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A Strategic Plan for Twenty-First Century San Fran

VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN PROGRAMS
   A Strategic Plan for Twenty-First Century San Francisco

Action Plan and Funding Priorities for Fiscal Years 1998 - 2001

NOVEMBER 1997

Caryl Ito, President
Patricia Chang, Vice President
Sharron Treskunoff Bailey
Ximena Delgado
Milton Marks
Regina Phelps
Sabrina Saunders
Sonia Melara, Executive Director

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Executive Summary
Introduction
    Mission
    Priorities
Background
    Commission Mandate
    What Is Violence Against Women and Girls?
    History of COSW's Violence Against Women Programs
    Policy Development for Institutional Change
Commission-Funded Services
    Domestic Violence Services
    Sexual Assault Services
Needs Assessment
    Emerging Needs and Trends
    The Impact of Welfare Reform on the City of San Francisco
    Priority Populations
    Girls and Young Women
    Women of Color
    Immigrant Women and Others Who Cannot Access English-Language Services
    Lesbian, Bisexual, and Transgendered Women's Communities
    Violence Against Women Prevention Education Programs
    Transitional Services for Survivors
Commission Vision for Twenty-First Century San Francisco
    Commission Goal
    Policy Development Priorities
    A Call to San Francisco's Communities
Three Year Action Plan for Fiscal Years 1998-2001
    Increasing Access to Services
    Offering Comprehensive Services and Programs
    Expanding Multi-Language Access Models
    Establishing a Centralized 24-Hour Multi-Language Domestic Violence Crisis Line
    Emphasizing Violence Prevention Education
    Creating Alternatives to Shelter-Based Programs
    Providing Transitional Services
    Preserving and Enhancing City Resources for Violence Against Women Programs
    Encouraging Organizational Accountability
    Building Organizational Stability and Long-Term Self-Sufficiency
Evaluation
Conclusion
Acknowledgements
    Participating Agencies


EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
INTRODUCTION

The Commission on the Status of Women's Strategic Action Plan is a long-term strategy for San Francisco's future, and an action plan for the next three-year funding cycle for violence against women programs, Fiscal Years 1998-99, 1999-2000, and 2000-2001.

In 1996, the Commission began work on its Strategic Action Plan, with program evaluation and community planning as the foundation for strategies and funding priorities. First, the COSW completed an extensive evaluation of all Commission-funded programs which assessed and analyzed service delivery, administrative practices, and community needs. Next, the Commission held an all-day strategic planning meeting with service providers, to identify unmet needs, under-served populations, and target communities.

CITYWIDE RESPONSE TO VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN

A strong, comprehensive response to violence against women in San Francisco requires a coordinated effort to expand domestic violence and sexual assault services, and focus on specific communities. In every component of the Commission's Violence Against Women Programs, priorities are based upon community needs and community-specific strategies; and COSW-funded programs are required to provide accessible, multi-language, culturally competent survivor services and prevention education.

PRIORITY SERVICES

The Commission on the Status of Women's goal for twenty-first century San Francisco, to establish a comprehensive citywide response to violence against women, requires support for new priorities, and continued support for crisis services. Commission priorities are:

  • violence prevention education to prevent the abuse and assault of women and girls, and to prevent men and boys from engaging in violence against women, through public awareness campaigns, training programs, community outreach and education;
  • intervention/advocacy programs to address domestic violence and sexual assault before crisis services are required, through a spectrum of services including multi-disciplinary screening and referrals;
  • crisis services for survivors to assist women who have been raped or battered, through emergency shelters, victim advocacy and accompaniment, crisis lines, and legal services;
  • transitional/advocacy services to help survivors achieve economic independence, recover from victimization, and move from trauma to healing.
PRIORITY POPULATIONS

More than any other city in the United States, San Francisco's population is rich in ethnic and cultural backgrounds, languages, and sexual orientations, which makes it incumbent upon the City to insure that the needs of under-served communities are addressed. Under-served groups are characterized by lack of input from a community in service design and delivery, the dearth of culturally and linguistically appropriate services, and the absence of community-specific services. The Commission's priority populations are acutely under-served by sexual assault and domestic violence service providers, and violence prevention education programs:

  • immigrants and others who cannot access English-language services;
  • lesbian, bisexual, and transgendered women;
  • girls and young women; and
  • women of color.
PROPOSAL TO THE MAYOR AND BOARD OF SUPERVISORS

The Commission on the Status of Women has made a commitment to meet the needs of under-served communities, and to develop, establish and maintain essential violence against women services. We invite the Mayor and Board of Supervisors, and the community, to support our Strategic Action Plan, and to join us in creating a citywide response to violence against women. Together, we will establish a comprehensive service delivery system, ensure a citywide response to violence against women for twenty-first century San Francisco, and move toward our long-term goal: the creation of a society free from violence.

INTRODUCTION

The San Francisco Commission on the Status of Women is pleased to present Violence Against Women Programs: A Strategic Plan for Twenty-First Century San Francisco, which will guide our activities and funding priorities for Fiscal Years 1998-99, 1999-00, and 2000-01.

Our Strategic Action Plan is grounded in seventeen years of violence against women programs, and builds upon the goals of the Commission's 1995 Strategic Plan. To ensure that the City's violence against women programs represent San Francisco's needs, the Commission invited community agencies to participate in a strategic planning meeting to assess needs, identify emerging trends, and recommend strategies. The COSW will continue to seek community input, and clarify and revise our goals and objectives to meet the changing needs of San Francisco's communities. This plan is a living document, and we welcome responses.

Mission

The Commission's purpose is to work toward our vision: a society free from violence against women and girls. To that end, the mission of the Commission on the Status of Women's Violence Against Women Programs is to collaborate with City officials, service providers, community organizations, and members of the public to:

  • prevent the victimization of women and girls;
  • provide a full array of crisis support services to victims of battering and rape;
  • empower survivors to move toward economic self-sufficiency;
  • assist survivors to heal from the trauma of abuse and assault; and
  • create a violence-free future for women and girls in San Francisco.
Priorities

The Commission recognizes the importance of maintaining the emergency shelters, crisis lines, legal assistance, and advocacy services that are currently sustained by COSW funding. Crisis support services are the first line response to violence against women and girls, and are essential to public safety - but they are only one component of a comprehensive response to violence. The Commission's goal for twenty-first century San Francisco, to establish a comprehensive citywide response to violence against women, requires that we support new priorities, while continuing to maintain crisis services.

The Commission's priorities are:

  • violence prevention education to prevent the abuse and assault of women and girls, and to prevent men and boys from engaging in violence against women, through public awareness campaigns, training programs, community outreach and education;
  • intervention/advocacy programs to address domestic violence and sexual assault before crisis services are required, through a spectrum of services including multi-disciplinary screening and referrals;
  • crisis services for survivors to assist women who have been raped or battered, through emergency shelters, victim advocacy and accompaniment, crisis lines, and legal services;
  • transitional/advocacy services to help survivors achieve economic independence, recover from victimization, and move from trauma to healing.

To address these priorities, the Commission is committed to creative collaboration, government and community partnerships, and innovative strategic planning as we begin to implement significant changes in our Violence Against Women Programs. These critical changes require that we both increase City funding for violence against women programs, and restructure citywide service delivery systems.

BACKGROUND
Commission Mandate

The San Francisco Charter details the COSW's mandated mission:

The Commission on the Status of Women shall develop and recommend policies and practices for the City and County to reduce the particular impacts on women and girls of problems such as domestic violence, sexual harassment, employment and health care inequity, and homelessness, as well as advocate on behalf of women and girls in such areas. (Section 4.119)

The San Francisco Administrative Code describes COSW's authority:

The Commission shall have the power and duty to: Oversee and administer funds allocated to the Commission for domestic violence programs. (Section 33.4.p.)

The Commission's mandated mission and authorized powers and duties empower this City department to conduct research and analysis; create strategic plans; determine approaches and directions; develop programs and service plans; establish citywide policies and practices; and provide funding for services and programs. It is the Commission's responsibility to ensure that all of San Francisco's women and girls have access to high quality violence against women programs and services.

What is Violence Against Women and Girls?
Violence against women knows no barriers,
and regardless of age, race, economic level,
education, sexual orientation, or religion,
all women may be targets of rape and battering.

Violence against women includes all forms of verbal and physical abuse and assaults against women and girls, and the continuum of violence ranges from harassment to homicide. Commission Violence Against Women Programs focus on domestic violence and sexual assault, because of the tremendous impact on women's lives: in the United States, half of all women are battered by their intimate partners, and one in three women are raped during their lifetimes.

Often, we cannot separate violence against women into discrete categories. For example, to address the abuse and assault of girls and young women means dealing with child sexual assault, dating violence and abusive relationships, child abuse and neglect, acquaintance rape, and incest. Because of its strong correlation with repeated re-victimization, childhood sexual abuse plays a critical role in domestic violence and sexual assault, and increased efforts to address childhood sexual abuse are key to preventing violence against women.

 Finally, we cannot forget that homicide is at the end of the continuum of violence against women. In 1995-96, according to a study conducted by the Family Violence Project of the District Attorney's Office, sixty-four percent of all solved female homicide cases were caused by domestic violence. Domestic homicides are the largest category of homicides in San Francisco, affecting all of our City's communities.

History of COSW's Violence Against Women Programs

The Commission's history of funding domestic violence programs began in 1980 with the administration of $75,000 in City funding for emergency shelter services for battered women and their children. In 1982, state legislation mandated that fifty percent of Marriage License Fees collected by the City and County of San Francisco be designated for emergency shelters for battered women, which increased available funds significantly. In 1991, the passage of Proposition J, the Children's Fund, guaranteed additional monies from the City's General Fund.

 Commission efforts to increase City resources dedicated to domestic violence program funding have received strong support from Mayors, members of the Board of Supervisors, other elected officials, direct service agencies, and the community. Funding increased incrementally, reaching 1.2 million dollars by 1995, with COSW-funded domestic violence services expanded to include victim advocacy, a twenty-four hour crisis line, counseling, legal services, and more emergency shelter services. In 1996, after a year-long needs assessment and community planning process, the Commission received monies from the San Francisco Department of Public Health to fund community-based sexual assault services and prevention programs. By Fiscal Year 1996-97, the Commission's Violence Against Women Programs budget totaled 1.5 million dollars.

Policy Development for Institutional Change

The Commission has served as a strong domestic violence policy advocate as well as a fund administrator for the City. The Commission's landmark investigation of a 1990 domestic violence homicide/suicide created sweeping changes in the City's response to domestic violence. On January 3, 1990, Joseph Charan pled guilty to assaulting Veena Charan, his estranged wife. He told the Municipal Court judge that he would not violate the law, and he immediately reported to the Adult Probation Department. There, he was told to report back in thirty days for an intake interview. Two weeks later, on the morning of January 15, 1990, as Veena Charan delivered their son to school, he shot her to death in front of many other children, parents and teachers. Before her murder, Veena Charan had tried to protect herself and her son by contacting the police, Family Court Services, the District Attorney's Office, and the Municipal Court.

The Commission established the nation's first death review team to analyze the City's response to Veena Charan's pleas for protection. When the Commission's investigation revealed significant gaps in the delivery of City services, we developed extensive recommendations for changes in City policies and procedures to improve services to victims of domestic violence. After the release of the Charan Investigation Report in 1991, the Commission worked closely with the San Francisco Police Department, District Attorney's Office, Municipal Court, Adult Probation Department, Family Court Services, and the Department of Social Services to implement our policy recommendations. As a result, San Francisco now serves as a national model for a coordinated citywide response to domestic violence.

A key recommendation of the Charan Investigation was the establishment of an inter-agency council to coordinate domestic violence services throughout San Francisco. The Commission worked closely with the Board of Supervisors, criminal justice representatives, service providers, and community organizations to create the San Francisco Family Violence Council, which became an official body, chartered by the Board of Supervisors in 1995. The Family Violence Council, mandated to promote agency collaboration, cooperation and accountability, ensures the citywide coordination of domestic violence services and resources as members work together in a partnership which includes city departments, service providers, community groups, businesses, and the public.

COMMISSION-FUNDED SERVICES

The Commission on the Status of Women administers 1.5 million dollars of City funds for Violence Against Women Programs, which include emergency shelters, crisis lines, legal assistance, victim advocacy and accompaniment, and violence prevention education. Historically, Commission funding has focused on domestic violence services, and Fiscal Year 1996-97 funding levels reflect this focus.

Domestic Violence Services
A summary of Fiscal Year 1996-97 Commission funding for domestic violence services follows

Services   Allocation   Percentage of Budget
Crisis Line Services   $171,500   11.3%
Emergency Shelters  $489,873 32.4%
Legal Assistance  $269,610 17.8%
Prevention Education  $196,582 13.0%
Victim Advocacy  $162,812 10.8%

Sexual Assault Services
Starting in Fiscal Year 1996-97, for the first time, the Commission began providing funding for sexual assault services:

Services   Allocation   Percentage of Budget
Crisis Line Services  $46,328   3.1%
Prevention Education  $41,010 2.7%
Victim Advocacy  $133,507 8.8%

NEEDS ASSESSMENT
Emerging Needs and Trends

To keep our eyes on the prize (our vision of a society free from violence against women and girls), the Commission invited community-based direct service providers and City departments to attend a strategic planning meeting to identify and prioritize unmet needs, important issues, and emerging trends; and to share concerns expressed by their clients. The issue identified as most critical was Welfare Reform - since for more than twenty years, public assistance has been an essential source of financial support for women fleeing abusive relationships.

The importance of focusing on under-served communities, and addressing diversity of language and culture was strongly emphasized. Participants also stressed the importance of the City developing a comprehensive response to violence against women that, in addition to maintaining crisis services, emphasizes violence prevention education programs, and intervention, advocacy, counseling, and transitional services.

The Impact of Welfare Reform on the City of San Francisco

The Welfare Reform Act and State of California mandates will have a profound impact on the lives of women on public assistance, and the lives of their children. The Washington State Institute for Public Policy's Family Income Study (the only formal study involving welfare recipients) found that in 1992, sixty percent of a representative sample of recipients had been physically or sexually abused as adults. In San Francisco, the current Assistance to Families with Dependent Children caseload includes 7,451 children five years old and under who need child care while their parents are at work, and an additional 8,466 children between six and thirteen years old who need safe after school care. These statistics give a glimpse of the impact Welfare Reform will have on San Francisco families when women who have been victimized can no longer count on public assistance to help them escape from abuse.

In addition, women who are in abusive relationships will be at increased risk if their abusers use Welfare Reform requirements to further intimidate and control them. For abused women, who live in constant danger, the pressure to deal with daily survival is increased to an almost unbearable level, making it difficult to accomplish even routine tasks. Clearly, it would be very hard for battered women on Temporary Assistance to Needy Families to comply with new work requirements. Welfare Reform creates new challenges, and removes the safety net that AFDC has provided for battered women and their children.

Priority Populations

Participating agencies identified the following priority populations as being both under-served by existing programs, and at high-risk of victimization:

  • women of color;
  • girls and young women;
  • lesbian, bisexual, and transgendered women's communities; and
  • immigrant women and others who cannot access English-language services.
Girls and Young Women

A recent study by the Commonwealth Fund indicates that one adolescent girl in four has been sexually or physically abused, including date rape/dating violence. In sixty-one percent of all reported rapes, the victim is seventeen or younger, and in twenty-nine percent, she is less than eleven years old. Frequently, when assault and abuse happen at an early age, the pattern of victimization repeats throughout a lifetime, and women experience rape and domestic violence repeatedly. Despite this risk, very few violence prevention programs for young women exist, and young women lack information, options, services and resources about domestic violence and sexual assault. This is particularly dangerous because young women are the least likely to report abuse in their relationships - with only one in twenty-five teenaged women seeking assistance (1994 California Law Review). Although some local youth agencies have tried to incorporate girls and young women's activities and services into their programs, they have not developed models that address the specific needs of young women. Overwhelmingly, young women report that they need access to gender-specific programs that are developed by and for young women.

Women of Color

For women of color, the impact of violence against women is compounded by the intersections of race, class, and poverty; a history of institutional discrimination, lack of access to social services, and distrust of the criminal justice system. Violence against women programs designed specifically for African American, Asian/Pacific Islander, and Latina communities are critical. In addition, Middle Eastern women represent a growing San Francisco population whose needs have yet to be addressed. Culturally competent services require community leadership, and must be developed in a collaborative effort led by the communities, themselves. Intensive outreach is required to involve community members in shaping an effective approach to the provision of culturally-competent services to their communities.

African American community members have expressed concerns regarding the level of violence against African American women and girls. According to the District Attorney's Office, despite representing only 11% of San Francisco's population, African Americans accounted for 36% of the domestic violence homicide cases in San Francisco - the highest percentage of domestic violence homicides in 1995-96. African American communities in San Francisco have been among the largest consumers of violence against women services, but service design and delivery has been developed without adequate input from African American service providers and community members, and as a result, lacks cultural competency.

With tremendous diversity within the communities of Asian and Pacific Islanders, violence against women services need to address the specifics of language and culture for Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Filipino, Samoan, Cambodian, Laotian, Vietnamese, Indian, Pakistani, Sri Lankan, and other residents of San Francisco. For example, although over 15,000 Vietnamese people live in the City, violence against women services designed to meet the needs of this community have yet to be provided. Clearly, a full array of direct services are required, along with community-based violence prevention efforts designed to raise awareness, provide information, and offer resources and referrals.

The 1995 U.S. Census showed that nearly ten percent of all women in the United States are of Hispanic/Latino origin, with a median age of twenty-seven. As the largest and fastest growing ethnic group in California, Latinas and their families need culturally relevant services which are geared toward different levels of acculturation. Language and accessibility continue to be issues that service providers, particularly those that advertise Spanish-language services, must incorporate into every aspect of their work.

Immigrant Women and Others Who Cannot Access English-Language Services

According to the 1990 census, twenty percent (142,260) of San Francisco's population is comprised of non-citizen immigrants. Like all women, immigrants face the risk of sexual assault and domestic violence. However, because of language barriers, cultural differences, lack of information, and limited access to services and legal protection, immigrants are especially vulnerable - and less likely to disclose victimization, report abuse and assault, or seek help. A 1990 survey by the Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights and Services reported that thirty-four percent of undocumented women had experienced domestic violence, but only one in six sought help from the police.

Lack of understanding about legal rights exacerbates the situation for immigrant women, and prevents them from having options, choosing alternatives, and accessing services. Compounding these challenges, Immigration Reform and Welfare Reform deny legal immigrants access to many social services. It is anticipated that the impact of these sweeping legislative changes will mirror the aftermath of Proposition 187, which caused a sharp decline in the number of battered immigrant women seeking assistance. To protect the legal rights of immigrant women, on-going training of service providers is critical, and strong partnerships with legal services are key to serving San Francisco's immigrant communities.

Issues of language and immigration overlap: there are immigrants who are bilingual, and immigrants who speak English only, as well as many women in San Francisco who are not immigrants, but do not speak fluent English. For example, twenty percent of AFDC recipients in California are unable to speak English, and sixteen percent speak Spanish only. Clearly, multi-language services are greatly needed in San Francisco, and must include prevention education, advocacy and intervention programs, crisis support services, legal assistance, counseling, and transitional services.

Lesbian, Bisexual, and Transgendered Women's Communities

Despite San Francisco's substantial lesbian, bisexual, and transgendered women's community, there are very limited services for women who have experienced same sex domestic violence and sexual assault. Since 1992, the Commission has funded W.O.M.A.N., Inc. to provide outreach and counseling for lesbian survivors. Since then, several other agencies have started providing direct services, and COSW-funded organizations have received training regarding same sex domestic violence and sexual assault, and services to lesbian, bisexual and transgendered women. However, available services only scratch the surface of the need, and we have not yet enabled lesbian, bisexual, and transgendered women's communities to break silence and speak out against woman-to-woman violence.

Violence Against Women Prevention Education Programs

About fifteen percent of the Commission's Violence Against Women Programs budget is dedicated to prevention education, and until Fiscal Year 1997-98, the funds were primarily used to support domestic violence-related institutional change activities in criminal justice and health care. The Commission now dedicates these funds to community outreach and education, public awareness campaigns, and training programs designed to prevent violence against women and girls by addressing domestic violence and sexual assault as part of a continuum of violence against women. However, this improved use of resources does not meet the need for comprehensive citywide violence prevention activities. Although the resources required for prevention education are far less than the cost of services to victims of violence, agencies must put victim services first, so prevention education is generally relegated to second place. As a result, San Franciscans are rarely exposed to violence prevention public awareness campaigns, community education efforts, and training programs. To prevent victimization and stop the cycle of re-victimization, the Commission must increase its support for prevention education.

For San Francisco to have a comprehensive response to domestic violence and sexual assault, we cannot rely on violence against women service providers to meet all community needs. In particular, before assault and abuse become patterned behavior, we must have a way to identify those who are at risk of being perpetrators or victims of violence against women. Since schools, health care providers, social services, and family and child service agencies have on-going contact with most residents of San Francisco at various times, these organizations are our greatest resource for preventing violence through early identification and intervention programs. Although health care providers, family and child service providers, and other agencies and institutions have made great strides in identifying when their clients have experienced domestic violence and sexual assault, policies and protocols are not yet in place in most institutions, and staff lack the training and resources to provide these services.

Transitional Services for Survivors

When a woman and her children flee a dangerously abusive relationship, they usually leave behind their homes, furniture, clothing, personal possessions, important documents and records. They have lost access to their partner's income and health insurance. In addition, their abuser has often isolated the woman from friends and family, prevented her from pursuing education and employment opportunities, and destroyed her self-esteem. As a result, battered women have to start all over to re-build their lives. Historically, domestic violence shelters have relied on public assistance to provide immediate financial assistance to battered women and their children when they leave the shelter. But Welfare Reform has placed stringent limitations on public assistance, and this financial cushion is no longer possible.

Currently, less than $35,000 of the Commission's funding for shelters is allocated to transitional housing for battered women and their children. In transitional housing, residents, who can stay for up to a full year, are provided with an array of transitional services, including life skills training, career counseling, housing assistance, job training, and employment assistance. Clearly, these services are needed by far more than the handful of women who currently have access to transitional housing and support services. Without comprehensive transitional services, survivors are unlikely to establish long-term economic stability for themselves and their children.

Counseling for rape survivors has headed the "wish list" for sexual assault service providers for decades, but funding limitations have forced providers to focus on immediate crisis counseling and short-term peer support groups. These forms of counseling and support remain vitally important, since research indicates that the immediate response to sexual assault affects the survivor's long-term recovery. But we need to look beyond acute crisis care to aftercare counseling services which include a full range of therapeutic services, such as peer support groups, licensed individual and group counseling, psychotherapy, and psychiatric services. In particular, the therapeutic needs of childhood sexual assault survivors can be extensive, long-term, and prohibitively expensive for most survivors. We need to affirm that the social cost of untreated trauma and unhealed wounds is far greater than therapeutic costs could ever be, with survivors of rape and childhood sexual assault at the highest risk of re-victimization.

COMMISSION VISION FOR
TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY SAN FRANCISCO
Commission Goal

The Commission's goal for twenty-first century San Francisco is to establish a comprehensive citywide response to violence against women. To create this vision for the future, and to ensure that our programs represent San Francisco's needs, the Commission will develop policies and protocols for the City - and ensure community participation in policy development. We will continue our efforts to build cooperative working relationships, and serve as a bridge between community and institutions, between community organizations and City government.

Policy Development Priorities

The Commission places a high priority on institutional change and policy development, as the foundation for establishing effective violence against women protocols and implementing successful violence against women programs. In addition to maintaining our long-time collaborations with the criminal justice community, we will intensify our efforts to work in partnership with social service and health care providers, educational institutions, employment and economic development organizations, and community groups.

The Commission's policy development priorities for Fiscal Years 1998-2001 are to:

  • establish a comprehensive, cooperative inter-agency approach to addressing sexual assault;
  • promote and support gender-specific programs and services for girls and young women;
  • develop intervention/advocacy and transitional/advocacy programs and services; and
  • continue to work closely with the criminal justice community to ensure high-quality services.

Our goal is to address the City's response to sexual assault using the same model of cooperation proven successful with domestic violence services. To that end, we have established two new citywide task forces dedicated to improving San Francisco's response to sexual assault, the San Francisco Adult Sexual Assault Services Task Force, and "Committed to Change: Young Women in Action," a task force for the prevention of sexual assault. The Adult Sexual Assault Services Task Force, a collaboration of representatives from community organizations and key city departments, is charged with developing citywide policies and protocols to ensure comprehensive high-quality services to survivors of sexual assault.

For youth violence prevention and intervention services to be effective, young women must be directly involved in program development. Through "Committed to Change," the Commission prepares young women to take the lead in creating strategies and formulating recommendations for services and programs. The development of comprehensive violence prevention education and appropriate survivor services for San Francisco's young women requires an intense planning process, and strong collaborations with consumers, schools, youth agencies, service providers, institutions and City departments. Currently, the Commission is working with the Mayor's Office of Children, Youth and Their Families, District Attorney's Office, Department of Public Health, Youth Commission and YWCA Mission Girls Services to create a strong leadership development program for young women incorporating violence prevention education, employment assistance, and a variety of after school activities.

 The Commission will focus on strategic design and the creation of collaborative processes to support our shift to a transitional services emphasis. Transitional services, offered in collaboration with social service, employment, and educational institutions, will be designed to assist survivors establish long-term economic stability by addressing education, employment, and housing needs. The Commission will establish the necessary partnerships between community agencies, local institutions, and city departments, such as social service providers, educational institutions, and employment agencies. In developing intervention/advocacy programs, the Commission will work closely with family services, health care, and chemical dependency treatment programs, to enable providers to identify, intervene, and respond to violence against women.

 The Commission will continue working in partnership with members of the criminal justice system, including the Police Department, the District Attorney's Office and its Victim Witness Program, Adult Probation Department, Municipal and Superior Courts, and the Sheriff's Office, to ensure that domestic violence and sexual assault survivors receive a continuum of care that eliminates re-victimization, and that City policies and practices meet their needs.

A Call to San Francisco's Communities

To ensure that COSW-funded programs are culturally relevant and accessible, services must be designed with community input. In addition to ethnicity, language, and culture, we must also identify and address other differences, such as education, income, immigration status, and access to resources. The Commission is committed to increased inclusion, and to opening-up and expanding our connections with a wide range of community organizations. While we continue to work closely with violence against women service providers and the women's community, we will intensify our efforts to establish relationships with ethnic-identified, human rights, social justice, community organizing, faith-based, and neighborhood-oriented community groups, especially organizations that provide services to priority populations.

 Our goal is to bring together a broad-based and inclusive selection of varied groups to strengthen San Francisco's response to violence against women, and to give San Francisco's diverse community-based organizations, non-profit agencies, independent consultants, and service providers increased access to Commission funding.

THREE YEAR ACTION PLAN
FOR FISCAL YEARS 1998 - 2001

 The Commission's Strategic Action Plan marks the beginning of a long-term implementation process, and will guide Commission activities and funding priorities for Fiscal Years 1998-2001.

Increasing Access to Services

To ensure high quality services, the Commission will continue to identify and address the specific needs of different populations, meet the unique requirements of survivors of domestic violence and sexual assault, and ensure that COSW-funded organizations demonstrate their qualifications to provide comprehensive, community-based programs that are accessible, age-appropriate, multi-language, and culturally competent and accessible to San Francisco's diverse communities. The Commission strongly supports culturally-specific services, and also encourages providers to serve all women who need their help. While emphasizing the needs of priority populations as a whole, the Commission's primary concern is to ensure that the needs of low-income women and girls are addressed, and that COSW-funded organizations provide them with high quality services that are both inviting and accessible.

Offering Comprehensive Services and Programs

The Commission's vision for twenty-first century San Francisco is for all women and girls in our City's diverse communities to have access to a comprehensive array of services and programs designed to prevent victimization, offer interventions, provide crisis services, and assist women to recover from the impact of violence:

  • violence prevention education to prevent the abuse and assault of women and girls, and to prevent men and boys from engaging in violence against women, through public awareness campaigns, training programs, community outreach and education;
  •  intervention/advocacy programs to address domestic violence and sexual assault before crisis services are required, through a spectrum of services including multi-disciplinary screening and referrals;
  • crisis services for survivors to assist women who have been raped or battered, through emergency shelters, victim advocacy and accompaniment, crisis lines, and legal services;
  • transitional/advocacy services to help survivors achieve economic independence, recover from victimization, and move from trauma to healing.
Expanding Multi-Language Access Models

As a result of the diversity of languages spoken in San Francisco, and the number of non-English speaking and limited English speaking immigrants who live here, it is critical for violence against women crisis lines to have the language capacity necessary for the provision of services. The Asian Women's Shelter created the Multi-Language Access Model (MLAM) and has successfully used it for the past eight years to provide multilingual services to Asian battered women. MLAM consists of a sophisticated telephone system that determines the language the caller speaks and connects the person with someone who speaks their language and can provide assistance. Asian Women's Shelter is currently working with W.O.M.A.N., Inc., an agency that operates a twenty-four hour domestic violence crisis line, to implement the MLAM model. The duplication of this model would expand access to services beyond crisis lines. This expansion would increase access to emergency shelter services, legal services, victim advocacy, counseling, etc. Additionally, as growing needs emerge, the model would integrate the necessary languages. Finally, crisis line programs that address other issues, such as child abuse and suicide prevention, may wish to replicate the MLAM model.

Establishing a Centralized Twenty-Four Hour
Multi-Language Domestic Violence Crisis Line

Centralized, twenty-four hour crisis lines are critical to the City's efforts to provide effective, immediate intervention and assessment for victims of assault and abuse. Crisis lines serve

survivors who are in imminent danger and need immediate assistance, as well as those who are not currently experiencing violence, but are suffering from deep trauma which impacts their daily lives. Since survivors have different needs based on the type of violence they have experienced, separate sexual assault and domestic violence crisis lines are required. This allows survivors and their friends and family members to access services that meet their immediate needs, and enables agencies to address the extensive and distinct training requirements for domestic violence and sexual assault crisis counselors. In 1996, the Commission consolidated two existing sexual assault crisis lines into one centralized twenty-four hour sexual assault crisis line, which reduced administrative costs and improved community awareness of crisis line services.

At this time, domestic violence crisis line services are provided by four agencies: Asian Women's Shelter, La Casa de las Madres, and the Riley Center operate separate crisis lines during business hours on weekdays, and W.O.M.A.N., Inc., provides a twenty-four hour crisis line, as well as weekend and evening coverage for the other three crisis lines. The Commission has determined that a centralized, multi-language domestic violence crisis line would increase access, reduce duplication of services, preserve resources, and best serve women and girls in San Francisco. The Commission has proposed the consolidation of these four domestic violence crisis lines into one centralized twenty-four hour domestic violence crisis line funded by the COSW. We look forward to working with current crisis line providers and other community organizations during the three-part needs assessment, planning, and implementation process. In addition, the creation of a centralized legal hotline to provide assistance with family law, child abduction, visitation holdover, restraining orders, criminal law and other legal questions also merits consideration.

Emphasizing Violence Prevention Education

 In keeping with the Commission's focus on violence against women, beginning in Fiscal Year 1997-98, the Commission's funding for violence prevention education specifies that programs must address domestic violence and include sexual assault as part of the continuum of violence against women. The Commission will concentrate its violence prevention resources on community-directed, neighborhood-based education programs; training programs for a wide range of diverse service providers; community outreach and education; and comprehensive public awareness campaigns. Local media campaigns are encouraged, including local citywide campaigns, and those which utilize the varied media markets in San Francisco, including gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered; ethnic; and non-English language media. In addition to education programs for the general public, prevention programs will be designed to reach out to those most at risk, including women of color, immigrants, non-English speakers, survivors of same-sex violence, and girls and young women. Other important approaches include school-based programs, as well as collaborations with community groups and faith-based, social justice, and neighborhood organizations which are outside the circle of violence against women agencies.

Creating Alternatives to Shelter-Based Programs

For more than twenty years, services for battered women and their children have utilized a shelter-based model to provide a safe refuge from abusive homes, and offer a wide array of supportive services. Although the need for shelter persists, it is essential that women have alternatives to going into shelter, and are offered ways to find safety and support without leaving their homes. In lieu of seeking shelter, many battered women benefit from drop-in support groups and one-on-one counseling which encourage them to make their own choices, empower them to trust themselves, and support them in ending the abuse in their lives.

Another alternative to shelter is through civil court orders, such as residence exclusion orders ("kick-out" orders) which require batterers to leave the family residence, so that battered women and their children are able to remain in their homes. When provided with legal advocacy and police assistance in obtaining and enforcing restraining orders, women are protected from their abusers, and able to keep their homes. For women in public housing, service providers and public housing staff can assist survivors transfer from one project to another or obtain Section Eight Certificates, enabling survivors to maintain their homes. One of the Commission's goals for public housing in San Francisco is to work with the Housing Authority to develop preference priorities for domestic violence and sexual assault survivors.

Providing Transitional Services

In keeping with the Commission's shift to transitional services, domestic violence service providers will be encouraged to develop services that enable survivors to achieve economic independence, and address a wide range of abused women's needs, including education, job training, and housing. New services must be developed and implemented to move battered women toward economic independence and self-sufficiency. Since transitional services include life skills, career counseling, housing assistance, job training, employment assistance, and economic development, the Commission will establish active collaborations with social service, employment, and educational institutions to support transitional services.

Preserving and Enhancing City Resources for Violence Against Women Programs

As the City and County of San Francisco musters all available resources to meet the demands created by Welfare Reform, the Commission must ensure that we preserve and expand resources for violence against women programs. While the COSW remains committed to maintaining current levels of support for domestic violence services, we clearly need substantial increases in sexual assault resources to provide adequate survivor services and prevention education. The Commission is committed to developing the additional resources required to maintain existing support for domestic violence services and increase resources for sexual assault services.

Encouraging Organizational Accountability

The Commission plans to require COSW-funded organizations to shift from focusing on units of service, to focusing on the result or outcome of services. In addition to tracking the number of clients to whom services are provided, and the number of times specific services are provided, agencies must examine and report on the demonstrated impact of the services on the consumers.

Building Organizational Stability And Long-Term Self-Sufficiency

We recognize the importance of assisting COSW-funded organizations in developing creative approaches to pooling resources, sharing administrative costs, building broad-based coalitions, and strengthening collaborations. We will work with service providers to explore all possible avenues to make the most effective use of existing resources, bolster current resources, seek additional resources, and identify potential resources, in our effort to meet the needs of women and girls in San Francisco. While the ultimate responsibility for organizational growth lies with individual organizations, the Commission will work toward identifying resources for technical assistance, periodic trainings, and collaborative meetings to assist the organizations we fund.

The Commission will continue to fund administrative costs to ensure that agencies can further develop program funds. In order to insure agency self sufficiency and the long-term success of programs funded by the COSW, the Commission would like to reduce dependence on City funding. Our goal is to restrict Commission funding to a limit of 25-30% of an agency's total budget. Maintaining funding levels at this rate will allow the Commission to expand services and ensure broader community involvement. For organizations which currently have a larger percentage of program funding attached to City monies, the Commission's goal is to reduce the funding amount incrementally. The Commission recognizes this may not be an easy task, and COSW staff will work with organizations to assist them in their efforts to accomplish this goal.

EVALUATION

The Commission will conduct both periodic and on-going evaluation of the implementation of this Strategic Action Plan. Planned evaluation activities include strategic planning meetings with service providers for guidance and input from the front lines in the fight to end violence against women; focus groups drawn from high risk, under-served client populations for information on community needs, and assessment of outreach efforts and service delivery; annual public hearings to solicit ideas, suggestions, and concerns from members of the public; and the yearly Commission Planning Retreat designed to coordinate Violence Against Women Programs with overall departmental strategies and goals. Also, on a quarterly basis, program implementation, service delivery and outcomes are measured for all COSW-funded programs.

CONCLUSION

The Commission on the Status of Women salutes the City and County of San Francisco's strong and steadfast support for our Violence Against Women Programs, and appreciates the hard work and advocacy of the community agencies who make our programs possible. We are proud of our role in creating a partnership between San Francisco's public and private agencies. We promise to continue our efforts to create an effective intervention system that saves women's lives and improves the quality of life for all San Franciscans.

The Commission commits our resources to move toward our vision, and we pledge to continue to create policies to guide our institutions, provide funding to support service providers, and do all we can to ensure that future generations will have programs to assist survivors of domestic violence and sexual assault, and prevent violence against women and girls. We look forward to the coming century, with its challenges and opportunities, as we work with all of San Francisco's communities to create a city where women and girls live free from violence.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Participating Agencies

The Commission on the Status of Women extends its appreciation to the agencies that gave freely of their time, energy, and ideas to assist in the creation of the Commission's Strategic Action Plan:

Asian Perinatal Services
Bar Association of San Francisco Volunteer Legal Services
Center for Special Problems
Community United Against Violence
Family Violence Prevention Fund
Good Samaritan, Family Resource Center
Neighborhood Safety Partnership Program
Nihonmachi Legal Outreach
The Riley Center
San Francisco District Attorney's Office
San Francisco Domestic Violence Consortium
San Francisco Neighborhood Legal Assistance Foundation
San Francisco Rape Treatment Center
San Francisco Women Against Rape
University of California, San Francisco - Rape Prevention Education Program
W.O.M.A.N., Inc.
Women's Alcoholism Center

Special Thanks The Commission thanks Melanie Burnett, Burnett Consulting, for facilitating the community strategic planning meeting,
and thanks Ann Lehman, Women's Rights Specialist, for strategic plan design.
The Commission offers very special thanks to Strategic Action Plan authors:
Melyssa Jo Kelly, Administrator, Violence Against Women Programs
and
Rosario Navarrette, Violence Against Women Policy Analyst.

CITY AND COUNTY OF SAN FRANCISCO
Commission on the Status of Women
25 Van Ness Avenue, Suite 130
San Francisco, CA 94102
(415) 252-2570 (fax) 252-2575
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