Mayor's Task Force on Human Trafficking - April 9, 2014 - Child Sex Trafficking Subcommittee Meeting Minutes
Mayor’s Task Force on Anti-Human Trafficking
Child Sex Trafficking Subcommittee Meeting Minutes
Wednesday, April 9, 2014 1:30 pm - 3:00 pm
San Francisco Police Department, 850 Bryant Street, Room 500, San Francisco, CA
Attendees:
Tara Anderson (District Attorney’s Office)
Carley Arnigone (San Francisco Unified School District)
Paniz Bagheri (The SAGE Project)
Ellyn Bell (The SAGE Project)
Bill Betencourt (Center for the Study of Social Policy)
Irene Casanova (Larkin Street Youth Services)
Denny David (LYRIC)
Julius DeGuia (District Attorney’s Office)
Grace Fisher (Department on Status of Women)
Johanna Gendelman (Human Services Agency)
Kelly Gilliam (F.D. Homes/Nalls Foundation)
Jill Jacobs (Family Builders)
Minouche Kandel (Department on Status of Women)
Antonia Lavine (National Council of Jewish Women)
Alison Lustbader (Department of Public Health)
Rebecca Marcus (San Francisco Public Defender’s Office)
Delia Montiel (District Attorney’s Office)
Shivaun Nestor (Department of Public Health)
Toni Powell (Juvenile Probation Department)
Jean Roland (District Attorney’s Office)
Kristin Snell (Department on the Status of Women)
John Tsutakawa (Human Services Agency)
Trenia Wearing (Police Department).
- Introductions & Agenda Review & Minutes Review
The meeting was called to order at 1:36pm. Attendees introduced themselves and reviewed the agenda and the minutes from the previous meeting. The agenda was approved. The March minutes were approved. [Casanova/Gendelmen/All]
- Update on Emergency Response to CSEC
Minouche Kandel provided an overview of the current proposal. The most recent version contains more accurate estimates of the number of CSEC served in San Francisco. The proposal has been approved by the Mayor’s Task Force. Ms. Kandel reported that the task force plans to shop the proposal to the Mayor’s Office first, and then the Board of Supervisors in the next few weeks. Ms. Kandel also noted that the proposal could fit into a federal grant for victims of crimes, a potential third avenue to explore for funding.
- Discussion of CSEC MDT and draft MOU
The committee discussed the current status of the draft MOU for the CSEC MDT. The issue of whether law enforcement, particularly the District Attorney’s Office and Police Department, should be represented at the meeting (page 2) was discussed. One suggestion was to divide the meetings into two sessions: one session for cases that received consent for law enforcement involvement and the other would be a closed session for cases that did not provide consent. There was concern that this structure might be confusing and difficult to schedule.
The first paragraph of the MOU, and the language “provide comprehensive assessment, evaluation, and case planning” and “comprehensive assessment and evaluation” was discussed. The committee members agreed that the MDT meetings would not involve detailed case planning. Instead, the MDT would produce a coordinated community response to address the needs of CSEC clients. The group wanted to edit the first paragraph, removing “case planning” and inserting “coordinating community response” and “the response would honor the confidentiality agreements of each agency.”
The committee members discussed whether this approach would overcome the confidentiality concerns. Certain community organizations cannot give out certain information because of requirements by thier funders. The group agreed that the MDT meetings would only discuss high level information and not the details of the individualized services, modelling the approach of MDTs for domestic violence cases.
There was a suggestion that providers would sit at the table and law enforcement could listen to the discussion and contribute at the end.
It was clarified that the MDT policy is not the overall protocol for responding to CSEC in San Francisco.
There was a suggestion that the MDT be modelled after the Elder Forensic Center meetings, which uses de-identified information for each case it discusses. Other MDTs in San Francisco might be able to share useful lessons based on experience that could address some of the groups’ concerns.
The MDT would focus on coordinating resources and responses as a method of safety planning, rather than detailed case planning. Policy gaps might surface through discussion of individual cases and the CSEC subcommittee of the Mayor’s Task Force would be the body to move forward on those issues.
It was proposed that representatives from the District Attorney’s Office, Police Department, Juvenile Probation Department and Public Defenders would be invited only when a case consented to their involvement and necessitated it.
There was concern that the MDT would be duplicating work that is already occurring informally. The group consensus was that it is useful to gather representatives from different agencies to talk about specific issues, but that this might not need to happen through a formal MDT.
There was a suggestion to use part of the CSEC subcommittee meeting as a coordinated case strategy session. The group could discuss 2-3 cases at the end of each meeting with the relevant agencies that are already gathered. This could serve as a trial for the MDT. The committee voted to support this proposal with 10 votes in support and no votes against it. The next meeting will have an additional 30 minutes to the end of the regular CSEC subcommittee meetings.
The committee agreed to make the meeting informal, using de-identified case information, so an MOU is not needed. Committee members should email Minouche Kandel prior to the meeting if they have a case to be included in the agenda.
- Youth Representation on the Committee
Ms. Kandel reported on a meeting that the Department on the Status of Women had with representatives from sex worker rights groups, who proposed including youth representatives on the CSEC subcommittee. She noted that the DOSW has money to allocate for a paid internship that could support youth involvement. She asked the members of the committee for recommendations of youth that might be interested in participating.
Ms. Bagheri added that SAGE is interviewing youth for a focus group and those youth might be interested in participating in the CSEC subcommittee. Ms. Bell recommended the youth commission as a good resource as well.
Ms. Kandel suggested that it would be ideal to have 3 youth representatives over the age of 18. Ms. Bagheri specified that participation from a former foster youth, a survivor of CSEC, and a former probation youth would be most advantageous. She noted that SAGE would have the capacity to supervise the internship as the DOSW would not.
Denny David cautioned the group that it could be difficult to change the culture of the CSEC subcommittee to facilitate youth collaboration. From previous experience, he noted that this process can take years and the group would need to make a lot of changes to become hospitable for youth participation. He proposed instead collaborating with a youth center, such as the youth commission or TAY SF, to create an advisory group. The group agreed that this approach would be more feasible.
- Update on State CSEC Action Team
Paniz Bagheri reported that the CSEC Action Team is meeting next week. The Team is in the process of compiling case studies and disseminating surveys on CSEC identification across counties. One subcommittee is also working on a needs assessment to be completed by May.
Ms. Bagheri also announced that the Westcoast Children’s Group is conducting focus groups with survivor youth who are over 18 (ideally 21-24). She asked that committee members refer any interested youth to her. The purpose of the focus groups is to test San Francisco’s CSEC screening tool. Participants will receive a $75 gift card.
- Report Back on HSA Use of Hotline for Emergency Response
The committee did not have time to discuss this item.
- Next Steps
Minouche Kandel solicited suggestions for future agenda items. Tara Anderson suggested a protocol for CSEC triage. Rebecca Marcus proposed that the group look into ways to provide more training on best practices for CSEC. Antonia Lavine noted that SFCAHT is planning a training in the future.
Ellyn Bell announced that SAGE received two year funding for programming aimed to prevent middle school aged boys from becoming exploiters. To develop this program, SAGE will be conducting focus groups for boys.
Alison Lustbader also announced that a four-year, $16.8 million Mental Health Services Act Crisis Triage grant has been awarded to the Child, Youth and Family System of Care to both enhance child and youth crisis triage services and to establish a peer operated crisis and triage warm line serving children and adults. Part of the grant is for mobile teams. DPH is putting together a RFQ. The grant will fund one crisis team to focus on school and youth areas and a second crisis team to focus on neighborhoods that are traumatized by violence in SF. Ms. Lustbader noted that human trafficking victim services will be incorporated.
The meeting adjourned at 3:06pm.
The next meeting is set for:
Wednesday, May 14, 2014
1:30-3:00pm
San Francisco Police Department
850 Bryant St, Room 500
