Family Violence Council:

Addressing Violence Throughout the Lifespan

 

Minutes

Wednesday, May 20, 2019

3:00 pm – 5:00 pm

Remote Meeting

Members:

Presiding Judge of the Superior Court or designee – Alexandra Robert Gordon

Mayor or designee – Nicole Lindler

President of the Board of Supervisors or designee – Sam Bennett, Supervisor Stefani’s Office

District Attorney or designee – Brad Allred

Chief of Police or designee – Captain Sergio Chin

Sheriff or designee – Michele Fisher

President of Commission on the Status of Women or designee - Andrea Shorter

Chief of Adult Probation or designee – Jana Taylor

Executive Director of Domestic Violence Consortium or designee - Beverly Upton

Director of Human Services Agency or designee – Joan Miller

Executive Director of Consortium for Elder Abuse Prevention or designee – Shawna Reeves

Director of the Department of Homelessness and Supportive Housing or designee – Dedria Black

Director of San Francisco Child Abuse Council or designee – Katie Albright

Director of the Department of Public Health or designee – Dr. Leigh Kimberg

Director of Department of Aging and Adult Services or designee – Akiles Ceron

Medical Examiner or designee – Ellen Moffatt

Director of Department of Child Support Services or designee – Karen Roye

Chief of Juvenile Probation or designee – Paula Hernandez

Public Defender or designee – Kleigh Hathaway

Superintendent of San Francisco Unified School District or designee – Thea Anderson

Executive Director of First 5 San Francisco or designee – Shelli Rawlings

 

Absent:

Executive Director of Department of Emergency Management or designee, Director of Department of Children, Youth, and Their Families or designee, Director of Department of Animal Care and Control or designee, Human Resources Director or designee, Chief of the Fire Department or designee

 

Others Present:

Elise Hansell, Department on the Status of Women; Herschell Larrick, Department on the Status of Women; Carol Sacco, Department on the Status of Women; Jenny Pearlman, Safe & Sound; Gena Castro Rodriguez, DA’s Office of Victim Services Division; KellyLou Densmore, Office of Sexual Harassment and Assault Prevention and Response; Michelle Lau, Department on the Status of Women; Sean Phillips, ITS; James Smith, ITS; Kyoko Peterson, Department on the Status of Women; Linnea Fox, Department on the Status of Women; Bernadette D; Chauncey Robinson; Sgt. Tony Flores

 

 

I.      Call to Order/Agenda Changes                                         

Call to order 3:02pm. Agenda approved (Kimberg/Albright).

 

II.     Approval of Minutes                                                            

February 26, 2020 minutes approved (Bennett/Roye).
 

III.    Presentation of Family Violence Council Recommendations    

Beverly Upton and Shawna Reeves presented recommendations for last year and 20 new recommendations from the Family Violence Report. The recommendations were broken down into four categories: COVID-19 emergency response; protocols and practice; training and outreach; and planning, research, and data collection.

 

IV.   Approval of Family Violence in San Francisco Report        

Motion to approve Family Violence in San Francisco Report (Rawlings/Miller).

Roll Call Vote – motion approved.

 

Kleigh Hathaway asked to clarify what matter had been voted on. Kleigh Hathaway expressed a concern that the statistics on pages 11, 12, and 13 in the report do not accurately represent case outcomes. The discussion on approving the full report was then reopened.

 

Members then decided to recall the vote.

 

Motion to approve Family Violence in San Francisco Report as amended with minor modifications to ensure accuracy (Bennett/Fisher).

 

Roll Call – motion approved as amended.

 

V.     Key Issues in Family Violence             

 

A.     Domestic Violence Update – Beverly Upton

Beverly highlighted the quick response to COVID-19 crisis from the family violence community. There were no breaks in services for survivors, shelters have continued to be staff 24 hours a day, crisis lines have remained running, and legal services are available. In addition, there is work happening to meet the needs of food insecurities and rent costs for survivors.

 

B.     Elder Abuse Update – Shawna Reeves

San Francisco has been a leading model for emergency response. APS has been at the forefront, protecting staff and continuing to respond to calls. They produced a successful webinar in

collaboration with the District Attorney’s Office. There has been ongoing work to ensure elders

ability to safely stay home and access resources in the broader community.

 

C.     Child Abuse Update – Katie Albright

 Katie handed the floor over to her colleague Jenny Pearlman, who reported a significant decrease in child abuse reports. Families have been severely impacted by COVID-19 and will be impacted long-term. The ways in which families are experiencing impacts of COVID-19 are revealing inequities.

To provide families with basic needs, Safe & Sound has reached out to public and private funders to provide items like food, diapers, formula, and rental assistance. The FRC Alliance joined with First 5 to distribute these resources. FRC is providing resources virtually and continue to check in on families more often with this technology. They have also partnered with the school district to support teachers and child welfare to pivot check-ins with children when they are not alone. Additionally, the development of the Strengthening Families Task Force has been successful, and the task force has made recommendations to the Mayor’s office.  

 

Other agencies shared updates on impacts and response to COVID-19 crisis as it relates to issues of family violence.                                          

                                                                                                                                        

VI.   Public Comment                                                  

No public comment.

 

VII.  Adjournment                                                                                        

Meeting adjourned at 4:58pm (Taylor/Fein).