Mayor’s Task Force on Anti-Human Trafficking

Youth Trafficking Committee Meeting Minutes

Wednesday, April 4, 2018, 1:30 pm - 3:00 pm

 

Attendees

Julia Arroyo, Young Women’s Freedom Center; Jazmine Banus, Youth Advisory Board; Mollie Brown, Huckleberry Youth Services; Ifasina Clear, Young Women’s Freedom Center; Melinda Clemmons, Chronicle of Social Change; Jen Daly, Legal Services for Children; Darian Eastman, Not for Sale; Lili Gamero, Mayor’s Office of Violence Prevention; Katie Hoch, Not for Sale; Minouche Kandel, Department on the Status of Women; Antonia Lavine, San Francisco Collaborative Against Human Trafficking; Hong Le, Bay Area Legal Aid; Meg, Youth Advisory Board; Jessica Nowlan, Young Women’s Freedom Center; Miguel Palmer, Love Never Fails; Mirelle Raza, District Attorney Victim’s Services; Ali Schlegeter, Department of Homelessness and Supportive Housing; Mary Steiner, UNA USA; Tavi Taos, Youth Advisory Board; Netta Tolvao, Youth Advisory Board; Angel Williams, Larkin Street Youth Services; Alia Whitney-Johnson, Freedom FWD.

 

I. Welcome, Introductions/Check-In, Agenda Review [Jessica Nowlan]         

 

II. February 7, 2018 minutes were approved              

 

III. Announcements

• There is a meeting of the Department of Homelessness and Supportive Housing’s Coordinated Entry for Youth meeting on April 9th, and Youth Advisory Board members were encouraged to attend.
• Young Women’s Freedom Center has a 5 Keys Programs for young women (only gender specific 5 Keys program)
• The San Francisco chapter of the National Council of Jewish Women is honoring Gena Castro Rodriguez at their annual luncheon on May 6.
• The Department on the Status of Women is hosting a press event on April 5 in connection with the release of the 3rd Annual Human Trafficking in San Francisco Report: 10:45 am at City Hall, room 416.  Several Task Force members will be speaking at the event, including representatives from each of the committees.
• On April 19, Not for Sale will be hosting a Work Readiness Workshop

 

IV. Discussion of Housing and Placement Recommendations

There was discussion about the Housing and Placement Recommendations with the following suggestions:

• Include more specific metrics for the recommendations, such as including a number of beds that the emergency shelter for non-minor dependents should have, and a specific percentage for how much out of county placements should be reduced.
• Include language about creating beds IN San Francisco, to avoid youth being placed out of county, which increases risk they will run away to be back with their home community
• There was also concern about describing juvenile hall as a placement option.

After some discussion, the group decided we were not ready to vote on the proposals and sent them to the Housing and Placement work group for further discussion.

 

The group then broke up into the 3 workgroups for Housing and Placement, Prevention, and Employment.

 

V. Debrief

Employment group: They will be putting together a list of what current employment services are offered by providers.  They would also like to do a survey of survivors on how they are being served – with input provided by the Youth Advisory Board – and come out with draft of the survey by June 1.

 

• The Prevention Group would like to conduct focus groups with youth to get their input on how they currently access services and what they might like to see in an app/website designed to connect youth directly to services.  The Group hopes to have the questions for the focus groups cone by June 6, and to have identified facilitators for the focus groups, as well as get some input from experts on focus groups on the questions.  One of the YAB members pointed out the importance of using experts as places like Young Women’s Freedom Center to evaluate the questions.

 

• The Housing Group fleshed out the first 2 recommendations.  What population emergency shelter would serve and how best to meet their needs. There is a lot of work to be done, and there are complications due to the  legal implication of under 18 and rules for serving over 18.

 

VI. Closing and Follow-ups

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