Mayor's Task Force on Human Trafficking - February 12, 2014 - Meeting Minutes

Mayor’s Task Force on Anti-Human Trafficking 
Child Sex Trafficking Subcommittee Meeting Minutes

Wednesday, February 12, 2014
1:30 pm - 3:00 pm 
San Francisco Police Department
850 Bryant Street, Room 500
San Francisco, CA

Attendees: Carley Arnigone (San Francisco Unified School District); Paniz Bagheri (The SAGE Project); Marianne Barrett (District Attorney’s Office); Kathy Baxter (Child Abuse Prevention Center); Patrick Buckalew (Huckleberry Youth Programs);  Irene Casanova (Larkin Street Youth Services); Denny David (LYRIC); Grace Fisher (Department on Status of Women); Antonio Flores (Police Department); Johanna Gendelman (Department of Human Services); Kelly Gilliam (F.D. Homes/Nalls Foundation); Minouche Kandel (Department on Status of 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); Kristin Snell (Department on the Status of Women); Ana Villagrán (Juvenile Probation Department).

I. Introductions, Agenda Review & Minutes Review
The meeting was called to order at 1:34 pm.  Attendees introduced themselves and reviewed the agenda for the current meeting; the agenda was approved.  The January meeting minutes were also reviewed and approved.

II. Review Proposal for Emergency Response to CSEC
Ms. Kandel presented the draft proposal created to outline a city-wide emergency response to commercially sexually exploited children to the committee, and asked for group feedback. Ms. Kandel mentioned the plan to move forward and present this proposal to the larger Mayor’s Task Force on Anti-Human Trafficking Committee at its next meeting in two weeks, if approved by the group at this meeting.

Committee members discussed the idea of linking this response to the mobile crisis response that the Department of Public Health currently utilizes in certain situations. It was noted that at the previous Subcommittee meeting, Dr. Ken Epstein, Director of Children, Youth and Families Services at the Department of Public Health, mentioned he was open to expanding their response to include the CSEC population. The group deliberated on whether to specifically indicate this piece in the proposal, and decided to leave the wording of the proposal more general.

The group discussed the potential use of Child Protective Services workers in this response, if they are given appropriate training. Committee members discussed the general idea of utilizing programs already in service, and providing them with a stipend to cover on-call workers who are already trained to work with this population.

 The group agreed that the youth served by this proposal should include youth up to the age of 21.

The group acknowledged that this proposal is not the comprehensive response to all the needs of CSEC (such as housing), but is addressing one particular need.

The committee then discussed the $16 million federal grant that San Francisco was awarded which will allow for the creation of 4 mobile crisis teams, 2 specifically for schools, 2 for the community, whose Request for Qualification will be distributed shortly. Committee members discussed how these mobile crisis teams might be utilized in conjunction with the response the proposal highlights. Multiple group members expressed the sentiment that the agencies bidding on these contracts have experience with commercially sexually exploited youth.

Lt. Flores mentioned his desire for an agency that police officers can call at all hours that delivers a variety of services, both emergency and longer-term, to this population.

The issue of whether a child having private insurance would preclude them from getting a visit from the mobile crisis team, was discussed, as well as how to approach providing long-term services to youth who do not have Medi-cal.

The committee then deliberated on the varying ways in which this specific population comes in contact with the system, and the city’s interest in not treating children as though they are criminals. The impetus is to get them out of juvenile hall and connected to services as quickly as possible. Group members revisited the idea of using an existing hotline as a potential avenue for response. Multiple group members noted that in terms of best practice, a client will most likely agree to engage in services if there is continuity of care, from first response through longer-term services.

Attendees then discussed how Child Protective Services currently investigates potential child sex trafficking referrals. Mr. Tsutakawa noted that if the department believes there is trafficking involved in a case, it will be cross-reported to the police department

Ms. Kandel reiterated the changes to be incorporated in the proposal, noting that youth being defined as under 21, and a reference to collaboration between agencies through the grant funding mobile crisis youth expansion.

This proposal will be presented to the Board of Supervisors, the Mayor’s Office as well as private foundations, with some specific policies and protocols to be decided upon later in the process. She agreed to incorporate the group feedback into the proposal, present to the general Task Force meeting and ask them to formally approve the document with the knowledge that it has been vetted by this committee.

III. Discussion of CSEC MDT and draft MOU
Committee members decided to move this discussion to the next meeting, in order to allow more representatives from agencies that are stakeholders in the matter to participate.

IV. Update on State CSEC Action Team
Ms. Bagheri reported out for the “Specialized Services Committee,” noting that the group spent time discussing information sharing, as well as certain other counties in which there is extreme criminalization of minors. At this month’s CAST meeting, there was discussion of how client information is going to be shared with what intent, in order to begin putting protocols for data gathering and sharing into place.

The committee discussed varying agencies’ progress toward tracking exploited youth at the first point of entry, and Ms. Kandel noted that the Prevalence Committee of the State Action Team is collecting screening tools and that the Action Team will be sending out surveys to child welfare agencies as well as runaway youth shelters to collect information on current practices.

V. Report back on ability to add CSEC codes to CWS/CMS
Mr. Tsutakawa reported that the ability to add CSEC codes to the CWS/CMS case management computer system is currently being discussed by County Welfare Directors Association of California at the state level, and it is hopeful that new codes will be added within several months.

VI. Next Steps
A discussion of the MOU is top priority for the agenda at the March Child Sex Trafficking Subcommittee meeting.

Mr. Tsutakawa agreed to discuss with the Deputy Director the potential use of the hotline in the coordinated emergency response efforts in the future in order to better understand the specifics and feasibility of the utilization of the line.

The next meeting is set for:

Wednesday, March 12, 2014
1:30-3:00pm
San Francisco Police Department
850 Bryant St, Room 500