Meeting Information

Audit_Oversight

2009 2008 

Maria Bee, Office of the District Attorney
Kathy Black, La Casa de las Madres
Tina Gilbert, Adult Probation Department
Minouche Kandel, Bay Area Legal Aid
Laura Marshall, Department on the Status of Women
Jim Rowland, Office of the District Attorney
Art Stellini, San Francisco Police Department
Ken Theisen, Bay Area Legal Aid
Andre Wood, Adult Probation Department

I.          CALL TO ORDER/AGENDA CHANGES                                                                 

The meeting was called to order at 10:00 am. The agenda was changed to move item III.B. DVRT Grant Update to February’s agenda as an announcement.

 

II.       APPROVAL OF MINUTES

The minutes from the November 14, 2008 meeting were approved.

 

III.    OLD BUSINESS           

 

Group members committed to reviewing the updated matrix individually, focusing on the Comments section, bringing updates or changes to the status of each recommendation to the February 2009 meeting for discussion in order to be efficient with meeting time.  Members should pay particular attention to any recommendations that have been labeled complete that may revert to an old status due to budget cuts. 

 

The group discussed how budget cuts may impact departments’ abilities to implement recommendations.  To better understand these impacts, Ms. Marshall will update the matrix with a new column labeled “Resources.”  In reviewing the matrix individually, members should also indicate whether each recommendation will require staff resources to complete and/or financial resources.  The Comments section should also indicate if the recommendation is appropriate for short term or immediate implementation, or if it will require long term planning or a delay for additional resource allocation.  The Committee can use this information when the Oversight Panel members have quarterly meetings with Department Heads, helping to decide on priorities and discern feasibility. 

 

Committee members provided information about how budget cuts might impact each department.  For example, only one staff person fro APD will be attending Audit Implementation Committee meetings in the future, with Tina Gilbert and Andre Wood alternating each month.  Tina Gilbert told that group that the proposed 25% cut of General Fund resources would require 25 of the 64 positions to be eliminated.  Inspector Stellini told members that the DVRU has been supported through an OES grant for many years, but that grant has not been renewed.  It had covered overtime and weekend work by Inspectors, and without such coverage, workloads will be over-filled, and the amount of time an Inspector is able to devote to a case will decrease significantly.  The DV Unit at the DA’s Office has been reduced in size due to a re-shuffling of staffing, a result of mid-year cuts. 

 

The Group continued the discussion about matrix left off in November.

 

GAP 3:  LIMITED ENGLISH PROFICIENT (LEP) SPEAKERS WHO ARE VICTIMS OF BATTERING FACE MULTIPLE BARRIERS AT EACH STAGE OF INTERVENTION, INCLUDING LIMITED ACCESS TO INTERPRETATION, TRANSLATED MATERIALS, PERTINENT INFORMAITON ABOUT CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM PROCESSES, AND CULTURALLY COMPETENT WORKERS.

 

Recommendation 3.2:  Review the certification and training requirements for the “City certified interpreter roster” to determine if domestic violence training is included, available, and/or required for City certified interpreters, and determine whether the roster is accessible to all departments. 

 

This recommendation applies to the City Administrator.  Department on the Status of Women staff will find out the current status of the implementation.  No representatives from the City Administrator were present, and this recommendation was not discussed in detail.

 

 

Recommendation 3.3:  Improve linkages between community-based organizations and City departments/agencies to ensure culturally appropriate services and support, particularly regarding LEP domestic violence victims.  This includes improving awareness of existing services through training and outreach to agency workers, ensuring materials are available in different languages, and linking advocates from community-based organizations with victims to provide safety planning, help dispel myths about the criminal justice system, and explain the legal process.

 

Kathy Black reported that the language training curriculum at City College is currently in development.  This program not only trains City staff in Spanish or Cantonese language skills, but also ensures that workers throughout the Hall of Justice are aware of DV issues and can provide services sensitively, including clerical staff.  Currently, a Spanish and Cantonese curriculum is in development by City College instructors, who are being trained in DV issues by La Casa staff.  This project has completed 1 semester so far, and it was over-booked.  There is a great deal of demand, and future courses will likely be filled. 

 

Members discussed the importance of expanding these training sessions to include all police stations and other entry points.  Also, members wondered if training in other languages is being developed.  Members discussed the importance of including training about culture in addition to technical language skills.  Maria Bee reported that the DA’s Office is applying for grant to collaborate with Latina and Asian organizations to provide training to criminal justice staff about language and cultural needs of victims. 

 

Inspector Stellini reported that, though the City has a contract with Language Line Services for phone interpretation, each Department pays its own bill.  The fiscal officer of the Police Department did not pay the 1^st quarter bill this year, meaning that the officers in the field were unable to access this service for a period of time.  When complaints were made to the fiscal officer, that person paid the bill, and service was restored.  However, the break in service meant some officers may have lost confidence in this resource.  Members discussed this problem of ensuring uninterrupted service, and will bring it up at the Oversight Panel and at Quarterly Department Head Briefings.  Phones are handled by the Planning Division of the SFPD.

 

All patrol officers have a laminated card with the Language Line telephone number and access code.  Inspector Stellini reported that, in reading police reports, it is clear that interpretation is happening, whether through Language Line, or through the responding officer calling another officer to the scene.  Adult Probation Department has posters in the office to let visitors know that interpretation services are available.  Tina Gilbert reported that probation officers are using Language Line, and it has been beneficial. 

 

 

Recommendation 3.4:  Develop a “flag” to identify LEP victims in each of the criminal justice system’s computer systems, starting with DEM, in order to facilitate timely interpretation services, awareness of additional time that may be needed, and linkages to community-based resources, etc.

 

The CAD has a field for indicating if interpretation is necessary, so police officers are forewarned when responding to a scene.  None of the other agencies report having a computerized tracking system for interpretation needs of clients.  Maria Bee of the Victim Services Unit reported that they have extensive language capacity on staff, and a “flag” is not truly necessary.  Staff members know their own caseloads, know which clients will need extra time or resources for interpretation, and do not necessarily need a computer system to highlight this type of data.

 

This recommendation should be clarified to indicate whether a computerized flag would be to expedite a crisis response or simply to track data.  If it is for the crisis response, such a flag exists in the CAD, and other agencies do not operate in a “crisis” mode.  However, data tracking is necessary for all departments, especially as it relates to resource allocation (i.e. if APD sees an influx of clients needing translation in a specific language, they can show these statistics to the Mayor or BOS to advocate for increased translation funding, etc.). 

 

Long-term solution:  Can an “interpretation needed” field be added to JUSTIS?  Group members agreed to check in with their departments’ representatives to the JUSTIS Governance Council to see if this could work.  Members would also like to know if there are regular updates to JUSTIS or if it is already obsolete. 

 

Short-term solution:  Police and DA statistics are all compiled on paper before being entered into the computer.  It could be a quick change to add a check box to the forms filled out by Inspectors at the DVRU for interpretation and the language.  This would only apply to cases that are worked up.  However, La Casa advocates at the DVRU review all cases, even non-worked ones, and Kathy Black will check to see if her staff can review for and track interpretation needs.  

 

 

Recommendation 3.5:  Update all Victim Resource Cards to include the District Attorney’s Victim Services Division and 311 (non-emergency City services).  In addition, all translations of criminal justice system documents should include pictures where possible, since direct translations from English to another language may be confusing or inaccurate. (Pictures may also benefit illiterate victims.)

 

For February 13, Inspector Stellini will bring a copy of the Resource Card for members to review.  It has been updated recently by La Casa, but members would like to review the order that resources are listed to help officers make better referrals (i.e. listing CROC before the Court’s help desk, for those that will just call the first number on the list). 

 

 

Recommendation 3.6:  Establish a written protocol within all criminal justice system departments for working with LEP victims that takes into account their different needs, additional time required for interpretation and explanations of the criminal justice system, how staff can access interpreter services, and other relevant issues.  Such protocols should be developed in conjunction with community-based organizations that have a history of working with LEP domestic violence victims. 

 

All agency representatives agreed to bring copies of their written protocols for LEP victims to the February 13 meeting.  APD indicated that they have such a protocol.  The DA has one but it has not yet been updated with information about Language Line interpretation services.  SFPD has a new General Order from the Commission that includes language service protocols.  Status of protocols at 911 and Sheriff are unknown.  The Family Court and Criminal Court have a written protocol as a matter of law.  A member of the committee should find out the evidence code section to reference it in the Matrix comments.

 

[Agenda Item III. C. (Criminal Justice Flow Chart for Victims) was not discussed.]

 

 

IV.       NEW BUSINESS

 

None.

 

V.        PUBLIC COMMENT

 

Inspector Stellini reported that Captain John Erlich has been named the new captain of the Juvenile and Family Services Division of SFPD, replacing interim-Captain Lazar. 

 

Ken Theisen will follow up with Sally Pina to see if she has found a replacement from the courts to attend Audit Implementation Committee meetings. 

 

VI.              ADJOURNMENT      

 

The meeting was adjourned at 11:30 am.  The next meeting is February 13, 2009.