Mayor’s Task Force on Anti-Human Trafficking

Wednesday, October 26, 2016, 1:30pm – 3:30pm

City Hall, Room 201

1 Dr. Carlton B Goodlett Place, San Francisco, CA 94102

 

Attendees:

Saara Ahmed, Asian Women’s Shelter; Mana Barari, Legal Aid Society; Ariel Boyce- Smith, SF Public Defender; Karen Catalona, SF District Attorney; Leah Chen Price, API Legal Outreach; Saerom Choi, API Legal Outreach; Carly Devin, Huckleberry Youth Programs; Cristy Dieterich, Department of Public Health; Victoria Chan, Asian Law Caucus; Patrick Fosdahl, Department of Public Health; Johanna Gendelmen, Family and Children’s Services; Kelly Gillian, Nalls Foundation; Elise Hansell, Department on the Status of Women; Emily Hinsey, Love Never Fails; Kim Hunter, SF District Attorney; Lt. Jennifer Jackson, SF Police Department Special Victims Unit; Alia Whitney- Johnson, Freedom Fwd; Antonia Lavine, Jewish Coalition Against Human Trafficking; Rosalie Lopez, SF Unified School District; Rebecca Marcus, SF Public Defender; Maggie McHale, Department on the Status of Women; Angie Miot-Nudel, Larkin Street Youth Services; Emily Murase, Department on the Status of Women; Elizabeth Nakagoshi, Public Defender; Angelina Romano, SF Unified School District; Emily Sims, RTI; Sarai Smith- Mazonie, SHADE; Mary Steiner, United Nations Association San Francisco; Dongmei Tan, Department of Public Health; Christine Ticas, SF District Attorney; Archie Wong, SF District Attorney

 

I.Welcome, Introductions/ Check- In, Agenda Review

II.Review of Minutes from August 24, 2016 Meeting

Minutes were adopted by the group. [Kandel/ Ticas]

III.Presentation from Survivor of Child Sex Trafficking in San Francisco

A young woman who was sexually trafficked from age 15-17 in San Francisco and Marin presented to the group on her experiences.

Main Takeaways:

1. Criminal Justice Response
   1. Prior to being trafficked the survivor reported two different sexual assaults to police in Marin and had very negative experiences with the police each time, including being advised  to call her perpetrator, being called a liar,  Child Protective Services involvement with her mother for child endangerment, and no arrests of her perpetrators.
   2. While being trafficked she was arrested after an all-male sting operation with an officer posing as a buyer. She was interrogated for five hours, was arrested, and sent to juvenile hall even though she requested to stay at Huckleberry House. She was held in Juvenile Hall for over a month and she had no follow up with victim services during her time in Juvenile Hall.
   3. She was subpoenaed to testify against one of her traffickers and it was extremely traumatizing for her.
   4. She felt either criminalized or infantilized by the various persons who interviewed her, neither of which felt appropriate to her.
   5. She had a very positive experience with a parole officer who prioritized her safety and did not have her testify against one of her traffickers.
2. Prior to being trafficked, she thought trafficking only occurred overseas and did not happen here. She advocated education in schools on human trafficking including “how to spot an exploiter.”
3. She was placed into a foster care situation where she felt extremely stigmatized for having been trafficked.
4. The survivor discussed how, while being trafficked, everyone felt like a threat. The turning point was speaking with an advocate who is a survivor of sex trafficking.
5. Paying survivors as experts to advise providers financially empowers survivors and allows for important information to reach providers. 

 

IV. Presentation of Expungement Options for Human Trafficking Victims

Elizabeth Nakagoshi, Ariel Boyce- Smith, and Rebecca Marcus of the Public Defender’s Office presented on expungement options for human trafficking victims.

 

V.Update on Evaluation of Task Force

Emily Sims and Minh Dang presented on the results of the Levels of Collaboration Scale. The overall median score was one on a scale of one to five.  The government agencies tended to overrate collaboration and the community based organizations tended to underrate. There were four main themes in the open ended questions of the Levels of Collaboration Scale.

1. Members feel there are barriers to collaboration within the Task Force.
2. Members would like clarification as to why attending the Task Force is beneficial for them.
3. Members would like to see more resources for survivors.

·  Resources such as sustainable care, mentorship, a recognition of the impact of trafficking on communities of color, attention on transgender survivors, and a collaboration with survivors in the process of legislation formation.

4. Members would like to see the creation of common goals within the Task Force.

·  Revisiting the 2013 road map and fast tracking goals and projects that impact direct service could help with that.

 

VI.Strategic Planning Retreat

Minouche gave an update on planning for the strategic planning retreat. A full day is necessary for the strategic planning retreat to be effective. In order for it to be workable there should be 20-25 people at the most, which means 2- 3 people from each subcommittee and various people from the general Task Force.

Email Minouche at Minouche.kandel@sfgov.org  if you are interested in participating in the Strategic Planning Retreat.

VII.Review of Data Collection Tool for 2017

A one page recommendation list was discussed by the group for the future data gathering form for the San Francisco Trafficking Report. Minouche would like to finalize the data gathering tool by the end of this year.

Some members of the group expressed interest in the Department on the Status of Women hiring a data analyst. The Department does not currently have funds to hire a data analyst.

• A work group was formed by Antonia, Natasha, and Kelly to look into funding assistance with data analysis.

 

VIII.Next Meeting and Follow Ups

1. Next meeting: December 14, 2016, 1:30 – 3:30 pm, City Hall, room 201.
2. Karen Catalona will present conviction data from the District Attorney’s office
3. Evaluations update from RTI.
4. Minouche will circulate information on the West Coast Children’s Clinic panel on child sex trafficking.