.gov 601-359-2886 (Capitol)
Here is an email Families as Allies Executive Director Joy Hogge sent to one committee member on March 24:
On behalf of the board, staff and members of Families as Allies, I am writing to express our alarm that the “executive committee” to the Interagency Coordinating Council for Children and Youth (ICCCY) proposed in Section 6 of HB 924 does not include families or family-run organizations. I was one of the people who worked to pass the original legislation that established (2000) and strengthened (2010) the ICCCY. No one else from that era is still around as far as I know, so I think there may be a lack of understanding of what the original statute was designed to do. Putting an end to any committees that were about families that did not include families and family run organizations was one of the reasons the ICCCY was created. Section 6 of this bill undoes that and also puts different parts of this code section in conflict with each other. Section 6 violates the nationally accepted definition of family-driven practice as well.
Furthermore, the tasks that are described in Section 6 of HB 924 are basically those of a work group, rather than an executive committee (which is typically made up of officers elected by the larger committee). We are concerned that if this legislation passes, this small “executive committee” that doesn’t include families or several other needed stakeholders could move into a role of overseeing the ICCCY on an ongoing basis because of being labeled the “executive committee” in this bill. If you want this group to remain in this bill, we urge you to consider replacing the “executive committee” with a time-limited work group (that should include families) to complete just the specific tasks listed in the bill.
Thank you for taking the time to consider these concerns. Please let me know any feedback or suggestions you have for Families as Allies or me. I am happy to discuss any of the information in this email, as well as Families as Allies efforts to reestablish the ICCCY, in more detail. We appreciate you and your dedication to children and families. I am attaching the handout from Mental Health and Wellness Day about all the ways groups like ours can work with policy makers like you to make sure policies about families are responsive and helpful.
