Department of Juvenile Probation

Department of Juvenile Probation
GENDER ANALYSIS
1999

2001 Update
2007 Update

1. Overview

The Juvenile Probation Department of the City and County of San Francisco (JPD) "provides for the welfare of youthful offenders and children at-risk, and enhances public safety under the direction of Juvenile Court and state law" and "locates and develops or administers programs for the assessment, education, treatment, appropriate rehabilitation, and effective supervision of youth under its jurisdiction."1 Its mission is, "[t]o be a primary and effective resource for positive change in the lives of youth and their families, accountability to victims and the protection of the public."2

The Department has five divisions: Administration and Finance, Probation Services, Juvenile Hall, Log Cabin Ranch, and Community Programs. Each division's operations are detailed and analyzed herein. In Fiscal Year 1998-1999, the Department's total budget was $25,987,747, and it employed 321 staff. A significant portion of the Department's budget goes to both Juvenile Hall (a short-term youth detention facility) and Probation Services.

Conducting a gender analysis of services requires that all staff recognize the different needs of all persons, and incorporate gender needs and concerns into planning and operations. Although this is a relatively new concept, prior to this analysis, the Department of Juvenile Probation had already begun to provide significant gender specific services for girls and young women. Having already studied gender, department staff, especially top management, were well prepared to further incorporate gender into its delivery of services.

The Department has already created some services that effectively meet girls' needs. However, staff who regularly work with the young women need training about this gender specific programming so that they are equipped to refer and place clients appropriately.

Generally, there is a need for education in human rights training with a gender perspective, which will both improve staff's ability to serve a diverse population of young women and men, and improve interactions between employees. Providing staff members with education in gender issues and human rights work is necessary for them to learn how to incorporate gender concerns into budget planning, program and service development, and employment practices.

The Department collects significant data on its client population. The youth population served by the department is diverse, requiring an approach to service delivery that considers ethnicity, culture and language. Presently, the youth receiving services by the department is about 25-28 % female and 72-75 % male. Among both girls and boys, most are people of color. This underscores the importance of the Juvenile Probation Department tailoring its services to the specific needs of its clients.

The Department's staff is also fairly diverse and representative of the available labor pools. In 1999, the Department employed 321 persons, including 117 females (approximately 36% of entire workforce), and 90 women of color (approximately 28% of entire workforce, and approximately 77% of all women). However, women are still under-represented in nontraditional employment areas, such as engineers and utility workers. The Department plans to conduct greater outreach to remedy this under-representation.

Many employees voiced the need for more family friendly workplace policies and a more equitable work environment. Some expressed needs, such as paid family leave, reflect a city-wide practice that is beyond the control of the individual department. Other expressed needs, such as providing more flexible work options and employee peer support mechanisms, are within departmental control and must be addressed so that quality employees are retained in a competitive market. In departments that need round the clock staffing, creativity is necessary to produce more flexible work schedules that will assist both staff and the families of their clientele. The department must begin to address employees' expressed concerns about lack of childcare, helping with referrals and resources or otherwise creating a meaningful family friendly environment. The Department must also consider job sharing as an alternative. Finally, telecommuting must also be considered. Although these options may not be viable for all employees, they must be explored.

In general, the City does not require departments to collect data relevant to evaluating gender equity, especially concerning employment. Data on flexible work options, use of childcare, parental status, promotions, and other categories are needed to accurately assess work patterns and the needs of employees. Also, unless this data are disaggregated by sex, race, and other criteria, sources of bias will remain hidden. Do women and men use family leave equally? Are women or men who take family leave overlooked for promotions? We will never know unless we look at data about both women and men. We must also isolate for race and other criteria to ensure that other potential sources of bias (for example, sexual orientation) do not produce misleading results. And controls must be employed so that, for example, a woman of color is counted only once and not twice. Of course, certain data (such as parental status or sexual orientation) may be obtained from employees and clients only under voluntary and confidential methods. Also, the Juvenile Probation Department, in particular, is required by law and regulation to gather certain types of data. This required data collection must continue. Still, the Department should attempt to gather this data voluntarily and confidentially from its employees and clients.

Methodology

The Department's participation in conducting the gender analysis was led by Assistant Chief Probation Officer Gwendolyn Tucker. The Administration and Finance Division, with participation by administrative and program staff, coordinated the department's provision of information for the gender analysis. The staff gathered data and narrative information using both on-line and manual resources. To obtain a comprehensive understanding of employee needs, the Department assembled 42 male and female employees into six focus groups and asked them to identify their concerns regarding work environment and employment practices. Conducting focus groups is an excellent model for future data collection.

COSW and the CEDAW Task Force appreciate the Department's extensive efforts in participating in this gender analysis. The Department's thorough response within a short time frame reflects a serious commitment to the success of this project.

2. Delivery of Services

Prior to this analysis, the Department already had begun to examine service delivery from a gender perspective. A number of recent reports on gender and services highlighted the different needs of young women and girls,3 and the Department had begun to address these needs. It now provides some gender specific services, such as peer counseling that addresses domestic violence and sexual assault within relationships, and reproductive health education.

a. Gender and Service Delivery

Gender specific services are services that meet the different needs of people based on gender. Gender specific services for young women and girls are not simply services offered to girls, but are services that are designed, implemented and evaluated to serve their specific needs.4

Young women and girls are a relatively new but increasingly large percent of the population in the juvenile justice system. Between 1990 and 1994, girls' arrest rates in San Francisco increased by 121 percent, and detention rates for girls at Juvenile Hall jumped 47 percent.5 Many of the Juvenile Probation Department's services were designed originally to serve the needs of young men and boys. It has been difficult for staff and services coordinated on a male model to transform to accommodate the often different needs of girls. For example, many young women come to the Department as survivors of abuse, and, thus, require mental health services that help them cope with and recover from their experiences.6 Also, research indicates that females often enter the juvenile probation system for different reasons than males. In particular, young women are arrested more than young men for "status" crimes, such as running away from home, as opposed to misdemeanors or felonies. In California in 1996, "status offenses accounted for just over 20 % of all female juvenile arrests, compared to 11% of the male juvenile arrests."7 As a result of both the increased contact with young women, and the recognition of their specialized needs, the Department, especially under the current Administration, has moved toward providing gender specific services for young women and girls.

A number of excellent reports that focus on gender and services have been prepared about JPD internally, by the San Francisco Grand Jury, and externally by consultants and community groups.8 Many of these reports acknowledge the department's growing commitment to addressing the needs of young women and girls involved in the juvenile justice system. As the Department acknowledges, these reports (such as the Out of Sight, Out Of Mind report) have had a positive impact on how the department provides services to girls. While it is not always easy to encourage outside criticism, the Department should continue to welcome the input and energy the community devotes to its programming.

Community Programs Division

The Community Programs Division funds a diverse array of community based programs for youth involved in or at risk of involvement with the juvenile justice system. Generally, the services are based on a holistic approach to the lives of the youth served and incorporate youth input and feedback. Many of these services are multilingual.

All of these services are provided through contracts with community based organizations. The Division has a contracting process that is inclusive of community and client needs, and encourages service providers to communicate and cooperate with each other and with departmental staff. Some services serve youth onsite at Juvenile Hall. But most of these contracted services are provided at community locations for young women and men who reside either at their own home, in foster care, or at a group home or placement facility. A client's entry to the programming offered by this Division is through referrals by staff in other divisions, often a probation officer.

The Department has been aggressive and successful in securing state, federal, and other funding to offer these services. Yet, most of this funding is temporary and thus at risk. The funding of gender specific programming in each division must be integrated into the regular budget process to sustain and promote this critical work.

Expand gender specific services and aftercare.

The Community Programs Division has led the implementation of gender specific programming for young women and girls. In February 1998, the Division issued a Request For Proposals for Gender Specific Services for Girls. In December 1998, another Request For Proposals (RFP) was issued with six priority areas, including girl's services.

Both the Department and community groups working with young women agree that gender specific services for girls should be expanded. In particular, there is a need to develop, expand, and/or redesign services that address mental health, sexual assault, domestic violence, parenting and pregnancy prevention, delinquency prevention for at risk girls, substance abuse prevention, education, and transition planning. Importantly, young women must be involved in the design of these services.

Some aftercare programs are provided to boys at Log Cabin Ranch, the city's one year residential rehabilitation facility for boys, but additional aftercare programs are needed for both boys and girls. In particular, there are few, if any, aftercare and transitional services for women who have completed their probation or treatment. Once a young woman leaves Juvenile Hall, or a placement facility, she is left largely on her own. The result is that she often returns to or enters an unhealthy environment, and becomes more at risk to endanger herself and/or to reenter the criminal justice system. For example, she may return to an unsafe family situation, move in with an abusive boyfriend, or even prostitute herself. The Department must counsel young women and girls about aftercare and transitional services including housing, counseling, life skills and self esteem development, health care (including reproductive health), education, job skills training, and job placement assistance. At a minimum, young women need viable, safe options for housing and paid employment.

Train department staff on gender specific services.

Incarceration and rehabilitation models for youth were traditionally designed to meet the needs of boys and young men. For years, many staff worked mostly with boys. As a result, they developed expertise and became comfortable working with boys. Some current male staff report feeling uncomfortable or even scared about working with young women and girls. The Department must train its own staff to work with girls and young women, and in particular to recognize and understand that the needs and experiences of girls may be different from those of boys, especially in areas of counseling and placement options. According to research commissioned by the State of California, "[m]eeting the needs of girls and young women requires specialized training and staffing, particularly in terms of relationship and communication skills, gender differences in delinquency, substance abuse education, the role of abuse, developmental stages of female adolescence, and available programs and appropriate placements and limitations."9

Staff outside of the Community Programs Division has not been formally trained about gender specific services. For example, community groups state that while some Probation Officers (POs) informally work with the Community Programs Division to ensure that clients have access to gender specific programming, other POs are not informed about gender specific programming. Community groups report that often girls are not referred to available services. This is inadequate. Additional training is necessary. Because the PO controls the client's access to the programming offered by the Community Programs Division, all POs must be trained in the importance of referring clients to this programming. To do this, they must fully understand the programming itself.

In addition to training all staff on gender specific services, community advocates strongly recommended that the Juvenile Probation Department establish a girls unit or team staffed by a small group of intake officers, probation officers, counselors and other staff who would be trained to work exclusively with female juveniles. A girls unit would enable the staff to gain expertise in the needs of young women (e.g., the need to be free from family violence and sexual abuse, the need to sustain herself economically). If such a unit were physically located in one area, young women would also have regular contact with the same group of adults. This would serve the young woman's need for continuity in relationships. The Department should seriously consider establishing a gender specific probation unit for young women, and solicit community and client input on this issue.

Increase coordination among contracted service providers.

The Community Programs Division recognizes the need to increase coordination among contracted community-based providers of gender specific services for girls. Community service providers have also stated that they wish generally to improve their relationship with the Department.

A model for increased coordination already exists in this division. During fiscal year 1998-99, the Department implemented its Giving and Inspiring Responsibility in Life (G.I.R.L.) project, which required four community agencies to collaborate in providing comprehensive service delivery to young women. This collaboration also provided alternatives to detention, allowing young women to remain in their communities while on probation. The Department just completed its first annual assessment and recommended, among other things, that one probation officer be assigned all girls enrolled in the project, and that agencies solicit regular input from girls concerning program development and program effectiveness. The Department could expand this model to other agencies. Adding more gender specific training would further improve service coordination.

In Fiscal Year 1999-2000, the Department will sponsor a two-day conference on gender specific services for at-risk young women and girls. A conference may foster connections and provide some necessary training on gender specific services, assuming that such training will be included in the conference. Other possible methods to increase coordination are continued training for service providers, and more input from service providers and young women when designing services.

Probation Services Division

The Probation Services Division "develops and/or contracts for services for assessing, educating, treating, and supervising youth who are in trouble or at risk."10 This Division is comprised of five units: the Special Services Unit, the Supervision Unit, the Intake Unit, the Serious Offender Program, and the Prevention/Diversion Unit.

The Division as a whole reports serving a diverse population. During 1998, however, only two of the five Units collected and maintained sex-based data. Of these two, the Supervision Unit reported serving 24.4% females (259 out of 1,062) and the Intake Unit reported serving 28% females (1,471 out of 5,247). Most of those served were women of color, with African American women constituting the largest of any racial group among women (63% of Supervision's female clients and 59% of Intake's female clients were African American).

Incorporate gender sensitive indicators.

Current indicators used to measure the effectiveness of services in this Division are gender neutral. For example, within the Prevention/Diversion Unit, effectiveness of services is measured using indicators such as timeliness of reports, number of minors on probation who re-enter the system, and number of minors successfully completing probation. Gender sensitive indicators could include the number of women who leave violent relationships, undergo a mental health assessment, and receive information on health care, pregnancy prevention, sexual abuse, or nontraditional job training.

The Department's current indicators appear to measure the rates of service provision but do not document the actual impact on girls and boys. However, department-wide, Juvenile Probation is moving towards integrating more qualitative measures of programming, including gender specific and cultural specific indicators.11 As part of the gender analysis, the Department was asked to state the impact of each service on male clients and on female clients. The Probation Services Division provided the same response for male and female clients, indicating that each Unit's services have the same impact on clients regardless of gender. For example, the Supervision Unit, which assigns probation officers to supervise minors who are ordered to live at home, states the impact on all clients as, "Provides necessary support services, which enable clients to successfully transition back to their new home or community."12 While this is a broad statement of the services provided, the impact of these services - especially home or school visits - may be different impact for young women as opposed to young men. For example, young women with an unstable family life may experience a lack of connectedness and social isolation, and may benefit greatly from frequent and continuous contact with their probation officer.13

Establish a gender specific residential placement facility for girls.

The Juvenile Probation Department recommended establishing a gender specific residential placement facility for girls14 (15 capacity) with a staff client ratio of 1 to 4 with both short-term (90 days) and long-term (9-12 months) programs. The short-term program would focus on family reunification, whereas the long-term program would serve 16-18 year olds with a variety of gender specific services. The Department recognizes that programming was traditionally geared for boys, and, at this facility, will provide gender specific programming for young women. The Department identified possible funding sources as government, private funding corporation, and victims of crime compensation. The facility would have a comprehensive evaluation process, conducted by an outside contractor. While the budget for this facility was not available, the timetable for this project spans five years.

As part of the Juvenile Justice Action Plan, the Mayor's Criminal Justice Council recently established a local placement facility for young women on Treasure Island. This is currently an eight person facility with construction plans to accommodate 30 young women. The Juvenile Probation Department has been involved with the Treasure Island facility including training its staff, and currently provides referrals to the Treasure Island facility. The Treasure Island facility appears to offer some gender specific programs, such as assault prevention classes for young women. The Department's proposed facility is geared toward gender specific services. Both facilities propose to increase local placement options with gender specific services for young women.

Some community advocates have stated that out-of-home placements should be made only when necessary (i.e., "in the best interests of the child") and, if necessary, should be local. This allows parents, siblings, and other family members, including relatives supportive of the young woman, to maintain some contact with the client during the placement period. Local placements also allow service providers to work with parents and to ease the transition from a facility back to the community or home. Finally, young women may have children in foster care, and only local placements allow continued contact for mother and child. The Department's proposed facility should be located in San Francisco.

The Department's proposal to emphasize family reunification corresponds with community sentiment. Community groups recommend parent services, including gender specific peer support groups for parents, siblings, and other family members. They also stress the need for a mechanism to make the parents accountable to remaining involved in the lives of their children.

As the Department is aware, it is important that any facility for girls - be it Treasure Island or the Department's proposed facility - does not simply become a Log Cabin Ranch for young women, but, instead, is truly designed to meet the interconnected needs of girls. Overall, the facility and its staff must have a rehabilitative approach, not losing sight of the ultimate goal to minimize incarceration of young women and provide them with the life skills and support necessary to remain free from the criminal justice system.

Juvenile Hall

Juvenile Hall "provides detention for juveniles recently arrested and awaiting court deliberations and decisions of social service agencies."15 Youth at the Hall receive education, health services, vocational training, and other services. Education is provided in partnership with the San Francisco Unified School District. Mental health services are provided in partnership with the Department of Health. The California Board of Corrections regulates Juvenile Hall.

The Hall has a fairly large staff, including 83 counselors, with an average daily client population of 120 youth. 1998 referral data reflect that young women and girls comprised 25.6% (839 out of 3,271) of the client population. Out of all women (839), 66 % (554) were African American, 12 % (101) were White, 11 % (93) were Asian & Pacific Islander, 10 % (87) were Hispanic, and 0.5 % (4) were American Indian.16 With such a racially diverse population, gender specific services must be culturally and linguistically appropriate.

One of the Department's priority areas for 1998-1999 is to "[a]ddress the over-representation of minority populations among youthful offenders."17 Young women of color, and especially African American young women, are incarcerated at high rates, occasionally even higher than their male counterparts. African American girls are 66% of all girls in Juvenile Hall. African American boys are 53% of all boys in Juvenile Hall, and 61% of all boys in Log Cabin Ranch. Overall, African American youth are a large percentage of the Department's clients (ranging from 51 to 61 %, depending on Division and program), compared to 13.8 % of all County residents aged 0-24 years.18 See figures, "Percentages of African American Clients at Juvenile Hall," and "1998 Juvenile Hall Clients by Sex and Race," pages 26-27. These statistics, which mirror those of incarcerated adults by race, are a reflection of society rather than of department action or policy.19 The Department of Juvenile Probation alone only has a limited ability to influence this situation. However, these statistics are disturbing from a human rights perspective, and raises the question why so many people of color - especially African Americans - are involved with the criminal justice system. Racism, economics, education, and other factors may all contribute to these patterns. However, continuing to collect disaggregated data (i.e., data based on race and sex, and other criteria, such as sexual orientation) is critical to identifying such patterns. Although the department is not responsible for the rapid increase of young women in the criminal justice system, it must continue to seek alternatives to incarceration, including additional prevention and intervention programs.

Juvenile Prob Report Image 1

1998 Juvenile Hall Clients by Sex and Race

Pie Chart of 1998 Juvenile Hall Clients by Sex and Race

Pie Chart of Male Clients

Juvenile Hall has seven units. Of these, three serve female clients: the intake unit, a co-ed unit, and an all girls unit. To be assigned to the co-ed unit, both girls and boys must demonstrate some maturity, stability, and social skills. There are specialized services for girls in Juvenile Hall, including one-on-one counseling, family focused programming, targeted educational and vocational activities, case planning activities, girls groups, life skills for girls, and a special mentorship program for girls. Most of these services are designed to be gender specific, and are provided by community based organizations under contract with the Community Programs Division.

However, these programs are short, compared to the time that incarcerated youth spend with counselors or other Juvenile Hall staff. Even a wonderful program will produce limited results unless staff provides the necessary follow-up. Training and opportunities should be provided to staff who work directly with the young women and young men. Although this is an employment issue, it profoundly impacts service delivery.

One of the department's stated major obstacles to providing services is the condition of the Juvenile Hall facility, which is in need of major repair or reconstruction. The facility structure is incompatible with the Department's desired programming. There is no space or area to offer girls vocational classes like woodshop, which is offered to boys at Log Cabin Ranch. There is limited space for gender specific programming, such as mental health services for girls. Thus, this structure is inconducive for rehabilitation. Both department staff and community groups agree that better resources are needed. This would be a formidable and costly undertaking. The Department is currently exploring community based alternatives to detention, and is moving towards providing more intervention and prevention programs. These alternatives to detention should be fully explored before refurbishing Juvenile Hall or increasing its capacity.

Incorporate gender sensitive indicators.

Indicators used to measure effectiveness of services are based on explicit "customer service goals" which primarily state time limits for activities such as admission, processing, and release of juveniles, and admission of parents, visitors, volunteers, and contracted professional staff. These indicators, used to measure efficiency of staff in delivering services, may facilitate managing Juvenile Hall, but must be expanded to measure how these services impact young women and young men. As stated, department-wide, Juvenile Probation is moving towards integrating more qualitative measures of programming, including gender specific and cultural specific indicators.20 These gender specific indicators will be particularly useful to measure outcomes at Juvenile Hall.

For example, gender sensitive indicators could include asking a young woman about how service programming changes the way she views herself, her relationships with her partner, her mother or other female family members. Such an evaluative technique takes into account the particular societal influences that result in many girls having low self-esteem, placing importance on romantic relationships, and having strong ties with her family. Based on these influences, girls' needs may be different than boys' needs. While the needs of both are equally valid, none will be served adequately unless the service provider recognizes the different life experiences of all persons.

Train ombudsperson(s) in gender specific services.

The Department recently initiated an ombudsperson pilot project to "provid[e] on-site staff to receive, evaluate, and mediate grievances in Juvenile Hall."21 This pilot project was an important step in providing a much-needed mechanism for juveniles, their families, and the community to question and/or complain about the services provided to juveniles detained at Juvenile Hall. Continued funding is necessary. In speaking privately and confidentially with any client who has a grievance or problem with staff, this ombudsperson will need training for the gender-specific needs of each client. Tracking grievances could serve as an additional indicator of the effectiveness of programming within the Hall.

Expand gender specific mental health services and assessment tools for youth in Juvenile Hall.

Over the next three years, Juvenile Hall plans to expand mental health services for detained girls by including one-on-one counseling with a focus on improving life skills, additional case management, expanding referrals to appropriate agencies, and providing female mentors as role models. Counseling will be provided by existing Juvenile Hall counselors and representatives of the Unified School District, the Pastoral Program, and on-site Department of Public Health mental health staff and voluntary mentors, including female Juvenile Hall graduates who have counseling skills. Female mentors will maintain communication and contacts with the girls they mentor for periods of up to five years following the release of the girls from Juvenile Hall. They will also provide support during periods of family reunification upon release from Juvenile Hall. A budget was not available, though possible funds are Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF),22 corporate grants, and General Fund monies.

This Department proposal stresses the importance of female mentoring, and includes peer mentoring, which is often very effective. However, a female service provider does not equate with gender sensitive services. Gender sensitive counseling recognizes the different life experiences of young women. For example, gender sensitive counseling for girls recognizes that many young women in the juvenile justice system are survivors of abuse and works with girls to help them cope with this. Female peer mentors, female counselors, and other service providers - male or female - still require specialized gender training in order to provide effective gender specific services.

In addition to expanded services, community advocates and past reports have stressed the need for additional and gender specific assessment tools. Community advocates have stated that upon a young person's first contact with the Department, a team should review the young person's situation, perform a psychological evaluation, and conduct educational evaluations for youth with learning disabilities. While such a comprehensive assessment would require additional resources, it would be a form of intervention, providing necessary services at an earlier stage of contact. This would likely result in long-term savings. At this time, the Department can improve the current initial assessment process by training probation officers and counselors to consider gender specific needs when recommending services.

Log Cabin Ranch

Log Cabin Ranch is a detention facility for boys and young men sentenced by juvenile courts for terms of up to 1 year. During 1998, the Division admitted 56 young men and boys, 34 Black (60.7 %), 9 each Asian & Pacific Islander and Hispanic (16.1% each), and 4 White (7.1%).

Although programs at Juvenile Hall appear different from those at Log Cabin, it is unclear how services differ. At Log Cabin Ranch School, education, provided through the San Francisco School District, offers reading, writing, math, social studies, computer skills, woodshop, and life skills. The Health Department provides medical and psychosocial services to residents at Log Cabin Ranch. Some Log Cabin Ranch programs provided by the Juvenile Probation Department appear to be geared to meet boys needs: anger management and violence reduction, teen father program, carpentry program, and recreational programs (river rafting, backpacking, camping, and fishing).

Some services at Log Cabin (such as woodshop, computer skills, carpentry, and even the recreational programs) while stereotypically male, would also benefit young women. It is important that they too be given equal opportunities to gain these skills and to explore nontraditional career paths. For example, girls at Juvenile Hall would also benefit from these classes. However, given the lack of common area at Juvenile Hall, offering these classes to girls there would require additional resources to create a programming space compatible with these services.

While not based on gender, some indicators at Log Cabin Ranch go beyond measuring staff efficiency measures and appear to measure impact upon youth. Log Cabin's indicators include parent input into programs and services, job placement referral services, and a speedy grievance system.

b. Involvement with Clients and Communities

A service program's effectiveness is greatly enhanced by client evaluation. Possible feedback mechanisms are client focus groups, youth satisfaction surveys, and exit interviews. In areas where it has not yet done so, the Department should integrate client feedback mechanisms into current evaluation measures.

In addition to extensive involvement with the Community Programs Division, community groups and members give input on program and service funding at public hearings convened by the Department. This process of integrating community concerns into the development of programming could be replicated in other city departments that serve the public. Needs assessments and evaluation programs both involve input from the community, including the youth and families served. The Department also solicits input from the Juvenile Probation Commission, the Juvenile Justice Coordinating Council, the Juvenile Justice Commission. It further works in collaboration with the Department of Children, Youth and Their Families and the Mayor's Criminal Justice Council to address gaps in services and funding initiatives.

The Department has a model procedure for contracting with community-based organizations. It begins with feedback from the community about priority needs. The Department also solicits input from youth, parents, and probation staff. After identifying the contractual need, the Community Programs Division notifies potential contractors and organizations through a range of outreach efforts. Next, diverse representatives from the community, youth, parents, Commissions, and city departments participate in selecting the contractor. No more than one departmental staff person sits on each review team. After the team makes recommendations, the proposals and recommendations are then packaged and sent to the Chief Probation Officer and to the Juvenile Probation Commission for a public hearing and approval. As a result of these successful outreach efforts, the majority of the Department's non-profit contracts are with agencies that have women and/or people of color as Executive Directors.

Gender concerns are communicated to service providers through various means such as mandated training, commission hearings on gender needs, focus groups and youth conferences, forums, and a mandatory service provider network. In addition, the Department publishes an action plan with goals and objectives that identify priority areas including services for girls.

3.Employment Practices

a. Workforce Data

The department provided detailed workforce data on their employees as a whole and by race, sex, occupational category, employment status, and salary range. These data are analyzed below.

There is a lack of data in areas of particular concern to women. For example, there is limited information available on parental leave, childcare, work options, promotions, or on women's participation in the department's internship, apprenticeship, or mentorship programs. Collecting information in these areas would allow the Department to address the different needs of both women and men in the workforce.

Analysis of Workforce Composition Data

Overall, women are 36.4% percent of the Department's 321 employees, compared to 45.7% percent of San Francisco's civilian labor force.23 The Department's workforce is racially diverse, with a large percentage of African Americans (38.9% "Black"), and a significant percentage of both Asian Americans (15.9% "Asian & Pacific Islanders") and Latinos (15.9% "Hispanics"). European Americans in the Department (29.3% "Whites") are represented roughly in proportion to their representation in the San Francisco Bay Area civilian labor force (28.8%).24 This diversity relates to the diversity of the Department's clientele.

Women are highly represented in the "office clerical" occupational category, whereas men dominate the "professional" and "service and maintenance" categories. Women are 67.1% of office and clerical workers in the San Francisco Bay Area, but are 78.9% of office and clerical workers in the Department.25 Among the 28 service and maintenance workers in the Department, 10.7% are women (compared to 35.6% availability in the San Francisco Bay Area) and 89.3% are men (compared to 64.4% availability in the San Francisco Bay Area). While salaries are comparable between the office clerical and service and maintenance positions, the gender divisions of job categories is traditional.

Female professionals are underrepresented within the Department. Women comprise only 33.6% of the 223 professionals within the Department, but 47.8% of professionals in the San Francisco Bay Area. Men hold many of the highest paying ($60,000 and over) professional positions. The department should examine if this is a result of seniority, discrimination, or other factors.26

In examining the salary ranges by sex, over 50 percent of the Department's employees earning over $70,000 are female. However, between the $40-69,000 salary ranges, the percentage of women as compared to men decreases as salary increases. In examining the salary ranges by race, although African American employees are the largest number of the Department's staff, a smaller percentage of African American employees earn between $50-69,000 compared to European American employees. In the highest salary range, the percentage of African American and European American employees is roughly the same. This reflects effective top management recruitment efforts that ensure equal employment opportunities.

Tie recruitment to workforce data analysis.

The Department plans to complete its Affirmative Action Plan and present it to the Department of Human Resources (as required), with recommendations and an implementation plan to ensure equal employment opportunities. The implementation plan will cover five key areas. First, it will fully identify the Department's workforce composition by job classification, sex and EEO category. Second, it will pinpoint areas where the Department can do a better job in recruiting. Third, it will enlist members from under-represented communities via community based organizations for recruitment assistance and use other marketing media as appropriate. Fourth, it will track recruitment statistics to determine efficacy of recruitment efforts on a quarterly basis. Fifth, it will propose how the Department can adjust its recruitment strategy accordingly. The Department estimates that approximately $80,000 for 1 ½ staff positions are needed to fully implement all activities in this plan. This Affirmative Action Plan and report will be an important tool to identify and address disparities in the workforce composition.

b. Recruitment and Professional Development

While the Department has a fairly diverse staff, it recognizes that disparities continue to exist between the availability of women and minorities in the labor pool and the number of women and minorities in its workforce. The Department has created a strong recruitment strategy to identify and attract underrepresented groups. Its plan includes:

· sending personnel staff to make presentations at community based organizations (CBOs), regional career fairs, and social services and criminology classes at colleges and universities;

· advertising positions in ethnic media and through CBOs, including some women's organizations;

· making a conscious effort to include women and minorities on interview panels;

· expanding its recruitment of candidates from underrepresented groups for non-traditional positions such as engineers, and utility workers;

· working with the City's Equal Opportunity Office and individual unions to explore the possibility of creating mentorship and/or apprenticeship programs with a community outreach component; and

· collaborating with CBOs to attract underrepresented groups, monitor disparities in the workforce, and implement programs to ensure equal employment opportunities.

This proposed plan, which uses employer and union partnerships, will help recruit women into nontraditional positions. The plan should also be developed in concert with the Department of Human Resources and other city departments. This plan, along with the Department's Affirmative Action Plans, could be incorporated into a recruitment action plan with specific tasks. The action plan should include involving both women and men in conducting outreach, and specialized training for the staff responsible for recruitment and discrimination issues.

Several female employees stated that female applicants for counselor positions (working in Juvenile Hall) are at a disadvantage because they are often physically smaller in stature than males. The women felt that heavy-set and taller men are considered better able to handle youth. Unless a certain height, weight, or strength is actually necessary to do the job of counselor (in which case it should be explicitly stated in the job description after approval by the Department of Human Resources and the City Attorney), this perception, if present, can result in discrimination against women both in hiring and on the job. The Department should attempt to remove this misperception through such methods as discussion groups and training.

Expand professional development and training opportunities.

Once hired, conscious retention efforts are necessary, including opportunities for training, professional development, and advancement. Both in individual interviews and focus groups organized by the Division, employees requested additional opportunities for professional development and training.

Currently, female and male staff members receive state-mandated training in proportion to their representation in the department. This basic training includes orientation and skills training for probation officers and counselors within one year of hire. Employees expressed a desire for additional opportunities for professional development and education beyond the basic training.

To ensure equal employment opportunities, the Department should make professional development programs a higher priority. Suggested activities include:

· Training the personnel office, managers, and supervisors to regularly appraise employees of professional development opportunities provided by the department;

· Training managers and supervisors to discuss employees' training and career goals during performance reviews;

· Announcing promotion opportunities in a manner that ensures that all employees are informed of the opportunities, criteria, and process for promotion;

· Providing incentives to gain professional development outside work such as participating in community boards, attending night school, and identifying training opportunities;

· Ensuring that parents with childcare and family responsibilities can equally benefit from professional development opportunities;

· Creating employee support groups for women and men to provide a mechanism to address a range of gender based concerns expressed by employees; and

· Consulting staff on how to identify external training needs and develop a plan and budget for additional training accordingly.

c. Work Environment

Department employees and union representatives stated the need for a more family-friendly work environment. The need for increased flexible work options, child-care problems, family leave benefit issues, safety concerns, and a lack of employee peer support mechanisms were all raised. Although many of these are city-wide issues and beyond any one department's ability to change, the department is able to address some of these concerns.

The Department should continue to convene employee focus groups to evaluate changes and address future concerns.

Create a more family-friendly work environment.

The Department is in the process of reevaluating flexible work options, but stated that counselor positions, working with youth at Juvenile Hall, do not allow for much flexibility. Currently, probation officers maintain 8 hour/5 day or 10 hour/4 day schedules. A department review determined that an 8-hour/5 day schedule better suited the needs of the clients and overall operations. In contrast, during the focus group discussion, some employees asserted that flexible work options would reduce the pressure of parental and child care, shorten commute time, and better serve the needs of juveniles and families who cannot access department staff during regular business hours. Some female staff in Juvenile Hall stated that because they are not able to obtain more favorable work schedules, they are not as likely to plan extended careers at Juvenile Hall. Departmental management must work with unions, non-management staff, and families of clients to develop options that accommodate employees' need for flexibility and clients' needs for access to staff. This is critical to the retention of employees.

Employees also expressed concerns about requested parental leave benefits and child care issues. While the Department stated that no employee requested parental leave in the past fiscal year, both men and women expressed concerns about meeting family needs. In focus groups, some male employees stated that they are not given equal consideration for parental leave, including when their wives are giving birth. Men and women stated that supervisors questioned their requests to take leave to attend to the needs of their children. Employees also expressed concerns about the lack of childcare options. In particular, a few female workers in Juvenile Hall felt they cannot take advantage of promotional opportunities because of child-care conflicts.

The Department can attempt to meet the expressed needs of both women and men for family leave. Often, there is the perception that requesting leave or different work schedules will be looked upon unfavorably. While changing perceptions is difficult, it begins at the top. Formulating a committee to review current policies and making changes as appropriate is necessary to truly address employee needs.

In a department with round the clock staffing needs, employees should receive childcare resource and referral assistance. There are many community models, including local childcare referral agencies, on how this may be done.

Expand safety procedures.

The department recognizes staff safety concerns (expressed more by women) and is expanding safety procedures. Men and women identified a need for additional lighting in the parking lot, cars that do not break down and cell phones in case they do, and modernized security equipment (such as cameras). Meeting these safety concerns will likely require a commitment of resources. Women identified a need for a department-wide policy for introducing new staff, and greater staff attention to opening doors only for known persons. In response, the Department began an expanded key control program to control access, and also began requiring employees to wear badges. Another way for the Department to meet safety concerns is to have a group of male and female employees conduct walk-throughs of the entire facility and surrounding area, particularly at night, and to develop an action plan.

Increase enforcement of anti-discrimination policies.

Over the next calendar year (2000) the department is developing a pilot training for staff involved in the recruitment process to be sensitive to issues of discrimination. This training is intended to be the basis for a department-wide effort to educate staff on the issues of gender equity and equality. Topics include supervisors' responsibilities relating to discrimination in the workplace, understanding diversity in the workforce, sexual harassment prevention, cultural awareness and others.

To ensure this is realized, the Department will need a timetable, staff allocation and budget. The Department should consider mandating gender and diversity training for all staff (in addition to STC and other current mandated training), which will aid in countering gender-based discrimination in the workplace. Finally, the Department should incorporate the definition of discrimination contained in the CEDAW Ordinance into the department's training practices.

4. Budget Allocation

All governmental budgets have an impact on the lives of both men and women. Yet, consciously analyzing how budgets impact different populations is a relatively new concept. The CEDAW Task Force acknowledges the work that the Juvenile Probation Department has done to analyze its budget from a gender perspective, particularly considering that the information requested was new. The Department further demonstrated its commitment to this process by providing its information within a short period of time.

The Juvenile Probation Department's total budget for fiscal year 1998-1999 was $25,987,747. These monies are 4.2% of the total public protection budget ($617,858,158) for the City of San Francisco.

The Department indicated that young women and girls are a relatively new but increasingly large percentage of the population in the juvenile justice system. Budgetary priorities, which reflect an institutional commitment, should reflect this new reality. In 1998-1999, the Department made increasing services for girls one of its two key initiatives. The Department reported that 25% of its budget is allocated to girls based on the percentage of the population of girls in the system. However, it is unclear how this percentage from the budget was actually allocated and spent on servicing girls. Additionally, if the prior programs were gender specific to boys, then new programs must be developed for girls. Realistically, the additional start-up costs for these new programs may exceed 25%. Since girls' services are a priority, the Department should allocate specific funding to reflect this, which may include allocating more than 25% of its funds to develop gender specific programs for girls. In addition to seeking new funding, the Department should also explore ways to reallocate resources toward expanding gender specific services.

The effectiveness of the girls' programs is difficult to discern from the budgetary information provided by the Department. While the Juvenile Probation Department has allocated resources equally based on its client populations (25% for girls and 75% for boys), the Department will need to expand ways to measure how effectively it is using these resources to ensure the human rights of girls.

Last year (fiscal year 1998-99), Community Programs, the division that leads gender specific programming, received a major budgetary increase within the Department. This increase includes Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF) funding27 (approximately $617,062) to provide gender specific services for young women and girls. (Another $242,000 from TANF Ranch funds supports alternatives to detention for boys. TANF Ranch Funds can only be used for youth at Log Cabin Ranch, an all-male one year detention facility.) TANF funding has provided needed programming for both girls and boys. As the Department recognizes, additional funding is necessary for gender specific programming. For example, one of the critical areas of need pointed out by the service providers and staff is mental health services, but no budget was estimated, and these additional services will require funding.

Another important concern is that much of the department's gender specific funding (especially funding for girls' programming) is provided by TANF funds which are temporary funds. It is unclear how the Department will continue providing gender specific services after the current TANF funding expires in fiscal year 2003. The Department should continue to seek additional funding, including city funding, for gender specific services for young women and girls.

The Department holds a public hearing on its budget to receive input from community groups and clients. Exactly how this input influences the decision-making budgetary process should be outlined at the public hearing. At the public hearing, the Department should address how funds are allocated for services for girls and boys and how these funds are administered. For example, the public would be interested to know not only how much money is allocated to education or health services but also what services are included in the allocation. Also, the Department should actively engage, in the budget process, young women and men who have previously received services. In particular, measurements of program effectiveness, including input from former clients, should be considered when making budgetary commitments.

As part of a gender analysis of its budget, the Department proposes to examine the feasibility of routinely identifying and tracking on-going expenditures for staff and client services by gender. It is important that this tracking not be sex based but gender based (i.e., whether or not the expenditure meets the particular needs of either girls or boys). Case management costs would include providing gender specific services for girls and boys based on their particular needs. Some services, such as grounds operations or Juvenile Hall facilities maintenance, may not be specific to any gender but may be general service expenditures, and should be recorded as such. On an annual basis, the Department should assess its service budget for general services, gender specific services for girls and gender specific services for boys. Finally, as part of its budget process, the Department should develop an action plan that includes:

· Its detailed budget for FY 1999-2000; and

· Its FY 1999-2000 budgetary commitment to improving equity for girls.

The CEDAW Task Force and the COSW are available to work with the Department to develop this action plan.

5.Recommendations

The COSW and the CEDAW Task Force presents the following recommendations for action. Some recommendations build on those proposed by departments themselves.

It is important to remember that the juvenile justice system's impact on girls does not start with the Juvenile Probation Department. The actions of police, prosecutors, defense attorneys and judges, and even the laws decide who comes under the purview of the Juvenile Probation department. These recommendations are solely limited to the Juvenile Probation Department, but much more needs to be done by the entire juvenile justice system to ensure justice for girls and young women.

Conduct Comprehensive Human Rights Training for All Staff

· Train employees on human rights issues with a gender perspective. Incorporate the definition of discrimination contained in the CEDAW Ordinance into the Department's training. This will enable employees to recognize gender differences among everyone involved in the juvenile justice system, from coworkers to clients.

Collect and Analyze Disaggregated Data

· Expand data collection on workforce composition, employment practices, and client demographics. Data should be disaggregated by sex, race, ethnicity, verbal language fluency, sexual orientation, age, disability, parental status, and other criteria when possible. Collection of certain data (e.g., sexual orientation, parental status, age) must be obtained legally and voluntarily. The confidentiality of respondents must be maintained.

· Collect current San Francisco Labor Market availability data for all occupational categories represented in the Department's current or anticipated workforce.

Expand Recruitment Programs

· Implement the proposed recruitment program through an action plan including staffing and training.

· Expand focus groups to all divisions to gather the concerns of employees, respecting employee confidentiality. Facilitate discussions of recruitment practices, professional development, and the grievance process.

Create a More Family-Friendly Work Environment

· Expand flexible work options in light of expressed employee concerns. Include discussions with families of youth served, unions, and staff.

· Expand focus groups to all divisions to gather concerns of employees, respecting employee confidentiality. Facilitate discussions of family leave, childcare and elder care needs, work options, and health and safety needs.

Study the Viability of Establishing an On-Site Girls' Unit

· Examine the viability of establishing an on-site girls' unit staffed by a small group of intake officers, probation officers, counselors and other staff who would be trained to work exclusively with young women. In particular, identify the benefits of this gender specific model to girls. This examination should solicit community and client input.

Provide Gender Specific Mental Health Assessment and Services

· Expand mental health services for detained girls by including counseling with a focus on improving life skills, additional case management, expanded referrals to appropriate agencies, and providing female mentors as role models. Provide specialized gender training for all peer mentors, counselors, and other service providers - male or female - so that they may provide effective gender specific services.

· Train Probation Officers and Counselors on gender specific programming so that they may address the different needs of girls and boys in the initial assessment process and when recommending services.

Provide Additional Gender Specific Services for Young Women and Girls

· Expand and/or redesign gender specific services for mental health, sexual assault, domestic violence, parenting and pregnancy prevention, delinquency prevention for at-risk girls, substance abuse prevention, education, and transition planning. Involve young women in the design of these services.

· Provide gender specific counseling for young women and girls about aftercare and transitional services including housing, counseling, life skills and self esteem development, health care (including reproductive health), education, job skills training, and job placement assistance. At minimum, young women need viable, safe options for housing and paid employment.

Conduct Annual Gender Analysis of Budget

· Conduct an annual gender analysis of the Department's budget. Assess the Department's annual budget for general services, gender specific services for girls, and gender specific services for boys. Develop an action plan that includes the department's detailed budget for that fiscal year, and its budgetary commitment to improving equity for girls for that fiscal year.

1 Written Response of the Juvenile Probation Department to the Gender Analysis (JPD Response), page 1.

2 Juvenile Probation Department Mission Statement, dated 8/19/98.

3 See, for example, Out of Sight, Out of Mind: The Plight of Adolescent Girls in the San Francisco Juvenile Justice System, by The Center on Juvenile and Criminal Justice, 1995. Other reports are listed in Appendix C, Bibliography.

4 Females under the age of eighteen often choose to call themselves either young women or girls. For example, teenagers may call themselves young women while an eight-year old may consider herself a girl. Ultimately, young women must be allowed to self-identify as they wish. In this report, the two terms - young women and girls - are used interchangeably.

5 Center for Juvenile and Criminal Justice, 1996.

6 Research has confirmed that girls are likely to experience physical or emotional abuse. It is estimated that 70 % of girls in the juvenile justice system have histories of abuse. Owen, Barbara and Barbara Bloom, Profiling the Needs of Young Female offenders: Final Report to the Executive Committee, California Youth Authority, 1997. Also, "[s]ixty-two percent of incarcerated girls reported suffering physical abuse, most before the age of 15." Of these girls, 54% reported being the victim of sexual abuse. Come Into the Sun: Findings and Recommendations on the Needs of Women and Girls in the Justice System, Delinquency Prevention Commission, Commission on the Status of Women, City and County of San Francisco, March 1992, pages 6, 10, citing to American Correctional Association, 1990, The Female Offender: What Does The Future Hold? Washington, D.C.; St.Mary's Press.

7 Bloom, Barbara and Barbara Owen. Modeling Gender Specific Services in Juvenile Justice: Policy and Program Recommendations, State of California Office of Criminal Justice and Planning, August 1998, Executive Summary, page 2.

8 Reports considered in conducting this gender analysis are listed in Appendix C, Bibliography.

9 Bloom, Barbara and Barbara Owen. Modeling Gender Specific Services in Juvenile Justice: Policy and Program Recommendations, State of California Office of Criminal Justice and Planning, August 1998, Executive Summary, page 5.

10 JPD Response, Introduction, page 1.

11 The Department is developing a comprehensive program evaluation system in partnership with other city agencies. See Program Development and Evaluation System, ProDES Information Sheet, City and County of San Francisco, Juvenile Probation Department.

12 JPD Response, Services, page 8.

13 Bloom, Barbara and Barbara Owen. Modeling Gender Specific Services in Juvenile Justice: Policy and Program Recommendations, State of California Office of Criminal Justice and Planning, August 1998, Executive Summary, page 5.

14 The Department currently funds and runs an all-male facility, Log Cabin Ranch, which, as discussed later, has programming that appears gender specific for boys.

15 JPD Response, Services, page 14.

16 Among young men and boys, there was a larger Hispanic (21% at 515 out of 2,432) than Asian & Pacific Islander (15% at 366) population.

17 Juvenile Probation Commission, Priority Areas for 1998-1999.

18 In 1996, African Americans were 13.8 % of the San Francisco child and youth population ages 0 to 24. California Department of Finance, Race/Ethnic Population Estimates with Age and Sex Detail, 1970-1996, January 1998.

19 For example, the San Francisco Sheriff's Department reports that incarcerated adults are currently (as of September 1999) approximately 49% African American, 25-30% Latino/Hispanic, and 25-30% Other (including Asian American, Native American and European American). Statistics for females only are approximately 60% African American, 10% Latino/Hispanic, and 25-30% Other.

20 The Department is developing a comprehensive program evaluation system in partnership with other city agencies. See Program Development and Evaluation System, ProDES Information Sheet, City and County of San Francisco, Juvenile Probation Department.

21 JPD Response, Services, page 45.

22 Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF) is a State of California program that funds community based, family focused services.

23 JPD Response, Employment, page 2.

24 San Francisco Bay Area Labor Market Availability, 1990 U.S. Bureau of the Census. This is the most recent census data available.

25 San Francisco Bay Area Labor Market Availability, 1990 U.S. Bureau of the Census.

26 All of the 6 para-professionals and the 7 skilled craft workers are male. With such small numbers, any trends must be viewed cautiously. The paraprofessional positions are relatively lower paying ($30,000 to 39,999), but women are underrepresented (women are 85.4% of the San Francisco Bay Area labor market). The few skilled crafts positions are higher paying ($50,000 and above), although there are also few qualified women available (women are only 9.2% of the San Francisco Bay Area labor market).

27 Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF) is a State of California program that funds community based, family focused services.