Oversight_Panel
2009 2008 2007 2006 2005 2004 2003 2002 JUSTICE AND COURAGE OVERSIGHT PANEL
July 23, 2003
City Hall, Room 416 10:00am – 12:00pm
MINUTES
Oversight Panel Members in Attendance:
Co-Chair Dorka Keehn, Commission on the Status of Women (COSW)
Co-Chair Susan Leal, City of San Francisco Treasurer
Belle Taylor-McGhee, Department on the Status of Women (DOSW)
Ken Theisen, Bay Area Legal Aid
Beverly Upton, San Francisco Domestic Violence Consortium
Barbara Brooten Job
Patti Chang, The Women’s Foundation of California
Call to Order and Roll Call
The meeting was called to order by Co-chair Susan Leal at 10:00 a.m.
Information Item – Department Evaluation:
Update on the meeting with Patti Chang on evaluations:
Ms. Rosario Navarrette stated that she met with Ms. Patti Chang and Co-chair Keehn to develop a list of organizations to contact for monies for an independent expert body to conduct an evaluation of the Justice and Courage programs and the City’s systems.
Information Item – Department on the Status of Women’s Budget:
Ms. Belle Taylor-McGhee informed the panel that the Department’s VAW budget was completely restored – this was a restoration of $297,000.
Report on the Committees:
Co-Chair Susan Leal asked for reports from the committees:
Protocol Committee:
Ms. Barbara Brooten Job, Co-chair of the Protocol Committee, commented that the Committee was still reviewing the Police Department’s Domestic Response Unit and making recommendations. The Committee finished reviewing the Emergency Communication’s Department’s Protocols and is in the process of submitting recommendations to the Interdepartmental Communications and Coordination Committee (ICCC) for consideration and approval.
Resource Committee:
Ms. Caroline Donnola, DOSW, reported for Sharon Woo on the Resource Committee. The Committee is schedule to meet next on August 12th. The Committee did not meet in the month of July due to lack of a quorum. Currently they are accessing the impact of budget cuts on training programs and developing recommendations to address these cuts. They are also researching other cities’ training procedures to examine alternative programs on training, education and prevention.
A further point was made stating that Ms. Beverly Upton has agreed to take a leadership role on the Committee.
Interdepartmental Communications and Coordination Committee (ICCC):
Ms. Rosario Navarrette, DOSW, reported on behalf of Quita Keller. The Committee has developed a tool for processing recommendations made to the Oversight Panel. The process will allow department heads to receive notification of the recommendation(s). Such a method requires each of the committees to carefully assess resources, making feasible and realistic recommendations. The next meeting of the ICCC is scheduled for July 29th.
Data Collection Committee:
Ms. Kerry Dalrymple, Co-chair Data Collection Committee gave the report. The Committee is putting together several recommendations. One recommendation they have begun to act on pertains to updating the radio codes. The Emergency Communications Department (ECD) changed its radio codes and provided additional training for dispatchers to allow them to identify domestic violence calls with greater ease. ECD is currently working with the Police Department in implementing these codes. This Committee’s next meeting is scheduled for July 30th.
Ms. Dalrymple expressed concern about the lack of ECD’s representation on the Resource Committee. These issues also impact, ECD particularly training. Mr. Ken Theisen stated that all committee meetings are open to the public which allows for the ECD to become involved in the discussions. He further mentioned that a formal invitation will be sent if needed, however as a City department they do have a seat at the table.
Information Item – Meeting with Sheriff Hennessey and Discussions on Victim Information Notification Everyday (VINE):
Ms. Taylor McGee reported on the meeting with Sheriff Michael Hennessey. Dorka Keehn, DOSW staff, Ken Theisen met with Sheriff Hennessey and his staff last month. The meeting was productive, and with the Sheriff reiterated his commitment to the prevention of domestic violence.
At the meeting, the VINE program was also discussed. The Sheriff’s Department funded the program at an annual rate of $75,000 but due to budget cuts, the Sheriff decided to put VINE on the budget cut list.
VINE is an automated system to notify victims when suspects are released. This system in San Francisco however, faced challenges. 1. Victims were often unreachable due to relocation. 2. Language barriers: currently only English, Spanish and Cantonese are available. 3. Public awareness about the program was another issue. Limited knowledge of the program existed; therefore limited use. DOSW is in the process of examining other alternatives, such as moving from an automated system to a system of live informants. Ms. Rosario Navarrette and staff at the DOSW are working to find a system which best meets victims’ needs while staying within the $75,000 budget. Ms. Navarrette and Ms. Justine McGonagle met with VINE representatives to discuss VINE’s limitations and improvements. In the meeting the VINE representatives introduced a list of technology upgrades which could be implemented into the current system at no additional cost. The organization is in the midst of creating a proposal in an effort to keep the VINE system in place in San Francisco.
Ms. Navarrette further noted that regardless of the system chosen, the organization providing the service will also need to provide continual evaluations to check on its level of functioning. Furthermore, the system should remain based in the Sheriff’s Department as it most readily has access to suspect information. Due to this, the Sheriff’s Department, while not responsible for the contract, needs to continue to be an active partner in the system’s effective implementation and running.
Ms. Beverly Upton encouraged using the Sheriff’s Department’s Resolve to Stop Violence Program (RSVP) as a component to the VINE program due to its victim services. Ms. Upton noted that the RSVP program is small and not staffed with enough people to run the complete system. Ms. Upton further agreed with Ms. Navarrette that the system’s hardware needs to stay as close to the Sheriff’s Department and the jail population as possible to get the information on suspect releases processed as quickly as possible.
Co-chair Leal commented that once an appropriate system has been identified for replacement, the Oversight Panel can move forward. Discussion related to issues of training the police and staff at the District Attorney’s Office on the victim notification system to improve knowledge and use of the VINE program.
Ms. Delia Ginario, Survivor Restoration Manager for the Sheriff Department’s Resolve to Stop the Violence Project (RSVP) program. She agreed with the need to implement a more effective victim notification program. She mentioned that the key challenges were the relocation of victims and survivors. RSVP victim services staff notifies survivors when the suspects have completed the RSVP program. RSVP is only able to notify individual involved in the program. Therefore outreach is a larger issue given that they do not have information on the victims who need release information on suspects through out the remaining jail system. Additionally, Ms. Ginorio noted that the information that her staff receives is often late, despite their close workings with the Sheriff’s Department.
Ms. Ginorio further mentioned that it has become apparent to her staff that survivors and women working with the Victim Witness Assistance Program (VWAP) are not informed of VINE. Information packets are stored in her office but departments are not making the needed efforts to receive them. She therefore reinforces the need to educate the outside community about VINE. In summary, Ms. Ginorio notes that regardless of the system chosen to replace VINE, her department needs a larger staff to contact victims throughout the whole system, not just the RSVP program, and an improved system for staying in contact with the survivors/victims.
Beyond addressing the concerns of the VINE and RSVP programs Ms. Dorka Keehn further detailed that the Sheriff reported eliminating the drug treatment program, which costs San Francisco $7 million dollars annually. Co-chair Keehn commented that the Sheriff had stated that if the Sheriff’s Department had additional funds they would best be served in improving training and in expanding programs like RSVP and ones working with men in prison.
The discussion was closed with a question from Ms. Beverly Upton, asking if the early release that was being forced through the budget cuts to the Sheriff’s Department was discussed, or if Sheriff Hennessey was asked about looking at early release of domestic violence perpetrators?
Co-chair Keehn commented that this was not discussed in the meeting.
Information Item – Report to the Mayor’s Office:
Ms. Navarrette offered the Oversight Panel an update on the report to the Mayor’s Office. She said that the report would be submitted this week. In summary, it would touch on the current accomplishments and challenges the Department faces. Ms. Navarrette further commented that she has not yet received the budget for Justice and Courage, yet she predicts it would stay at $1.5 million.
Co-chair Keehn followed by stating that the Oversight Panel should look in to getting media attention in October for domestic violence awareness month.
Information Item – Oversight Panel Member Participation:
Ms. Barbara Brooten Job began the discussion by commenting that it would be useful for the Oversight Panel to have planning meetings to make sure the Oversight Panel is on target as it approaches its one year mark.
Co-chair Keehn then raised the question whether committees were using the Justice and Courage recommendations as a baseline for what they were doing and if the report had proved useful.
Ms. Upton commented that the report has been useful in beginning the discussions as it is the foundation for the work the committees are doing. She stated that they have to first understand what each of the systems do and how they do it. That has been the focus of the work for the last six months – developing a common understanding of everyone’s role and the associated processes. Trust is being established and the committees are identifying what the issues are and their associated short, medium and long term fixes. Therefore, Ms. Upton said that recommendations will be examined at the end of the year to determine what has worked and been implemented, and what has not.
Ms. Upton further posed a question to identify if the Oversight Panel would like to continue to work within their current model or look for other models to bring new ideas forth. She noted that there have been previous discussions about doing site visits, but due to a lack of funds, these ideas haven’t been implemented. Due to this, she suggests having a working committee – one with a responsibility partly to evaluating outside models. Ms. Upton furthered by asking if there were any Oversight Panel members interested and willing to set a meeting to do brainstorming about this.
Co-chair Leal furthered Ms. Upton’s comment by proposing a meeting in October; after all of the committees have met, to discuss the status and recommendations. Co-chair Leal suggested having a report of the key milestones done in the committees.
Two meetings were therefore arranged and passed approval - one for the Oversight Panel to examine the committees’ recommendations as part of a brainstorming session on October 2, 2003, 9:00a.m., and the other for the Oversight Panel to make a report to the public about the Justice and Courage’s intended course of action on October 22, 2003, 10:00am to 12:00pm. The October 22nd, 2003, meeting will take place on the morning of the anniversary of Claire Joyce Tempongko’s murder before the City Hall memorial activities. This meeting will replace the October 29, 2003, meeting and will stand to commemorate Ms. Tempongko.
Co-chair Keehn closed the conversation by asking if there were any Oversight Panel members that would be able to join a committee. Ms. Patti Chang suggested that she would be useful in serving the Resource Committee. Members of the Oversight Panel agreed that her efforts would prove beneficial there.
Ms. Upton ended the conversation by saying that she is joining the Resource Committee as a co-chair and will be at the August 12th meeting.
Action: Committees to produce report on key milestones done in the committees by October 2, 2003, meeting.
Closing Remarks
Co-chair Keehn made the closing remarks, adjoining the meeting and thanking its participants.
Announcements
Action: None
Next Meeting
October 2, 2003, 9:00 a.m. -12:00a.m.
Adjournment
The meeting was adjourned at 11:10 a.m.
Action: None
