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Meeting Information



Full_Commission

2009 2008 2007 2006 2005 2004 2003 2002 2001 2000 1999 

 

Wednesday, March 12, 2008

4:30 p.m.

City Hall, Room 408

#1 Dr. Carlton B. Goodlett Place

San Francisco, CA 94102

 

 

Juvenile Probation Commission

Lidia Stiglich, President
Susana Rojas, Vice President
Katharine M. Albright
Dirk Beijen
Ellouise Patton
Jacqueline Lingad Ricci
Rebecca Woodson

 

 

Minutes

 

 

1.         Roll call

 

President Stiglich called the meeting to order at 4:44 PM.  Commissioners Beijen, Patton, Lingad Ricci and Woodson were present at the gavel.  Commissioner Patton arrived at 5:37 p.m..  Commissioner Rojas was excused.  Commissioner Woodson volunteered to act as Commission Secretary.

 

2.         Public Comment

 

There was no public comment.

 

3.          Review and Approval of Minutes (ACTION ITEM)

 

Commissioner Beijen moved to approve the minutes for December 12, 2007 and February 13, 2008.  Commissioner Lingad Ricci seconded.  Unanimous vote to approve.

 

4.         Strategies for Obtaining Additional or Outside Funding/Grants for the Department (DISCUSSION ONLY) - Taken out of order, after Item #6

 

Item passed until Commissioner Patton appeared.  President Stiglich led the discussion of the Commission’s need to solicit funds from various outside entities to promote ideas such as job training for youth.  This issue will be further explored in the Finance Committee.  Also discussed was how the Commission can support Chief Siffermann in promoting his vision for JPD and improving the “fiscal solvency” of the department. 

 

Speaker:  Ms. Allison Magee, Director of Administrative Services, JPD, stated an Adult Probation “grant seeker” was not approved by the Board of Supervisors, and such a position is not available now due to budget cuts.  However, as part of the improvement program for Log Cabin Ranch, JPD is trying to find someone to be a “fiscal agent” to provide additional fiscal support.

 

Further discussion of this Item by Commissioner Patton and Ms. Magee.

 

There was no public comment.

 

5.         Goal Setting for 2008 (DISCUSSION & POSSIBLE ACTION) - Taken out of order, after Item #6

 

The following goals were suggested:

 

a.         Hire Commission Secretary (Chief Siffermann)

b.         Put in place criteria for Chief’s review (Woodson)

c.         Support JPD (Beijen)

d.         Get positive information/statistics out to public (Woodson)

e.         Increase funding efforts (Woodson)

f.          Integrated policy changes (Patton).  Followed by discussion.

g.         Re-format message we convey to court, thinking about cases, produce reports to lead to a higher level of confidence (Chief Siffermann)

h.         Look closely at truancy (Patton)

 

Speaker:  Alan Nance, Assistant Chief Probation Officer, JPD, stated the Department is “working closely” with the Unified School District, and Ricky Jones in particular, to share data concerning truancy.  Probation officers can get this information directly from the schools.

 

i.          Fiscal and general accountability (Stiglich)

 

Speaker:  Ms. Allison Magee, Director of Administrative Services, JPD, stated the Department is working on a “centralized reservation system” of staff automobiles through the Department intranet.

 

j.          Computer upgrades (Lingad Ricci)

 

Speaker:  Ms. Allison Magee, Director of Administrative Services, JPD, stated the Department is “broke this year” so no further action on this goal is possible; the Department is not ordering any more computers, but hopes to have funding for them next year.

 

k.         What are we doing with Log Cabin Ranch? (Stiglich)

 

Speaker:  Ms. Allison Magee, Director of Administrative Services, JPD, stated there is “lots of incoming funding,” so a “greening effort with the Department of Public Works” is underway, as well as other positive developments.

l.          Create more relationships with private entities for grant money, apprenticeships, etc. (Stiglich)

 

The second Wednesday of every month was confirmed as the regular meeting date for the Commission.

 

There were no public comments.

 

6.         Public Relations Strategy (DISCUSSION & POSSIBLE ACTION) - Taken out of order, after Item #9

 

President Stiglich led the discussion, which acknowledged that the only time JPD is seen in the media is when there is “a problem or some other calamity.”  Since there is much positive news to report concerning JPD, strategies for “getting the word out” were discussed.  Goals suggested: 1) JPD’s own positive news column/bulletin concerning positive things going on with youth, and 2) having other entities/stakeholders in the system share responsibility for problems as they arise.  Commissioners Patton, Stiglich, Woodson and Beijen further discussed how to educate the public with positive statistics.  Chief Siffermann gave examples of how this has happened in the past, and advised that he will be distributing a letter to the Editor of the San Francisco Chronicle newspaper in response to a recent article entitled, “Punishing Delay of Justice Reform.”

 

Public Comment:  Ms. Denise Coleman, Director of Juvenile Justice Programs, CARC, stated this was a “wonderful idea,” and gave other comments in support of this effort.

 

There was no other public comment.

 

7.         Fiscal Issues re Juvenile Probation Commission Bank Accounts/Funds (DISCUSSION & POSSIBLE ACTION) - Taken out of order, after Item #8

 

Discussion led by Commissioner Beijen as to the existence and location of JPD grant  funds initially procured by the former Commission Secretary, Mr. Don Chan.   Commissioner Beijen asked several questions concerning the status and progress of the Commission’s inquiry, which were addressed by Chief Siffermann. 

 

Speaker:  Ms. Rebecca Katz, Deputy City Attorney, stated she met with former Commission President Queen and Ms. Stevenson on this issue.

 

There was no public comment.

 

[NOTE: Upon arrival of Commissioner Patton, this Item was revisited after Item #6.]

 

Speaker:  Ms. Allison Magee, Director of Administrative Services, JPD, stated she is continuing to investigate this matter.  She has contacted YGCIC, which has no accounting of any such grant funds.  Ms. Magee will work with Judge Jaymont to make a further inquiry. 

 

There was no public comment.

 

8.         Reports to the Commission (DISCUSSION ONLY) - Taken out of order, after Item #3

 

            a.         Chief Siffermann’s report:

 

1.         Announcement made as to community service project at Log Cabin Ranch.

 

2.         Update as to JPD efforts to engage outside consultants for 2-year organizational development plan.  Mr. Mark Morris and Ms. Moira DeNike were present from Mark Morris Associates (“MMA”) to give presentation.  Handout distributed to Commissioners and available to public.

 

Presentation Summary:   MMA will establish and work in “improvement groups” comprised of all levels of JPD staff, as well as outside participants, as necessary, to work on issues and problems associated with “good service to youth.”  First two “improvement groups” are 1) paperwork reduction to free up resources, and 2) YASI implementation.  (Speaker: Morris)  Emphasis that “deep and lasting change” comes from JPD working within a larger system, which includes CBOs.  Traditional rift between JPD and CBOs needs to be addressed to “make systemic change.”  (Speaker: DeNike)

 

Comments:  Chief Siffermann commented in support of MMA’s efforts. 

 

President Stiglich and Commissioners Beijen and Lingad Ricci asked several questions concerning the implementation of this program, which were answered by Mr. Morris and Ms. DeNike, in turn.

 

No was no public comment.

 

9.         Committee Assignments (DISCUSSION & POSSIBLE ACTION) - Taken out of order, after Item #7

 

President Stiglich announced the following committee assignments:

 

a.         Finance: Commissioners Beijen (Chair), Rojas, Patton

 

b.         Programs: Commissioners Lingad Ricci (Chair), Albright, Woodson

 

c.         Ad Hoc: Commissioners Woodson (Chair), Albright, Beijen

 

Discussion as to formation of an Awards Committee (Beijen), possible conflicts due to membership in other organizations (Patton) which was addressed by Ms. Katz, and a Commissioner’s attendance at an upcoming meeting of JJCC on March 13, 2008 at JPD (Beijen/Stiglich).

 

There was no public comment.

 

10.        Scheduling of items identified for consideration at future Commission meetings (DISCUSSION ONLY) - Taken out of order, after Item #5

 

            a.         Updated report from CJCIC re grant money discussed in Item #7. (Beijen)

 

There was no public comment.

 

11.        Adjournment at 7:36 PM