Annual Report

Fiscal Year 2007-2008

The Department on the Status of Women's 2007-2008 Annual Report consists of summary of 12 Executive Director's Reports. These reports were submitted by Dr. Emily Murase, Executive Director of the Department, to the Commission on the Status of Women at each of the monthly meetings during FY 2007-2008. Within this report, each heading refers to a specific principle of the local Convention to Eliminate All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) Ordinance as reflected in the Commission's Strategic Plan.

I. Implementation of Women and Girls' Human Rights

In April 1998,San Francisco became the first municipality in the country to adopt a local implementation of the United Nations Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), an international bill of rights for women. In FY07-08, the Department continued its internationally-recognized work in this area.

A. CEDAW Outreach and Training

The Department promoted the CEDAW Ordinance and provided training to organizations and municipalities on the landmark work being accomplished in San Francisco on numerous occasions throughout the year.

· UN Gender Equality and Government: The Americas Forum, September 3, 2007: Presentation of San Francisco Case Study on Gender Equity

· Equal Rights Advocates, October 11, 2007: Presentation on Work-Life Balance

· WILD for Human Rights, November 3, 2007: Presentation about history of CEDAW implementation

· Fulton County, GA, December 6-7, 2007: 2-day training with County officials on gender analysis and gender budgeting

B. Inaugural CEDAW Awards

The Friends of the Commission on the Status of Women hosted a 30th Anniversary Celebration of the Commission on the Status of Women on Wednesday, December 12, 2007 at the Palace Hotel. The event inaugurated the CEDAW Awards in the following categories and with the following honorees:

· Arts & Culture: Belva Davis, former Board President, Museum of the African Diaspora

· Community Service: Beverly Upton, Executive Director, San Francisco Domestic Violence Consortium

· Corporate Leadership: Donna Burke, Regional Vice President, AT&T

· Entrepreneurship: Julie Abrams, Women's Initiative for Self-Employment

· Education: Gwen Chan, former Acting Superintendent of Schools

· Politics & Government: U.S. Representative Nancy Pelosi; Senator Barbara Boxer; Senator Dianne Feinstein

· Philanthropy: Luz Vega-Marquis, President & CEO, Marguerite Casey Foundation

C. Gender Analyses and Gender Budgeting

A critical tool in the advancement of women in the workplace is the Gender Analysis protocol. Already, 6 City departments have undergone this process of evaluating their policies, programs, and budgets to determine whether gender equity exists. The Department continued to expand its work using these tools within City government throughout FY07-08, including conducting follow-up reviews of 3 City departments, Public Works, Environment, and Juvenile Probation, and completing 2 new gender analyses, each resulting in progressive changes in City government.

1. Gender Analysis of Appointments to Commissions, Boards and Task Forces (November 2007)

In December 2007, Supervisor Jake McGoldrick introduced a charter amendment aiming to increase the diversity of appointees to City commissions. The Department added language stating that the Commission on the Status of Women would conduct a gender analysis in the second and fourth year of each mayoral term to examine the diversity of appointments to these bodies. The analysis would focus on gender, ethnicity, sexual orientation, and physical ability, with data gathered through voluntary disclosure. Supervisor McGoldrick's office accepted the amended language and introduced it at the January 17, 2008 Rules Committee meeting. On February 12, 2008, the charter amendment was approved unanimously by the Board of Supervisors, and appeared on the June 3, 2008 ballot as Proposition D. Of the 154,884 votes cast, the measure received 60% of the vote. The exact language of the ballot measure follows: Shall it be City policy that the membership of City boards and commissions reflect the interests and contributions of both men and women of all races, ethnicities, sexual orientation and types of abilities and that City officer and agencies support the nomination, appointment of confirmation of female, minority, and disabled candidates to fill seats on those bodies?

2. Gender Analysis of Proposed State Cuts to Human Services Agency and Department of Public Health (April 2007)

With support from the Mayor's Budget Office, the Department of Public Health and the Human Services Agency completed a gender analysis of the proposed specific State cuts to particular programs. While this was a very limited gender analysis, the information provided was very valuable. Of particular note from a gender perspective was the uneven distribution of services. The Department had expected most of these programs to primarily affect women, as these were low-income children, family, and senior health-related services, and women make up a larger portion of that population than men. In fact, a number of programs appeared to serve men and boys disproportionately, particularly at the Department of Public Health. This raises the question of why women are not accessing services in these programs. The proposed budget cuts impact different races disproportionately. African Americans will be disproportionately affected in a number of programs, most specifically youth in foster care. Asians will be hit hardest by the In-Home Support Services cuts. Other groups who will be impacted by the pending cuts are low-income children and families, seniors and those with disabilities. Based on this analysis, the Department requested a meeting between the Mayor's Budget Office and Professor Marilyn Rubin of City University of New York to discuss incorporating a gender analysis focus in the budget instructions that go to every City department in the fall.

D. Private Sector Initiative

Throughout FY2007-08, Department staff convened meetings of individuals in the private sector to discuss ways to bring the CEDAW gender analysis and gender budgeting tools to those entities. In October 2007, the Department began a partnership with the Washington, D.C.-based investing firm, Calvert Asset Management, and with the Massachusetts-based international human rights monitoring group, Vérité. After a number of intense planning sessions, the group developed a plan for creating the San Francisco Gender Equality Principles for the Private Sector. The first stage of the plan involved an information session, held on May 30, 2008. At this information session, the Department, Vérité and Calvert hosted 23 individuals from the following 20 companies:

· Bay Area Council

The 2-hour session included an overview of the Gender Equality Principles Initiative, a discussion about the changing nature of the 21^st-century workplace and why it is now more important than ever to have gender equality guidelines in place to address the issues companies are facing in this environment, a synopsis of the broader Calvert Women's Principles Initiative, and a sampling of the roundtables that would take place in the next year where companies could discuss best practices and challenges on certain gender equality issues with the participants broken into small groups to discuss two questions related to flexibility in the workplace and marketing of products. The Department received a very positive response from all participants and is now working with Calvert and Vérité to prepare for the rollout event in September 2008.

E. Report Assessing CEDAW Implementation

For over a year, the Department worked with WILD for Human Rights on a report assessing San Francisco's implementation of the CEDAW Ordinance. In April 2008, WILD published the report entitled Respect, Protect, Fulfill: Raising the Bar on Women's Rights in San Francisco. WILD held a joint briefing with the Department on April 30, 2008 at City Hall. Commissioners Munter and Shorter attended and Commissioner Munter spoke briefly. The briefing covered the international significance of CEDAW, the status of CEDAW nationally, and the role of San Francisco in human rights promotion. Dr. Murase made a presentation about the Department's work on CEDAW over the past 10 years and the Department's current and future projects. Press attended the event and KCBS reported on it in their local radio broadcast.

F. Action Alerts / Legislative Concerns

Based on the Commission's interest in pursuing legislative concerns, the following are the issues that the Department responded to:

· Supported the Ledbetter Fair Pay Act of 2007 (H.R. 2831), sponsored by Rep. George Miller (D-CA), to address the recent U.S. Supreme Court decision (Ledbetter v. Goodyear Tire & Rubber), which severely limited the ability of victims of pay discrimination to sue under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Also supported a similar CA bill, AB 437.

· Supported the National Organization for Women request that Congress support the FDA Scientific Fairness for Women Act, soon to be re-introduced by Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-CT). This bill is a step towards protecting women from political decisions by the FDA that are not grounded in science.

· Supported the U.S. National Health Insurance Act, H.R. 676. This bill would create a publicly financed, privately delivered system for providing comprehensive health care for all U.S. residents by expanding and improving the existing Medicare program.

· Supported AB 76 to create a gender-specific master plan for incarcerated women.

· Supported S.2069/H.R. 2965, the Global Resources and Opportunities for Women to Thrive Act (GROWTH Act), to support economic opportunities for women worldwide.

· Signed a petition to the Food and Drug Administration to give access to women under the age of 18 to emergency contraception.

· Supported equal pay for women, and the Fair Pay Restoration Act, so that women will again have a fair chance in court when challenging paycheck discrimination.

· Supported CEDAW ratification in the U.S. Senate.

· Supported the "High School Athletics Accountability Act of 2007" (H.R. 901) and the "High School Sports Information Collection Act of 2007" (S. 518) that would require schools to report gender athletics data on the gender equality of athletic programs.

· Supported the upholding of the CA Board of Parole Hearings' decision to grant parole to Ms. Elnora Francis. Ms. Francis is a 68-year-old woman who has served nearly 24 years in prison for the death of her abusive husband.

· Supported the International Violence Against Women Act (I-VAWA), which addresses the needs of millions of women suffering from violence and abuse.

· Supported a petition calling on Congress to repeal the Hyde Amendment and restore coverage of abortion for low-income women.

· Supported new CA legislation, SB 1356, that will protect victims of domestic violence from the threat of incarceration.

· Asked leading candidates for President to support paid family leave.

· Supported S.1515, the National Domestic Violence Volunteer Attorney Network Act, which promotes access to legal information for women facing domestic violence.

· Supported urging the incoming Indian Health Service (IHS) Director to ensure that survivors of rape and sexual assault receive the proper healthcare they deserve.

· Gave public comment to the Department of Labor objecting to weakening the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA).

· Supported the Prevention through Affordable Access Act (H.R. 4054)/ S.2347), a healthcare proposal that will permit the sale of discounted contraceptives to colleges and non-profit health care agencies and providers without penalizing the pharmaceutical companies for offering this discount.

· Supported AB 2716, a bill which will allow all workers in California to earn paid sick days and use them to care for themselves, a sick family member, or to take leave related to domestic violence or sexual assault.

On April 16 2008, Dr. Murase received a call from Senator Barbara Boxer's Correspondence Director who thanked the Department for the letter submitted about a Senate bill to prevent and reduce human trafficking. As a direct result of this letter, Senator Boxer's office was able to ensure that the Senator was identified as a co-sponsor, which had not been the case prior to the Department's letter due to a miscommunication.

II. Right to Bodily Integrity

A. Violence Against Women Prevention & Intervention (VAW) Grants Program

1. VAW Grants Program Contracts for FY07-08

The Department chose to extend contracts with VAW Grants Program Partner Agencies for a 4^th year in order to conduct a needs assessment/program evaluation prior to writing a new Request for Qualifications for the next 3-year grant cycle. Current year contracts included a 2.45% Cost of Doing Business (CODB) increase for nonprofits. In July 2007, the Board of Supervisors approved a $515,000 add-back for the VAW Grants Program (with $15,000 covering administrative expenses associated with re-contracting). The add-back and the CODB increase combined to create a 25% increase in grant allocations for Partner Agencies over FY06-07 amounts.

2. Joint Non-Profit Fiscal Compliance Monitoring Committee

Department staff attended the Joint Non-Profit Fiscal and Compliance Monitoring Committee's (Joint Monitoring Committee) annual kick-off meeting on September 5, 2007. The meeting was an opportunity for all participating city departments to review the list of shared non-profit contractors, select those to undergo fiscal and compliance monitoring this year, and determine which city department would take the lead on the monitoring. Approximately 100 non-profit contractors were monitored in FY07-08. Selection criteria included that the non-profit contractor be funded by at least 2 City departments on the Joint Monitoring Committee, and that the non-profit receives a minimum of $500,000 from the City departments collectively. The Department was responsible, as the lead department, for the assessments of 2 currently funded programs, Asian Women's Shelter and Bay Area Legal Aid, and Department staff participated as a member of the monitoring team for a number of other funded Partner Agencies, including Mission Neighborhood Centers and Institute on Aging.

3. Needs Assessment/Program Evaluation

Lisa Korwin of Korwin Consulting began work on a needs assessment of the VAW Grants Program in FY06-07. In July and August 2007, she finalized the needs assessment report, Creating a Safer San Francisco: Integrating Multicultural Strategies to End Violence Against Women and Girls, and presented the full report to the Commission at the September 2007 meeting. The program evaluation affirms that the agencies are addressing the needs of women, but the lack of resources leaves certain populations vulnerable and underserved.

4. VAW Grants Program RFQ Process

The Department began the Request for Qualifications (RFQ) process by outreaching to currently funded programs, and to agencies and communities not currently served by the VAW Grants Program. As the RFQ was part of a competitive bidding process, Department staff attempted to inform as wide an array of service providers about the availability of funding as possible. The Department released the RFQ on February 22, 2008, with a due date of March 21, 2008, 4:00 pm. The Department received 41 proposals for funding totaling approximately $3.4 million dollars.

The competitive RFQ process had many steps. Staff first reviewed all proposal applications to ensure they met the minimum qualifications and application criteria outlined in the application packet before being sent to the Expert Review Panel. The Expert Review Panel evaluated, scored and made recommendations for funding on proposal applications submitted to the Department for funding. The Expert Review Panel was made up of 15 individuals, but at the last minute 2 reviewers had to dismiss themselves due to family emergencies. Proposals were reviewed based on our six primary Services Areas: Crisis Line Services, Legal Assistance, Emergency Shelter, Transitional Housing, Intervention and Advocacy, Prevention and Education.

After the Expert Review Panels met, the Commission Funding Committee met to review the recommendations. Following a budget directive from the Mayor's Office cutting grant funds by 20-25% city-wide, the Department was left with approximately $2.1 million dollars to allocate. The Funding Committee presented the full Commission with a Funding Allocation Plan for approval at the April 23, 2008 Commission meeting. The Commission voted to postpone a vote on a plan until further public comment could be heard. The Department put out a request for additional written suggestions for allocating a limited amount of funding, and the Funding Committee met again to review the public comment and re-examine the allocation plan. After this 2^nd review, the Funding Committee decided that the original funding recommendations were the most viable, and presented this plan to the Commission at a special meeting held on May 12, 2008. The Commission approved the allocation plan at this meeting.

Though Contract Agreements for the FY2008-11 VAW Grants Program were completed and signed by the Partner Agencies and the Department by June 2008, both the Mayor and the Board of Supervisors allocated additional funds to the Department's VAW Grants Program, and new Agreements must be approved for final FY08-09 allocations.

B. Justice & Courage Project

1. Justice and Courage Oversight Panel

The overarching goal of the Justice and Courage Project is to prevent domestic violence by creating a seamless, system-wide response to the crime. Highlights of the Oversight Panel's work for FY07-08 include:

· New Committees of the Oversight Panel: In accordance with the Strategic Plan crafted during the July 2007 retreat of the Justice and Courage Oversight Panel, this body created several new committees during FY07-08. The Media Committee, Governance Committee, Audit Implementation Committee, and Batterer Accountability Committee all held meetings during the year.

· SF STAT Presentation: Department staff worked with the Mayor's Office of Criminal Justice, the Police Department, the District Attorney's Office, the Adult Probation Department, and the Department of Emergency Management to present statistics on domestic violence at the October 22, 2007 meeting of SF STAT. The presentation looked at trends in domestic violence on a national, state, and local level, and examined the number of calls to 9-1-1, the number of domestic violence cases at the police department, the number of cases within the Domestic Violence Response Unit, the number of cases at the District Attorney's Office, and the number of cases at Adult Probation. The presentation was well received.

· Public Safety Committee Presentation: On the same day as the SF STAT presentation, the Department presented information about its work in the area of domestic violence to the Public Safety Committee of the Board of Supervisors. Staff shared information about the Safety Audit, the Domestic Violence Response Cross-Training Institute, the Family Violence Council, and VAW Grants Program. Many of the VAW Grants Program partner agencies presented information about their work as well. It was a fitting presentation to highlight Domestic Violence Awareness Month.

· Mobile Language Interpretation Project: Working with the Office of the City Administrator, the Department participated in a press conference on October 23, 2007 to announce the launch of a new tool for criminal justice system workers responding to domestic violence survivors who are limited English proficient. The City Administrator negotiated a master contract with Language Line Services to provide phone translation services. The master contract enables all participating City departments to access phone translation services 24 hours a day, 7 days a week and 365 days a year. AT&T donated mobile cell and dual handset phones that connect immediately to live interpretation at Language Line Services, where interpreters are available in more than 175 languages. An English-only speaking police officer who responds to a domestic violence incident involving a limited-English proficient victim, or an English-only speaking District Attorney who needs to interview a limited-English proficient victim or witness, can use a mobile phone or dual handset phone to connect immediately with a live telephonic language interpreter.

· New Oversight Panel Members: In January 2008, the Oversight Panel approved the nomination of the Governance Committee for 3 new individuals to become members of the Oversight Panel: Mary Cavanaugh, PhD, a professor in the UC Berkeley School of Social Work who specializes in batterer issues; Allyson Hauck, an attorney in private practice with extensive community experience in the domestic violence field; and Kathy Black, Executive Director of La Casa de las Madres. Dr. Murase transitioned to an alternate member who attends all meetings but only votes in the absence of a regular member. The Commission approved these nominations at the February 2008 Commission meeting.

· Domestic Violence Legislation Press Conference: At Senator Yee's invitation, Dr. Murase spoke at a press conference on April 9, 2008 at the offices of the San Mateo County Administration in support of a bill that would prohibit the jailing of women who refuse to testify against their batterers. Although the state-wide District Attorney's Association is strongly opposed to the legislation, domestic violence service providers and victim advocates strongly support it as a means to prevent the re-victimization of survivors. The press conference generated news items in San Mateo newspapers and the San Francisco Chronicle.

· District Attorney's Presentation to Audit Implementation Committee: The Audit Implementation Committee heard reports from the District Attorney about progress toward implementation of the Audit recommendations. The DA reported that significant progress has been made, such as the reactivation of the Stalking Task Force. However, challenges such as the Crawford Supreme Court decision continue to make it difficult to successfully prosecute cases of battering.

· Superior Court Domestic Violence Protocols Meeting: In April 2008, Department staff attended a meeting held by the Superior Court of CA, County of San Francisco to discuss the Court's procedures and practices related to domestic violence. The Court intended to hold such meetings on a regular basis in order to ensure a coordinated response to domestic violence. The meeting had representation from the criminal and family courts, as well as Adult and Juvenile Probation, the District Attorney, the Public Defender, and Child Protective Services. The group discussed the need to consider how San Francisco can reduce recidivism among batterers, as well as how to improve oversight of batterer intervention programs. A committee was established to focus specifically on the issue of recidivism.

· PremHazard Protocol Revisions: Oversight Panel members met with Police Chief Heather Fong on April 16, 2008, and with Department of Emergency Management Director Vicki Hennessy on April 22, 2008 to review progress on recommendations from the Audit, and to check-in in general. As a result of those meetings, Department staff convened a meeting of both departments to discuss the PremHazard protocol. This protocol was developed in order to alert 9-1-1 operators that a residence had been the location of a domestic violence incident in the past. The protocol was not in use, however, as the method of determining when the warning was no longer relevant due to people moving or other factors had not been decided.

· Language Fluency Pilot Program: In May 2008, Department staff worked with the Office of Language Access on a grant application to the Zellerbach Foundation which would fund a pilot program to improve the language fluency and domestic violence knowledge of bilingual officers and direct service staff at criminal justice agencies. The trainings will consist of weekly two-hour sessions during business hours for a duration of five months, and will be offered in both Spanish and Cantonese. The Office of Language Services also submitted the application to the Casey Foundation and the San Francisco Foundation, but it was denied due to lack of funds. The Department and the Office of Language Access continue to seek out foundations that may be interested in this project.

· Domestic Violence Legislation Press Conference: In June 2008, Commissioner Keehn and Department staff attended a press conference put on by District Attorney Harris and Supervisor Chu to discuss City legislation that would allow domestic violence victims to break the apartment lease if necessary to escape domestic violence. The legislation was introduced at the Board of Supervisors on June 10, 2008. Commissioner Keehn spoke with the press.

2. Domestic Violence Response Cross-Training Institute

In FY07-08, the Department conducted a total of 15 sessions of the Domestic Violence Response Cross-Training Institute, 5 during the summer of 2007, and 10 as a part of the 2^nd round of sessions in the spring and summer of 2008. The following chart shows a breakdown of participants by department for each of the 2 years.

· Participants: In addition to front line responders, the Institute attracted participants from all levels of criminal justice organizations. Directors, Deputy Directors, Deputy Chiefs, Supervisors, Managers, and Coordinators joined in and participated side-by-side with Police Officers, Dispatchers, Deputy Probation Officers, Deputy Sheriffs, Assistant District Attorneys, and Victim Advocates. The Institute also boasted 3 Officers from the San Francisco State University Campus Police, 1 Staff Attorney from the San Francisco Unified Family Court, and 1 judge. The wealth of information elicited through this diversity of experience and expertise made any given session of the Institute a truly unique educational environment.

· 2008 Training Team: The Department hired the Training Team for the 2008 cycle of Institute sessions in December 2007. The Team consisted of Mary Twomey of the Consortium for Elder Abuse Prevention, Emberly Cross of the Cooperative Restraining Order Clinic, Nick Baran of the Volunteer Legal Services Program, and Doreen Der-Mcleod of Donaldina Cameron House. Mary Twomey and Emberly Cross were both members of the Training Team in 2007.

· 2008 Institute Sessions: The Department scheduled 10 sessions of the Institute between March 2008 and June 2008. The first session, on March 11, 2008, was canceled due to low enrollment. Department staff worked closely with each of the criminal justice agencies involved to ensure that all other sessions were fully booked, and the Department scheduled an additional training date to replace the canceled session. On April 29, 2008, the Honorable Mary Morgan, who presides over the Domestic Violence Court, participated in a session of the Institute at the invitation of the Department. Her presence added a new layer to the discussion amongst participants, and she indicated that she was quite impressed with the training, going so far as to email her fellow bench officers urging them to attend as well. Also, on April 29, 2008, Deputy Chief of Police Investigations, David Shinn, attended a portion of the day's activities, and praised the Institute highly. Based on Judge Morgan's response, a staff attorney at the San Francisco Unified Family Court attended a session, and the Department began outreach to the Public Defender's Office to find ways to include this important aspect of the criminal justice response within future iterations of the Institute.

· Evaluation Process: Mark Morris Associates (MMA) presented the Interim Report of its evaluation of the first year of the Institute at the November 2007 Commission meeting. Results from the first cycle of sessions, drawn primarily from pre- and post-questionnaires administered at the Institute sessions, were overwhelmingly positive, with several small recommendations for improvement in the 2nd year of training. Between September 2007 and December 2007, MMA administered a 3-month follow-up survey of participants on a rolling basis. In February 2008, MMA carried out the final stage of evaluation for the 1^st year of training: a series of focus groups with participants from the 2007 sessions. The Training Team used feedback from these focus groups, the follow-up survey, and the Interim Report in the curriculum revision process prior to the 2^nd cycle of sessions. During the remainder of the summer of 2008, MMA will work on analyzing the pre- and post-questionnaires collected at each of this year's training sessions. The consultants are also collaborating with Department staff to develop a strategy for follow-up with 2008 participants, either through a focus group such as the series conducted in February of this year or through interviews with a variety of participants. MMA will continue to analyze the findings from this and last year, and plans to present the Department with a final report on the Institute in October 2008.

· Grant Writer: The Department chose a consultant grant writer to work on finding additional funding for the Institute, and Pendergrass Smith Consulting began work in April 2008. The grant writer will use the evaluation report and other data to write a proposal for ongoing funding of the Institute.

3. JUSTIS

Department staff attended each monthly meeting of the JUSTIS Governance Council during FY07-08. However, the timeline for implementation continued to be unconscionably slow, with the Police Department at least one year behind all other agencies, as shown by the following highlights:

· In August 2007, the Police Department indicated it would not be able to implement JUSTIS before 2009.

· In the fall of 2007, the Police Department hired a Chief Information Officer to oversee implementation.

· DTIS completed the hub core of JUSTIS in February 2008, testing the Sheriff's Department. All departments except Police were ready to go live at that time.

· In June 2008, the Department learned that, despite original proposals, the Project Manager position for JUSTIS was not eliminated in the Mayor's budget, which was very good news. At the June 2008 meeting, which Department staff and Commissioner Keehn attended, the Mayor's Office of Criminal Justice assured the group of its commitment to the full implementation of JUSTIS. Unfortunately, at that same meeting, it was announced that the Police Department's new Chief Information Technology Officer had unexpectedly resigned. The Police Department reported that the agency hopes to remain on track for a summer 2009 start date.

C. Trafficking

The Department has been involved in a number of efforts related to ending human trafficking over the course of FY07-08, including:

· Meeting with Mayor's Office of Public Policy

· Press conference sponsored by SAGE regarding the launch of a public education campaign

· Ongoing participation in the Jewish Coalition to End Human Trafficking

· Meeting with Supervisor Bevan Dufty regarding the need for increased funding for services for trafficked women

· Meeting with Catherine Dodd, Mayor's Chief of Public Policy, regarding convening a conference on trafficking

· Attendance at the San Jose Police Department's training about trafficking

· Participation with the multi-agency, multi-disciplinary North Bay Coalition Against Trafficking

D. Citywide and Multi-Agency Violence Prevention Efforts

The Department has taken part in a number of committees, task forces and other efforts to prevent violence against women on a city-wide scale, including:

· San Francisco Police Commission Sub-Committee on Violent Crime

· MOCJ Violence Prevention Coordinating Council

· Prevention Institute Bay Area Regional Convening on Violence Prevention

· Batterer Intervention Program Citizens Advisory Committee

E. Family Violence Council

On August 2, 2007, the Family Violence Council legislation went before the Board of Supervisors Rules Committee, consisting of Supervisors Ammiano, Elsbernd and President Peskin. Department staff, Beverly Upton of the Domestic Violence Consortium, and Mary Twomey of the Institute on Aging made public comment in support of the legislation. The Committee voted to recommend approval of the legislation to the full Board. The Family Violence Council legislation passed on first reading before the Board of Supervisors on August 14, 2007, and passed on second reading on September 11, 2007.

The Family Violence Council held 3 meetings during FY07-08, on October 2, 2007, January 17, 2008, and April 17, 2008. Highlights from these meetings include:

· Mayor Newsom attended the first meeting, engaging members in a discussion of the state of family violence in San Francisco.

· Mary Twomey (representing advocates against elder abuse), Kathy Baxter (representing advocates against child abuse), and Beverly Upton (representing advocates against domestic violence) were elected as co-chairs of the Council, and they will serve on the Steering Committee with Department staff to plan meetings.

· Tomas Lee, Director of the Office of Language Services, gave a presentation on language access to family violence services.

· The Council voted to approve the proposal to fill the 3 open member seats with the Superintendent of SFUSD, the Public Defender, and the Director of Animal Care and Control.

· The Council released a Family Violence Mandated Reporting Info Sheet and a Family Violence Resource Guide, provided in 3 languages.

· The Council heard a presentation from Vicky Guldbech of the Department of Animal Care and Control about their protocols when intervening in cases of family violence.

III. Right to Adequate Health Care

In FY07-08, Department staff participated in and hosted a number of events related to improving healthcare options for women, including access to care, education about healthcare options, and quality of women-specific services.

· Young Women's Health Summit: The Department's relationship with the UCSF National Center of Excellence was strengthened in the partnership to coordinate the Young Women's Health Summit at the 2007 GiRLFeST Bay Area, which occurred on July 19 and 20, 2007 at Sanchez Elementary School. The programs informed over 200 girls and young women about key health topics.

· Women's Working Group on Universal Health Care: Department staff participated in this policy body focused on advocating for Universal Health Care policies at State and local levels. Goals for the group in FY07-08 were to 1) promote widespread public understanding that universal health care is a women's issue, 2) promote the education and involvement of women and women's organizations in the health care reform debate, 3) increase the involvement of women of color, women with disabilities and younger women in the health care reform debate, and 4) support public policy that improves health care access and moves us towards universal health care.

· Taking Care of Business Town Hall on Breast Cancer Mortality Rates: On October 4, 2007, the Department partnered with UC San Francisco Comprehensive Cancer Center and the Komen Foundation for the Cure to host a town hall meeting, Taking Care of Business: Getting to Know the System with a Mission to Reduce the Mortality Rates from Breast Cancer among African American Women. Over 50 service providers participated in the stimulating day of information sharing.

· Women's Health Coordinator Advocacy: Throughout FY07-08, the Department partnered with the Health Commission and the Department of Public Health to advocate for the reinstatement of a women's health coordinator position at DPH or the Department.

· Call to Conversation on Health Event: On January 31, 2008, the Department and DPH partnered to host a day-long dialogue on women's health issues. The event was well attended, with vibrant dialogue about the current state of women's health. Following this event, Department staff and DPH began work updating the 2003 report on Women's Health in San Francisco to reflect the discussions at the meeting.

· Mental Health Services for Women: In the spring of 2008, Department staff attended a Mental Health Board presentation on services for women in San Francisco, beginning a dialogue about using the CEDAW gender analysis tool to identify areas for improvement in gender-specific programming.

IV. Human Rights of Girls to Education and Social Services

A. Girls Committee Projects

· GiRLFeSTBay Area: Girls Committee members participated in every day of GiRLFeST activities across San Francisco, which included daytime and evening events. The event hosted approximately 2,500-3,000 girls, young women, their allies, family, and friends over 4 days from July 19, 2007 through July 22, 2007. The Department solidified its already strong relationships with the San Francisco Unified School District, the UCSF National Center of Excellence in Women's Health, and the Department of Children, Youth and their Families.

· Girls ReportUpdate: Committee members held discussions about health and determined that this section of the Girls report needed significant updating, particularly as it relates to sexual education.

· Youth Commission Training: Members of the Youth Commission attended the Girls Committee meeting to train them about creating legislative policy. Committee member Eileen Li was elected Youth Commission representative.

· Meeting with District Attorney Kamala Harris: Committee members and Department staff attended a meeting with District Attorney Kamala Harris on October 16, 2007. District Attorney Harris spoke about her greatest youth concern, truancy, and its overall ill-effects on education and a young woman's chances for leading a safe, productive, and fulfilled life.

· Girls Services Directory: Assemblymember Fiona Ma generously agreed to print 5,000 copies of the Girls Service Directory, in color, at no charge to the Department. In May 2008, Department staff sent a draft to Assemblymember Ma's office where a graphic designer will work on creating a final version.

· Girls Empowerment Center Focus Group: At the April 2008 Girls Committee meeting, Maru Salazar from the Executive Director's Circle, a group of leaders of girl-focused organizations, conducted a focus group to get ideas and input about the creation of a one-stop girls empowerment center in San Francisco. Girls Committee members as well as youth from Oasis for Girls and Girls Inc. participated.

B. Girl-Focused Initiatives

· Assemblymember Mark Leno's 4th Annual Young Women's Conference: Assemblyman Mark Leno convened the 4th Annual Young Women's Conference on November 16, 2007. The all-day conference was geared toward at-risk young women, ages 14-18, in San Francisco high schools. The 2007 theme was Own It! Your Body, Mind and Life. Speakers and workshops were focused on their theme of how issues affect young women's body, mind and life.

· Girls Unit Task Force – Juvenile Probation Department: Department staff participated on this task force overseeing the implementation of a Girls Unit at JPD. The depth and breadth of services proposed for the Girls Unit is excellent, and the Department is committed to ensuring that the Girls Unit is successful. Department staff supported JPD in convening a meeting of community-based organizations who participated in the Girls Unit Task Force in February 2008 to create an implementation strategy for the Girls Unit.

· GirlsEmpowerment Center: A group of executive directors of girl's services organizations approached the Department about the possibility of creating a Girls Empowerment Center in San Francisco. This would be a one-stop shop for girl's services.

V. Budget

In November 2007, the Mayor announced a projected $229 million shortfall in the General Fund for FY 2008-09. All Departments were been asked to put into place 5% ongoing cuts, 3% one-time cutes, and an additional 5% in contingency cuts. The Department hosted a community budget briefing on December 18, 2007 to inform VAW Grants Program Partner Agencies about the projected cuts. To comply with these instructions, the Department proposed the elimination of the vacant 0.50 FTE CEDAW Policy Analyst position (vacated in November), and cuts to the VAW Grants Program.

In March 2008, the City revised its estimated budget deficit numbers, projecting the deficit to be about $338 million. As a result, the Mayor issued an additional budget instruction on March 18, 2008. All General Fund departments were required to submit a proposed additional 8% on-going salary reduction. The Mayor specified that salary reductions should be across all levels of the organization, and should (to the extent possible) prioritize direct services to the public. As the Department had already made significant cuts to salaries in the first round of budget proposals, no further reductions in salaries and benefits were taken by the Mayor's budget office. However, in April 2008, the Mayor's Budget Office announced city-wide cuts to all grants programs, effectively reducing the amount allocated to the FY 2008-09 VAW Grants Program by 20%.

On June 16, 2008, the Mayor restored $500,000 to the VAW Grants Program as a technical adjustment to the Department's budget. On June 19, 2008, the Board of Supervisors Budget & Finance Committee, composed of Chairperson Jake McGoldrick and Supervisors Carmen Chu, Chris Daly, Sean Elsbernd, and Ross Mirkarimi, reviewed the budgets of human services departments, including DOSW. The Board of Supervisors budget analyst did not recommend any further cuts to the Department's budget. Public comment commenced at 5 pm. Many staff members and clients from the VAW Grants Program Partner Agencies offered testimony, asking that $277,000 be restored to the VAW Grants Program. This amount was included in the final add-back list the Budget & Finance Committee sent to the Board.

VI. Outreach

A. Delegations

The Department hosted the following international delegations during the year, providing each with information about the many valuable programs and policy areas of the Department:

· Shanghai Women's Federation, China, August, 1, 2007

· Gyeong Gi-Do Province Delegation, Korea, March 12, 2008

· International Visitor Leadership Program Delegation, Indonesia, May 9, 2008

B. Conferences and Panels

Department staff promoted the work of the Department at a number of events, conferences, and panels throughout the year.

· Leadership America Panel Discussion, August 6, 2007

· Immigrant Rights Summit and Panel Discussion, September 15, 2007

· National Women's Political Caucus Women's Policy Summit, September 15, 2007

· Women's Foundation Advisory Board, Youth, Media and Social Change Initiative, November 9, 2007

· San Francisco Chamber of Commerce Women in Business Roundtable, November 29, 2007

· Rally Visitation Services Advisory Board Meetings, December 2007 – June 2008

· Democratic Women in Action Public Education Event, January 26, 2008

· United Nations Association of the East Bay International Women's Day Keynote Address, March 8, 2008

· DCYF summer Family Resource Fair Outreach Event, March 8, 2008

· Alameda Commission on the Status of Women Panel Discussion on CEDAW, March 25, 2008

· SF Works Business Innovation Conversation Event, March 2008

· Small Business Week Kick-Off Event, May 12, 2008

· California Commission on the Status of Women Public Hearing, June 19, 2008

D. Women's History Month

On March 4, 2008, the Department celebrated Women's History Month with the members of the Board of Supervisors, and recognized the efforts of outstanding women in the community. The theme for Women's History Month was Women's Art: Women's Vision, and with this theme we honored the originality, imagination and multiple dimensions of women's lives. A reception followed the Board presentations in the South Light Court. The Commission presented Resolutions to each of the honorees and distributed Certificates of Appreciation from Assemblymembers Leno and Ma.

E. MediaOutreach

· Voter Information Pamphlet: The Department submitted an ad describing the work of the Commission and Department and inviting the public to attend Commission meetings that appeared on page 76 of the Voter Information Pamphlet for the November 2007 election. A copy was mailed to each San Francisco voter October 2-9, 2007.

· Comcast Newsmakers: On June 13, 2008, Dr. Murase taped a short segment highlighting the work of the Department with Comcast Newsmakers Host Jack Hanson. The segment aired locally as a public service announcement in-between broadcasts of CNN.

· San FranciscoChronicle: Also in June 2008, Dr. Murase submitted an Op-Ed piece to the San Francisco Chronicle in response to the recent string of articles on flex-time and, more broadly, gender equality in the workplace.