MESSAGE FROM THE PRESIDENT Chief Michael E. Figolah, Mount Prospect Fire Department

From the May 2008 newsletter... Chief Mike Figolah, President
In the last edition of the newsletter I spoke about the IFSA taking over the state Juvenile Fire Setter Intervention (JFSI) program. A strategic planning session took place at Motorola with members from many Illinois fire service organizations, mental health professionals, the State Board of Education, and others. Since that last report, we have selected an Advisory Board and Task Force to oversee this new program. The Advisory Board will be made up of the following:





  • IFSA JFSI Coordinator
  • Illinois Fire Chiefs Assoc.
  • Illinois Fire Inspectors Assoc.
  • OSFM
  • Mental Health
  • IFSA Board Member - Dottie Ahbe
  • Illinois Parent Teacher Assoc.
  • Fire Service – Eric Vaughn
  • Juvenile Justice System
  • Illinois State Board of Education
  • Historical Advisory – Jim Plunkett & Keith Patterson

The Task Force will be a group that looks at the technical components that require research and recommendations from the Advisory Board. It will be made up of the following members:

  • IFSA Board Member - Doug Goostree (Chairman)
  • Intervention Specialist
  • Mental Health
  • Public Educator
  • Illinois Fire Instructors Assoc.
  • JFSI Charter Members Linda Brady, Steve Marchang, & Dewey Atkocaitis.

The IFSA Board of Directors also took action to authorize hiring a Juvenile Fire Setter Intervention Coordinator. Included in this newsletter is a job description for that Coordinator position.

We will not wait until the Coordinator is hired to start making progress on the juvenile fire setter program. We anticipate that the Advisory Board and Task Force will meet in June 2008 for the first time along with the IFSA Board of Directors to start the arduous process of developing goals for the long term. Some of the immediate goals will be as follows:

  • Evaluate the current JFSI course content
  • Determine continuing education for the JFSI program
  • Address the state certification of the JFS Interventionist
  • Determine a method of providing an interventionist to any police or fire department in Illinois within a specific timeline.

As you can see the foundation for developing this new program is in place and, by the next time I write this article, the plans for the goals will be reported. Thanks for your support!