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MINUTES OF APRIL 24, 2000 PROGRAM COMMITTEE MEETING
Held in YGC Cafeteria, 375 Woodside Ave. SF 94127

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 at 5:25pm. By Comm. Hale. Comms. Aramburo and Dupre were present at the gavel.
2.           (ACTION) Review of January 19, 2000 meeting minutes
          The minutes were approved as written.
3. (ACTION) Consideration and possible action to recommend to full Commission, the following
TANF contracts:
Chief Williams gave a short review of the history of the TANF grants, these being the first grantees under the funding program which began last year.
Comm. Hale commended the staff and all the contractors for the work done in getting this assessment done in a timely manner, in light of the fact that Cheyenne Bell has been on leave.
Sheila Arcelona, Senior Analyst, introduced each contractor (representatives who came to represent each). She briefly summarized some of the stats that were abstracted from the first year’s operations, such as 42% of all youth served under this funding were "probation" youth, with the 58% remaining, general, at-risk youth. She mentioned that across the board, some of the experiences of the contractors were a difficulty in staffing, and other problem associated with program development (processes had to be established for the Dept as well as the contractors), as most of the projects were new initiatives of the organizations. There were also some problems with service levels associated with the need for referrals from the Probation Dept. And finally, there was one contract which did not work out and was transferred to the SFUSD, and was not included in this round of evaluations as they are on a school calendar. They will be assessed before Sept.
a. Asian & Pacific Islander Wellness Center, for Life Skills Workshops/Tech Assistance
Henry Ocampo and Casey Huynh spoke for this contract. Huynh described some of the significant activities done, mostly in developing a girls’ support group where life and family issues could be discussed. There are Vietnamese, Cambodian, and Laotian girls in the group.
Upon motion, and seconded, the contract was unanimously approved for recommendation to the full Commission.
b. Bay Area Legal Aid, for legal services/referrals
This grant has changed their own services. With the addition of an MSW/case manager on staff, they are now serving their own clients more holistically. The addition of a new program service has caused some traffic on their phones, and so calls for their TANF program services have had to be routed rather than being directly answered. This may have led to clients being served in their other programs. They are looking into opening a dedicated line just for this program. They said that the majority of cases they’ve worked on concerned issues around CalWorks, with a significant number of cases being residents of the BVHP.
Upon motion, and seconded, the contract was unanimously approved for recommendation to the full Commission
c. CARECEN, for tattoo removal and case management
They’ve found that 65% of their participants are female. 80% are former gang members. The program requires that participants perform 50 hrs of community service for each tatoo that is removed.
Upon motion, and seconded, the contract was unanimously approved for recommendation to the full Commission
d. Community Boards, for victim offender reconciliation
Troy Tingsley and Chuck Regal spoke for the org. This particular contract experienced difficulty in staffing and program construction and so is off to a late start. Tingsley only began in Jan of 2000. They are working up a service level projected in the contract, but they will be monitored closely for the next few months to make sure things are going smoothly. Their contract will be extended for 3 months because of the interruption of service earlier in the contract year. Comm. Dupré asked that the Dept. give the Commission a follow up report in 90-120 days.
Tingsley said that one of the challenges to the program will be to have accountability for referrals, as this is a part of the restorative justice model. It was suggested that they work closer with the Chief and the judges.
Upon motion, and seconded, the contract was unanimously approved for recommendation to the full Commission, (with the condition for a follow up report from the Dept.)
e. Edgewood Children’s Center, for case management, kinship support, respite care
Latanya Erby represented the agency. She summarized the situation they are facing, with relatively low service levels, due to problems similarly faced by the other contractors. Their numbers are not necessarily the actual number of probation youth served. They have found that there are other families they serve, with youth in the justice system, which were not referred to them from the Dept, and not self identified.
Upon motion, and seconded, the contract was unanimously approved for recommendation to the full Commission, with the condition that the Dept. make a follow-up report in no later than 120 days.
f. Girls After School Academy, for education and prevention services
This item was moved forward to the full Commission without recommendation.
g. Girls 2000, for family support and case management for girls
They had staff changes, but the program has moved along well. They are paying attention to the issue of violence among girls.
Upon motion, and seconded, the contract was unanimously approved for recommendation to the full Commission
h. Instituto Familiar De La Raza, for intensive home based supervision, "La Cultura Cura" Project
Dr. Concha Salcedo, Lennie Johnson, Maria Rinaldi were present for the organization. They are doing intensive home based supervision for girls, supporting their leather workshop, a jewelry workshop, and their theater workshop. They raised the point that it is a positive thing when POs visit the organization’s workshops, and the concern of having COLAs in future contracts. The Chief said that they are going to make a decision on this question in the next 60 days.
Upon motion, and seconded, the contract was unanimously approved for recommendation to the full Commission.
i. Morrisania West, for employment readiness program
Maurice James and Lebra Watts represented the org. James said that he asked Lebra to design and implement this program. She described some of the various activities they had youth do, eg. volunteering with the Western Addition Beacon Ctr, at El Bethel Arms. They’ve done 3 fundraisers. They will be having a car wash and bake sale this weekend.
James raised the issue of idle youth clustering on street corners in the Western Addition. They have done a little outreach to some to come to Morrisania West. They think it’s important to do programs for those youth.
Upon motion, and seconded, the contract was approved , 2-0-1, for recommendation to the full Commission; Comm. Dupré abstaining.
j. National Foundation for Teaching Entrepreneurship, for entrepreneurship program at Log Cabin Ranch.
Dorian Johnson, Director of the organization, spoke. They have experienced a great amount of positive feedback from the youth they worked with, and the staff of LCR. This has come at an expense and difficulty in developing the program. They had, similar to others, staffing problems, and most recently their office was burglarized and computers taken. They are now re constructing their work records. They have not only worked with the Probation Dept. but also with other non profits.
Upon motion, and seconded, the contract was unanimously approved for recommendation to the full Commission
k. Richmond District Neighborhood Center, for after school services
Lynn Ishibara, Assistant Director of the Center reported on their program. She enumerated several points, among them; providing high quality programs, being the central point for many different programs, using "non traditional" programming -ie, arts-to allow kids to "shine." They have had ongoing discussions with the SFUSD in regards to using school facilities.
Upon motion, and seconded, the contract was unanimously approved for recommendation to the full Commission
l. Special Services For Groups, for occupational therapy training program
Colleen Devine and Elaine Dalmo represented the org. Devine described the different things they do, but emphasized that they act as a single point of contact for many other services, linking up their cases with other services to deal with the whole person. They also mentioned that they do follow up work with their cases, after clients move on. They are developing a network with local colleges to place interns with them. Devine stated that the TANF grants has allowed them to expand their acquisition of funds and support from other sources.
Upon motion, and seconded, the contract was unanimously approved for recommendation to the full Commission

4.          (DISCUSSION) Public Comment on any matter within the subject matter jurisdiction of the Juvenile Probation Commission.
          Comm. Dupré commended the Dept staff and the Chief for their continuing good work and support of the community contractors.
5. (DISCUSSION) Announcements, requests for future agenda items.
none
6. (ACTION) Adjournment The meeting was adjourned at 8:29 pm.

Meeting Information

Programs_Committee