Youth Trafficking Committee - December 5, 2018 - Minutes

Meeting Date: 
December 5, 2018 - 1:30pm
Location: 

Mayor’s Task Force on Anti-Human Trafficking

Youth Trafficking Committee Meeting Minutes

Wednesday, December 5, 2018 1:30 pm - 3:00 pm

25 Van Ness Avenue, Room 330A, San Francisco, CA

 

Julia Arroyo, Young Women’s Freedom Center; Najwa Ahmed, San Francisco Unified School District

Saerom Choi, Asian Pacific Islander Legal Outreach; Ifasina Clear, Young Women’s Freedom Center; Jen Daly, Legal Services for Children; Darian Eastman, Not For Sale; Minouche Kandel, Department on the Status of Women; Hong Le, Bay Area Legal Aid; Paola Martin Del Campo, Safe & Sound; Miguel Palmer, Love Never Fails; Kyoko Peterson, Department on the Status Women; Sheela Ramesh, Freedom FWD

Angelina Romano, San Francisco Unified School District; Mary Steiner, UNA USA SF

I.Welcome, Introductions/Check-In, Agenda Review [Ifasina Clear]

  1. Ifasina Clear lead a trauma informed check-in.

 

II.Review of Minutes from August 1st, 2018 Meeting, Announcements [Ifasina Clear]

  1. The minutes from the previous meeting were reviewed and approved [Jen Daly, Hong Le].

 

III.Nominate and Choose a Co-Chair

  1. Ifasina Clear will be continuing as co-chair. Alia Whitney-Johnson has completed her two year term.  Julia Arroyo from Young Women’s Freedom Center was chosen as co-chair without opposition.

 

IV.Open Discussion

  1. Meeting Location and Timing

i.Members had a discussion of meeting spaces and meeting times for the next year.  Members discussed what accessibility means in this context and who they want to attend the meeting. It was decided that at a minimum, the youth on the Youth Advisory Board need to feel comfortable in the space.

ii.Possible spaces:

  1. The conference room in Legal Services for Children was discussed as a possible space. The space can seat about 30 people and is near Civic Center. They also have video cameras so that they can know whether the law enforcement and ICE might be approaching.  The concern is that the space might not be big enough and that Market Street might not be a neutral or safe place for youth.
  2. The Not For Sale spaces were also discussed. There was the concern, similar to the concern about Market Street, that some youth do not want to go to Dogpatch.
  3. One member suggested having different meetings in different spaces, since no one location will ever be perfect and there is no real “neutral” space for all youth.
  4. Another member suggested forming a working group to research more spaces and determine what best space might be.
  5. Ultimately, it was decided that the 330A, 25 Van Ness would be reserved by Minouche Kandel as a back up space, since the room reservations fill up fast. The room reservation can be cancelled if needed. Once the new Youth Advisory Board is recruited, the committee will work with them to try out new meeting locations.

iii.The times and dates of the meetings were also discussed. Members felt a later time was needed since 1:30 to 3:00 is a time when youth might be in school. However, there was also the concern that past 5:00 pm might be too late for people who are parents and need to pick up their kids. It was decided that 3:30 to 5:00 was a time that bridged both concerns and would allow more people to come.

  1. Police Presence at Meetings

i.Summary of feedback from Youth Advisory Board: There was consensus from the members of Youth Advisory Board that they did not think members of the police department should attend the Youth Trafficking committee meetings. They also questioned why the Task Force works with the Police Department in general, though that is out of the scope of this committee right now.

ii.Members expressed a variety of opinions. Some members felt that we need to put the youth first and respect their wishes.  Others felt that this committee is a place for the youth and the police to hear each other.

iii.It was noted we cannot control which particular officers attend the meeting.

iv.It was suggested that we make a decision on this issue by looking at the mission statement of the Task Force or the goals of this committee and use those statements as a guide. However while the Task Force has goals, the Youth Committee does not have its own goals or values statement.  It was decided that members would submit their vision of the goal of the committee to Ifasina Clear, and these goals would be compiled and discussed at a future meeting.

v.Members also discussed the goals of the committee and the Task Force more generally. One member expressed the opinion that the committee keeps getting stuck in these issues and that the committee needs to get past these issues to do the real work. They also said that they feel like the committee has been somewhat stalled. Another member said that the problem is that people and organization come to the committee and Task Force for very different reasons and that makes it difficult, if not sometimes impossible, to create consensus among the members. One member said that the Task Force is incoherent because of this disagreement.

vi.There was also discussion of the committee’s lack of focus on labor trafficking outside commercial sex.

V.Breakouts:

  1. Breakouts were postponed due to lack of time.

 

MEETING FOLLOW-UP

 

Action Item

Person

Deadline

Submit and compile members goals for the committee

All, Ifasina Clear

Next meeting

Find space that is accessible to youth for committee meetings, in a possible work group

All

Next year

Reserve 330A in 25 Van Ness as back up space

Minouche Kandel

Before end of 2018