Department of Children, Youth, and Their Families Gender Analysis 2014
SF Department of Children Youth & Their Families
2014 Gender Analysis Update
May 2014
Mission: The mission of the Department of Children, Youth & Their Families (DCYF) is to ensure that families with children are a prominent and valued segment of San Francisco's social fabric by supporting programs and activities in every San Francisco neighborhood.
Community Needs Assessment
DCYF manages the Children’s Fund and the overall planning for children’s services through a three-year planning cycle. The Community Needs Assessment (CNA) is the first step of the planning cycle, and identifies the needs of youth and families in San Francisco. Data collected in the CNA is subsequently used to inform the Children’s Services Allocation Plan (CSAP) which, in turn, informs the Request for Proposals for services.
YEAR 1 (2013 - 2014)
Community Needs Assessment: Community Needs Assessment identifies needs.
YEAR 2 (2014 - 2015)
Children’s Services Allocation Plan: Children’s Services Allocation Plan analyzes current spending & identifies priorities.
YEAR 3 (2015 - 2016)
Request for Proposals: Request for Proposals to fund programs and services identified in Year 1 & 2.
Community Needs Assessment Process
Per the requirements in the Children’s Amendment, DCYF is required to solicit input from various stakeholders in the community, including youth, parents and providers. In addition, DCYF is required to consult with various City Departments, including the Commission on the Status of Women. Upon completion, DCYF will present a draft of the CNA for review and comment to the Board of Supervisors.
The CNA is intended to be a broad document that spans many issues across San Francisco. Because of DCYF’s limited staff capacity to conduct its own data analysis, it looks to experts in San Francisco to provide insight into various issues. For example, we look to the Department of Public Health (DPH) to inform us about what they see as the critical health issues, the Human Services Department (HSA) to identify economic disparities and the Department on the Status of Women (DOSW) to help us understand critical issues for girls and young women.
DCYF last conducted the CNA in 2011 during which extensive analysis was conducted that spanned youth aged 0-24. We did not conduct a gender analysis at the time, which should have been done. The 2011 CNA informed the CSAP, which in turn, informed the funding strategies for FY 2013-2016. In the table below please find participation for girls and boys in DCYF-funded programs by funding strategies from Fiscal Year 2012-2013. (Please note that we do not have data on FY 2013-2014 as the year has not yet come to a close. However, given that the composition of DCYF’s current grant portfolio is not remarkably different from FY12-13, there is nothing that would lead us to believe that fewer girls will have been served when FY13-14 closes.)
In Out-of-School time programs for children and youth in grades K through 8, the gender distribution reflects the breakdown of girls and boys in SFUSD for this age group. Programs funded in this strategy are primarily comprehensive school-based and community-based afterschool programs. Participation in these programs is generally determined by the parent. In our programs that serve high school students such as Teen, Youth Workforce and Wellness programs, we served a larger share of girls when compared to the gender breakdown in SFUSD or the City overall. For these programs, the youth generally makes the decision to participate.
Violence Prevention and Intervention programs are designed to serve youth in or highly at-risk of becoming involved in the juvenile justice system, and serve a higher percentage of boys. The greater number of boys participating in these programs reflects the much higher presence of boys in the juvenile justice system. As noted in the table below, over 70% of the referrals made to the juvenile justice system are for boys, and over 75% of the resulting bookings are for boys. When we look at programs that serve youth in the justice system as well as youth highly at-risk of becoming involved, we see that girls make up 45% of the program population.
Although the table below shows a gender breakdown in DCYF-funded programs that reflect the City overall or the system targeted, DCYF recognizes that the needs and/or interests of girls and boys sometimes differ. Although DCYF will continue its commitment to gender-specific programming (see page 6 below for current girl-specific programs), we will use findings from the 2014 Youth Vote Survey, Provider Survey and other data collected as part of the 2014 CNA to inform gender-specific priorities for future funding.
Program Participation by Gender for DCYF-funded Programs
| DCYF Funding Strategy | Females (N) | Females (%) | Males (N) | Males (%) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Out-of-School time programs for youth, grades K-8 | 13960 | 48% | 15045 | 52% |
| Teen & Youth Empowerment programs for youth, grades 8-12 | 2506 | 56% | 1999 | 44% |
| Youth Workforce programs for youth, ages 14-21 | 1691 | 51% | 1595 | 49% |
| High School Wellness Centers | 3831 | 53% | 3462 | 47% |
| Violence Prevention & Intervention | 1588 | 45% | 1941 | 55% |
| Violence Prevention & Intervention programs for youth in detention or alternatives to detention | 392 | 30% | 933 | 70% |
| Gender breakdown for DCYF-funded programs | 23968 | 49% | 24875 | 51% |
Gender Breakdown for City, SFUSD and other City Systems
| Data Source | Females (N) | Females (%) | Males (N) | Males (%) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 Census, youth ages 5-18 | 35527 | 49% | 36794 | 51% |
| SFUSD students in grades K-8, SY 12-13 | 18738 | 49% | 19888 | 51% |
| SFUSD students in grades 9-12, SY 12-13 | 8548 | 47% | 9796 | 53% |
| Unduplicated count of referrals to JPD, 2012 | 298 | 29% | 732 | 71% |
| Unduplicated count of bookings, 2012 | 103 | 22% | 358 | 78% |
| Youth involved in foster care system, July 2013 | 534 | 50.2% | 530 | 49.8% |
2014 Community Needs Assessment Data Collection
As referenced above, DCYF’s aim with the CNA is to provide a comprehensive picture of the wellbeing of all children, youth and their families. The needs that are identified in the CNA are broad and often overlapping, and it can be a challenge to frame the issues in a cohesive and useful document. We have found that effective CNA’s organize data by topic or issue area (i.e., safety, education), followed by further exploration of the issues impacting specific age groups, races/ethnicities, genders and other detail. When there are disparities between groups, our plan is to highlight these disparities within each chapter.
Some of our data collection efforts will enable us to analyze responses by gender and race. The May 2012 Report, An Update on Girls in San Francisco: A Decade of Success and Challenges, will help guide DCYF’s analysis of the data that we gather from our city partners and San Francisco Unified School District.
Where possible, DCYF is pleased to partner with the Department on the Status of Women. We received helpful input from DOSW on questions in our provider survey which was distributed to 500+ providers. We also appreciate DOSW connecting DCYF with the Alliance for Girls who helped us frame a provider-specific focus group and accompanying middle-school girl’s focus group. Moving forward, if we develop any additional survey or interview instruments for the CNA, we would be happy to have DOWS review them. However, at this time we don’t plan to do any additional surveying.
When DCYF nears the completion of the draft CNA, we plan to hold additional meetings with experts in the field such as DOSW to respond to the data we have gathered. Though we are still working out the details of those meetings, we could explore asking community stakeholders to reflect on the gender disparities that are addressed in the CNA.
A complete list of the data collection activities and gender-specific analysis can be found at the end of this document.
Community Needs Assessment Analysis and Findings
DCYF will look across all of the data collected from surveys, focus groups, census tract, internal evaluations and other City departments to identify trends for children and families. Where possible, staff will explore how gender plays a role in various outcomes for children and youth. For example, we can examine outcomes by gender as we look at high school graduation rates, citations and bookings within the Juvenile Justice System or health outcomes. In addition, we will use the information gathered during our gender specific focus groups to enhance the findings in our survey and other evaluation sources.
Direct and Indirect Services for Girls/Young Women
The information in this section of the report responds to specific questions regarding the direct and indirect services for girls and young women by DCYF.
Pressing issues facing girls
Issues that girl recipients face in San Francisco vary by age and by community. As the May 2012 Report, An Update on Girls in San Francisco: A Decade of Success and Challenges highlighted, there are several trends that are impacting girls citywide, such as disproportionately high rates of African American and Latino girls in foster care and the juvenile justice system, and low enrollment in STEM-focused classes. In recent conversations with providers working in communities impacted by violence, we have heard that there has been an increase in the number of girls engaging in violence, and that girls continue to be challenged with managing relationships with young men and their families.
In May 2014, DCYF's issued a survey to its grantees as part of the CNA data collection process. The survey included two questions that specifically addressed young women: (1) What do organizations feel are the greatest needs for young women in San Francisco? and (2) What types of programming might help address these needs? Preliminary data from this survey is outlined below.
Preliminary Date from 2014 Provider CNA Survey
| Age group served by provider | Unique Needs Facing Young Women | Types of Programming Suggested to Better Serve Young Women |
|---|---|---|
| Ages 6-13 |
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| Ages 14-17 |
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Ages 18-24 |
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*a smaller number of providers reported serving women ages 18-24.
Funding to girl-specific programs
Currently, more than $2 million in grant funding goes to girl-specific programs including programs such as GIRLS 2000 & Multi-support Services for Girls (Hunters Point Family), On the Rise (GirlVentures), Oasis for Girls (Tides Center), Just for Girls Middle School Club (YMCA Bayview Hunter’s Point), Women Rising (Community Works), Sisters on the Rise and Young Mothers United (Center for Young Women's Development), Females Against Violence (Horizon), Mission Girls & Young Queens (Mission Neighborhood Centers), Life Skills for Girls (Sage), Gender-responsive Re-entry and Mentoring Program for Girls (Center for Juvenile & Criminal Justice) and Gender-responsive Case Management Program (Bayview Hunters Point Foundation). In addition, DCYF funds the Wellness Center and Family Resource Center at Hilltop School to support pregnant and parenting teens (SFUSD).
None of the girl-specific programs are currently at risk of losing their funding. DCYF also funds many programs that are not identified as girl-specific programs yet serve high percentages of girls. Please refer to the data presented above for additional detail on the numbers of girls being served.
Performance measures
DCYF’s performance measures are linked to the quality of services that are being funded, and are not gender specific. Our data and evaluation team tracks the differences in participation among boys and girls on the program level, and also through annual youth satisfaction surveys. To date, we have not identified any notable differences between genders in terms of participation levels, nor in the level of youth satisfaction with their program. One area that has consistently shown disproportionate participation rates by gender is within the juvenile justice system, which is serving a much greater percentage of boys.
Responding to Community-identified issues
The community frequently brings issues to the attention of DCYF which we are open to and greatly value. Typically we hear about a specific population or community, and not necessarily around a particular topic. For example, we might hear about the mental health crisis for transgender youth, the lack of employment opportunities for undocumented youth, or the disproportionate confinement for African American and Latino boys. Often, when we are contacted by a community, the issue is already population-focused and the issue we are being asked to address has already been defined by the community.
Compliance with Charter Section 16.108 and Administrative Code Section 2A.232
DCYF will comply with the Children’s Amendment Charter, and is always open to improving our process. With the 2011 CNA, it appears we did not consult with the MTA, Police, Library and COSW. We plan to reach out to those departments this year in the same way we are working with the COSW.
At the end of each funding cycle, DCYF conducts a detailed analysis of the programs that were funded, including a demographic breakdown. The analysis is shared broadly, though DCYF does not hold a formal hearing.
SF Department of Children Youth & Their Families
2014 Gender Analysis Update
May 2014
CNA Data Collection Methods
As with previous CNA’s, DCYF will be collecting data on the status of youth and families in San Francisco using a variety of different methods. Outlined below are the different types of data that will be collected that can capture gender-specific issues.
SURVEYS
SFUSD High School students via YouthVote (5,218 student surveys received)
- Data Collected/Purpose: Increase knowledge of the programs & extracurricular activities youth are engaged in and what they would be most interested in engaging in.
- Gender-specific analysis: Responses can be analyzed by gender
Social service providers (distributed to 500+ providers)
- Data Collected/Purpose: What they consider the greatest needs for youth, and the needs that families identify
- Gender-specific questions in the survey:
- In your opinion, what do you see are some of the unique needs facing young women/men that you serve?
- In your opinion, what programming is needed to better serve young women/men?
FOCUS GROUPS
Providers that deliver services to girls/young women (20 participants)
- Data Collected/Purpose: Increase our understanding of the needs of middle school girls from the perspective of providers, and receive input for how to structure focus group of middle school girls.
- This focus group was held on May 6th and co-hosted with the Alliance for Girls
Providers that deliver services to boys/young men (12 providers have been invited)
- Data Collected/Purpose: Increase our understanding of the needs of middle school boys from the perspective of providers, and receive input for how to structure focus group of middle school boys.
- This focus group will be held on June 3rd from 11:00-1:00pm.
Middle School Girls (the number of groups and participants has not yet been finalized)
- Data Collected/Purpose: Increase our understanding of how middle school youth navigate life and what supports they would benefit from
- This focus group has not yet been scheduled but will be held in June.
Middle School Boys (the number of groups and participants has not yet been finalized)
- Data Collected/Purpose: Increase our understanding of how middle school youth navigate life and what supports they would benefit from
- This focus group has not yet been scheduled but will be held in June.
DATA REVIEW
Various City Department data (HSA, DPH, OEWD, MOHCD, JPD, DOSW)
- Data Collected/Purpose: Profile of the health and wellbeing of youth and families in San Francisco. This will be an extensive literature and data review examining many different indicators
- Gender-specific analysis: where possible, we will look at trends by gender, such as economic disparities, juvenile detention, health outcomes, housing, and employment.
San Francisco Unified School District data (SFUSD)
- Data Collected/Purpose: Profile of academic indicators of youth attending SFUSD that includes attendance, suspension and truancy rates, graduation rates, grade point averages and standardized test scores.
- Gender-specific analysis: SFUSD's data system collects school attendance data which can be reported by gender at the Elementary, Middle and High School levels.
DCYF Contract Management System (CMS)
- Data Collected/Purpose: Program participant level data such as average days/hours of programming received, location of services, and many other data points.
- Gender-specific analysis: CMS captures demographic data so we can disaggregate it by gender.
DCYF Evaluations
- Data Collected/Purpose: DCYF funds several evaluations that measure the links between service interventions and outcomes and that provide DCYF with recommendations for increasing the impact of City investments.
- Gender-specific analysis: Evaluators may report patterns of participation in DCYF programming by gender; female versus male perception of programming as collected through surveys, focus groups and interviews; and the impact of gender-specific programming.