Full_Commission

MINUTES OF APRIL 26, 2000 REGULAR MEETING

Held at City Hall, Room 400 1 Dr. Carlton B. Goodlett Place, San Francisco

** The Minutes of this meeting set forth all actions taken by the Commission on the matters stated, but not

    necessarily the chronological sequence in which the matters were taken up

1.      (ACTION)  Roll Call

The meeting was called to order by Pres. Julian at 5:45 pm.  Comms. Aramburo, Dupre, Shimko were present.  Comms. Hale and Jackson-Drake arrived at 5:46 pm and 5:47 pm, respectively.

2.      (ACTION) Review of March 10& 22,  2000  meeting  minutes

The minutes were approved as written. 

3.    Commendatory:  Acknowledgment for Comm. Anna Shimko  

      Comm. Julian began by saying that it had been a distinct pleasure and privilege to serve with Comm. Shimko.  He then read the text of the resolution of appreciation from the Commission.  Kim Burton-Cruz, Director of MCJC, presented a proclamation from the Mayor.  She extended the thanks and appreciation from the Mayor and her own office for the leadership Comm. Shimko gave during tumultous times in the Dept., to a time when more cooperative and positive work set the backdrop to juvenile justice in the city. 

4.    (DISCUSSION)   Chief Probation Officer's Report:

a.      Special report: Status of Juvenile Hall replacement project/introduction of Joanne Chow Winship

Before Chief Williams began, he thanked Comm. Shimko for her work for the Dept, and then introduced Chris Bigalow of the Dept of Public Works, who is heading up the initial team that is helping prepare for the construction of the facility, envisioned to start Oct of next year and be completed in 2003.  They have had a series of "workshops" including one today, and will be bringing all the relevant players online with the planning and future execution. Architects have been chosen, and now through the workshops they will fine tune the plans.  One aspect of this is public art, which is a part of any new public construction project for the city.  Questions expressing the concern that neighborhood residents, Dept staff, and young people both in and out of the facility, are included in the process, were fielded.  The Chief also introduced Joanne Chow Winship who will be the Dept liaison, and primary contact person between all parties regarding this project. She gave a short summary of her qualifications.

Public Comments: Joe Tanner, Juvenile Hall Counselor, asked if hall staff has been talked to regarding the moves?  The Chief said that he should bring this up at the monthly meetings they have on the project.  Dr. C. Salcedo of Instituto Familiar asked if youth will have input into the design of the facility?  The Chief said that it is still early enough to involve them all  (youth and staff) into the process.

b.  Status Reports

1.      Operating Budget -FY 99-00

2.      Operating Budget -FY 00-01

Sandy Brown-Richardson briefly reported that the current fiscal year budget was in hand and that she didn't expect much deviation from prior expectations; OT is being kept in check and there shouldn't be major concerns from a deficit.  The process of approving FY 2000-1 budget is moving along, some information may be available in a couple of weeks, and if there is no problem, it should make it to the Bd of Supes in its present form, come June.

Brown-Richardson introduced a new staff, Jane Kensler who took the position John Overman held before.

3.      Youth Reception and Mayor's Summit for Women

The Chief commended the staff for its work on the reception, which went well, and thanked the Commissioners who came (Comms. Hale, Shimko).

c.      Highlights:  Convening of Research Coordinating Group

The Chief said that due to the many (4-6) data collection/research projects that the Dept is involved in with different bodies, they created a coordinating group from among those involved in the individual projects to see how all the information being collected can be coordinated in a singular manner so that they could cross fertilize each endeavor.

d.     Emerging Issues/Upcoming Events

1.      Take Our Daughters to Work Day, 4/27/00

They expect to have 6 daughters coming to the Dept to see how things are working.  Laura Azzolino will coordinate this.

2.      Youth Media Exchange Day at Juvenile Hall, 4/29/00

The Chief reported that the day is well underway in planning and preparation and that it should be the start of ongoing  connections with many of the resources participating on that day. 

Comm. Jackson-Drake said she was pleased to see an invitation to grantmakers to come, in the newsletter of the Northern California Grantmakers.

On an aside, Comm. Jackson-Drake asked what kind of training is being given to staff regarding the impact of Prop. 21.  The Chief said that while they have had a couple, there's still no clarity regarding the entire impact of the proposition.

4.      (ACTION)  Consideration and possible action to approve the recommendation of the Program Committee to contract for the following TANF program services:

Comm. Hale reported that the Program Committee met on Monday and heard/reviewed the assessment of program contractors, and felt very positive about the initial progress being made overall.    Two contractors would be more closely monitored in the next 120 days and a report made back to the Commission on their progress toward meeting contract goals (the two: Community Boards, and Edgewood Children's Ctr). 

Representatives of each organization were introduced.  There were no questions regarding their programs. The Girls After School Academy did their presentation, as they were not at the Program Committee meeting.

a.   Asian & Pacific Islander Wellness Center, for Life Skills Workshops/Tech Assistance

b.   Bay Area Legal Aid, for legal services/referrals

c.   CARECEN, for tattoo removal  and case management

d.   Community Boards, for victim offender reconciliation

e.   Edgewood Children's Center, for case management, kinship support, respite care

f.   Girls After School Academy, for education and prevention services

Yvette Brandon, Director of Programs apologized for not being at the Program Committee mtg.  She introduced Eurana Jackson, Case Manager, gave a brief outline of the program:  Girls' Advocacy Project serves 8  18 yr old girls from the Sunnydale housing project, referred by the Dept.  It does "case advocacy", academic advocacy, individual counseling, group counseling, then they're referred to the main GASA programs, emphasizing developmental activities: academic enrichment, economic development, gender and ethnic pride, wellness and leadership.

g.   Girls 2000, for family support and case management for girls

h.   Instituto Familiar De La Raza, for intensive home based supervision and "La Cultura Cura" Project

i.    Morrisania West, for employment readiness program

j.    National Foundation for Teaching Entrepreneurship, for entrepreneurship program at Log Cabin Ranch.

k.   Richmond District Neighborhood Center, for after school services

12. Special Services For Groups, for occupational therapy training program

Upon motion by Comm. Dupré, and seconded, contracts for all the service providers (with the exception of Morrisania West) were approved, 6-0, with the condition that Dept staff report back to the Commission no later than 120 days on the progress of Community Boards, and Edgewood Children's Center.

Upon motion by Comm. Arámburo , and seconded, the contract for Morrisania West was approved, 5-0-1, with Comm. Dupré abstaining.

Public Comment:  a staff from RAP invited the Commission to a Mother's Day celebration to be held by RAP.  He also made a push for the Commission's support of the leather workshop.

6.   (DISCUSSION) Beacon Centers' and their relationship to the Department's work.

   Sam Peha, Administrative Director, SF Beacon Initiative gave an overview of the Initiative as it operates in the City, with a little background for how it came about.  Michael Funk, Director of the Sunset Beacon recounted the history of how youth work has developed in the Sunset and how it has worked its way into the continuing work being done by the Sunset Beacon.  This was a similar presentation to one they presented at a Program Committee meeting, October 19, 1999.  Some updates since then:  there are 8 centers now. 56% of the population they serve are non native English speakers.  Each center has an equal core funding of $350K.  They supplement this by their own devices.  There is no "standardized" admin structure for all Centers. They operate independently of each other, forming themselves to meet their own community's needs.  They are all set up on a standard database tracking system so their stats are comprehensive and coordinated.

In response to Comm. Arámburo's question regarding mental health services, they said their objective is to have mental health services available to students in the schools.

Comm. Dupré commended M. Funk and his colleague (unidentified) for their hard work.  Comm. Hale asked if there was still a concern in regards to the operations at Davis MS's Beacon Ctr in the BVHP.  S. Peha said that there was an ongoing drama and challenge between the SFSUD staffs at the Beacons, and the Initiative.

7.   (DISCUSSION)   Public Comment on any matter within the subject matter jurisdiction of the Juvenile Probation Commission.

      None.

8.  (DISCUSSION)   Announcements, requests for future agenda items.

     Comm. Hale recounted when he came onto the Commission how the Dept and former Commission was unresponsive to the needs of young people in the city.  He applauded Mayor Brown's first two appointments to the Commission: Chuck Breyer and Anna Shimko.  He said this set a tone for the positive changes to come. Comm. Shimko gave an emotion filled and personal recapitulation of how she came to be on the Commission, and what the experience has meant to her.  The wild ride in the beginning, to the hiring of the Chief, to the new insights she gained fromhearing the stories from the youth in the hall.  She has grown from all the contacts she has had with the diverse multi ethnic communities andpeople of the City.  She thanked the other Commissioners, the Chief, the Executive Team, (specifically naming Johnny Miller, Sandy Brown-Richardson, Gwen Tucker, Cheyenne Bell) and Lonnie Holmes as people who made her job much easier.  She said that she has become a far better person for having served on the Commission.

9.   (ACTION)   Adjournment  The meeting was adjourned at 7:41 pm.

                                                            Minutes approved  May 31, 2000