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CITY AND COUNTY OF SAN FRANCISCO TASK FORCE FOR THE LOCAL IMPLEMENTATION OF THE
UNITED NATIONS CONVENTION ON THE ELIMINATION OF ALL FORMS OF DISCRIMINATION AGAINST WOMEN

MINUTES FOR JULY 25, 2001 MEETING

CALL TO ORDER/ROLL CALL
Emily Murase, Chair, called the meeting to order.

Task Force Members          Staff          Public and Department Staff
Sonia Melara          Ann Lehman, DOSW          Dee Williams, Adult Probation
Ken Theisen          Jennifer Mitchell,          Candace Hill, Adult Probation
Myrna Lopez          DOSW          Nelly Sun,
Krishanti Dharmaraj          Department on the Environment
Pansy Waller
Cosette Thompson
Emily Murase
Kathy Summers
Maria Guillen

New Task Force members, Maria Guillen, Kathy Summers, and Sonia Melara were welcomed.

ADOPTION OF AGENDA & MINUTES
q Ken Theisen moved, Krishanti Dharmaraj seconded, and the Task Force unanimously passed the agenda and minutes of the meetings on February 28, 2001 and April 25, 2001.

NEW BUSINESS

q ACTION/DISCUSSION ITEM: Scheduling retreat to plan future CEDAW work. The Task Force agreed upon a date for a retreat and unanimously voted to tentatively schedule the retreat for Friday, October 26, 2001, from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. (the location is to be announced). At that time the 6th Progress Report along with recommendations from all six department gender analyses will be discussed. Discussion will also focus on what work should be prioritized in the near and long terms, and the wider context for CEDAW work.

q ACTION/DISCUSSION ITEM: Update reports from the Juvenile Probation Department and the Public Works Department.
An update on Juvenile Probation will be requested at the September 26, 2001 meeting and an update on the Public Works Department will be requested at the November 28, 2001 meeting.

q ACTION/DISCUSSION ITEM: Gender analysis report by the Adult Probation and Task Force feedback and recommendations.
Dee Williams, Personnel Director, and Candace Hill of the Community Services Unit reviewed Adult Probation Department’s Gender Analysis report. They provided an overview of the Department’s services, staffing and best practices. Ms. Williams discussed the Project Network Program, which provides comprehensive case management for women dealing with substance abuse issues. The advent of Proposition 36 has resulted in a higher number (approx. 1,500 to 1,800) of supervised probationers with substance abuse problems who would otherwise go to jail for drug offenses. Currently, Adult Probation is looking at expanding the Project Network Program to men. At this time, all of the staff for this program are women. Ms. Williams discussed the need for more staff, but this may not be possible due to the upcoming termination of the funding for this program (five million dollars over five years) on September 30, 2001.

Myrna Lopez of the Mayor’s Office mentioned that funding for lost staff positions for this program will be backfilled through city monies. However, the overall decrease in funding means that the Adult Probation Department will need to reduce the program by eliminating intake workers or assessors who work with women in jail. The Task Force asked about how many new probationers would be women. The Department representatives stated that even with current staffing levels, it is impossible to accommodate all women who would otherwise qualify for the program. An initial assessment of the Project Network Program has shown a significant improvement in recidivism and employment rates of the women in the program.

Ms. Williams also discussed best practices with regard to the Adult Probation Department’s telecommuting program in their Investigations Unit where 18 probation officers (8 women) telecommute full-time. The Department has experienced no turnover with those staff who telecommute and has observed that they use less sick leave. Telecommuting has just been initiated in the Community Services Unit. She also discussed the creation of a speaker’s bureau to expand accessibility to services and to recruit staff. The Adult Probation Department has also revised job descriptions to reach a larger pool of qualified and more diverse job applicants.

The group discussed several issues regarding the impact of Adult Probation services on women. Inquiries were made about the following issues:
· The number of unsupervised domestic violence cases within Adult Probation,
· The type and amount of domestic violence training probation officers receive,
· The types of available treatment for domestic violence and sexual assault offenses,
· The need for Adult Probation to contact violence victims in a manner that protects their safety,
· The need to address the language skills and cultural competency of Adult Probation employees in dealing with immigrants,
· The need for more information on how women probationers, in particular, low income women and women of color outside the Network Project Program, are impacted by the department services.

Considerably more data than included in the report was gathered as part of gender analysis. This information can be given to interested Task Force members upon request.

The Task Force asked the Department representatives what the Department gained from the gender analysis. The representatives responded that, as a result of the gender analysis, the Department now recognized the following needs:
o to look at gender roles in their services, budget and employment practices,
o to foster more awareness by men regarding women’s issues, and
o to offer more services tailored for women.

The Task Force pointed out the additional need for more disaggregated data on who receives the Department’s services. The Task Force decided to take no action for now and instead directed staff to request additional information from the Adult Probation Department to complete the analysis.

q ACTION/DISCUSSION ITEM: Review and discussion of Department of the Environment’s revised gender analysis. Adoption of the Department of the Environment Gender Analysis Report and Task Force feedback and recommendations.

Nelly Sun, a representative from the Environment Department, gave an updated report on the Department’s gender analysis. The Environment Department has recently experienced a lot of staff turnover. At the same time, it has just completed an RFP process to award funds to community-based organizations. Questions were raised about how outreach for the RFP process was conducted. In particular, Task Force members raised concerns over neighborhood input into plans to address the environmental problems that plague the Bayview/Hunters Point area. The Department representative explained that outreach for a recent community meeting in the Bayview neighborhood was conducted through mailing lists, the library and the Bayview newspaper. The Environment Department also discussed its toxics reduction project.

o Ken Theisen moved, Cosette Thompson seconded, and the Task Force unanimously passed a motion to adopt the Environment Department’s report.

q ACTION/DISCUSSION ITEM: Review and adoption of the Rent Board, and Arts Commission gender analysis reports and recommendations including CEDAW Task Force response.
These items will be discussed at the next meeting

q ACTION/DISCUSSION ITEM: Discussion of 6th CEDAW Task Force Progress Report.
The task force will discuss the six-month progress report at the retreat on October 26th.

OLD BUSINESS

q DISCUSSION ITEM: Update on work-life survey findings and report.

Jennifer Mitchell, Intern for the DOSW, provided an update on the work-life survey findings. Response to the survey among departments was high. One surprising finding was that despite the existence of many family-friendly work options, the utilization rates among employees were low. Other survey findings were also discussed. Ann Lehman announced that a draft of the report will go out to CEDAW Task Force members for comment before it is finalized.

q DISCUSSION ITEM: Update on DOSW policy analyst hiring.
DOSW will be hiring a temporary policy analyst and is currently conducting interviews of eligible candidates.

q DISCUSSION ITEM: Report on public awareness campaign
o A proposed public hearing on the results from the six gender analyses from participating departments will be discussed a the September 26, 2001 meeting.
o Ann Lehman reported she conducted a very successful session on CEDAW with Coalition of Labor Union Women in July, 2001

PUBLIC COMMENT          Included in discussions above.

ANNOUNCEMENTS          None.

Meeting Information

CEDAW