CITY AND COUNTY OF SAN FRANCISCO

JUVENILE PROBATION COMMISSION

 

 

 

JUVENILE PROBATION COMMISSION REGULAR MEETING

 

 

Regular Meeting Minutes

Wednesday, March 10, 2010

5:30 p.m.

Huckleberry Community Assessment Referral Center (CARC)

44 Gough Street, Room 104

San Francisco, CA

 

Commissioners

Rebecca Woodson, President

Katharine Albright, Vice President

Dirk Beijen

Julian Chang

Ellouise Patton

Sarah Ching Ting Wan

 

Meeting Minutes

 

1.              Roll call

·        The Commission President called the meeting to order at 5:37 p.m.  Commissioners Albright, Beijen, Chang, Wan and Woodson were present.  Commissioner Patton was not present.

 

2.              Public Comment

·        Gabe Calvillo, President of the Deputy Probation Officers Association, expressed his concerns over the JPD budget and the proposed cuts of eight Probation Officers (PO’s).  Probation Services provides very important services to high-risk kids in the city.  The cuts would be devastating to the workload for the remaining PO’s and to public safety.  PO’s play an important part in public safety, making sure court orders are enforced, and that minors are held accountable.  There are currently 53 PO’s and 35 supervisors overseeing 800 minors and they need to keep the city of SF safe.

·        Denise Coleman, Director of Juvenile Justice and Huckleberry Youth Programs, welcomed the Juvenile Probation Commission to CARC and introduced the staff.

·        Dorothy, PO for 12 years, stated that the loss of eight PO’s would be devastating to the PO’s.  It takes a lot of time to supervise these individuals, as well as work closely with their families, to keep the community safe.  Losing eight PO’s would limit her ability to do her job.  Being short staffed would hinder her ability to help these kids and their families.  There are younger, high-risk, violent offenders involved with weapons, gang involvement, robberies, and assaults.  The PO’s do a very good job working with these kids.

·        William Siffermann, Chief Probation Officer, stated that when he took office five years ago, he saw the dramatic need to free PO’s of some court workload responsiblities and get them out in the community to assist youths and their families.  With eight less PO’s, this will displace the workload on the remaining PO’s.

·        COMM Wan asked about the current workload and what the workload would be with the proposed PO layoffs.  Chief Siffermann said that JPD is completing a caseload analysis and they are looking at workloads due to the amount of work it takes per child, such as mental health needs and court operations. 

·        Mira, intake PO, discussed caseload versus workload.  She worked on two cases in her eight hour day.  She expressed that she could only accommodate so much in one day and they want to rehabilitate kids.  They are seeing a rise in crime in kids ranging from 11-13 years old.  Intake does the paperwork for other PO’s to supervise the kids. Losing eight PO’s would be losing a whole unit.  Right now they do not have enough PO’s to supervise them.

·        Anna, intake PO, expressed that the present Administration has made many strides.  Her typical day includes two cases to investigate.  When someone is missing, they all feel it.  She would like to be out in the community working with families.  In addition, the training the new PO’s have been provided would be a loss.

·        Ernest, Serious Offender Unit PO, stated that the majority of cases he sees are gun related.  The loss of eight PO’s will mean that all other officers will take cases and will not be able to be in the community following up on the kids.  The layoffs will impact safety.

·        Dan, intake PO, enjoys working with families to help kids change their behavior.  The quality of work will be tested by the additional workload and work will suffer.  Losing eight PO’s will be a drastic impact on all of them and he asked to please spare these positions.

·        Lorena, PO, is among the 10 hired in the last three years.  The bulk of her work is intake; working with kids coming into Juvenile Hall, working with families, and making recommendations for these kids.  With the layoffs, a unit will be lost and quality of work will suffer with the extra workload.  PO’s will not be able to go into the community to check on kids and public safety will be at risk. 

·        Stephanie, PO for 11 years, said that supervision workload has doubled.  With less PO’s, it will be even more work.  Working with kids with mental health issues takes longer than before because more services are gone.  It takes a lot of time to research resources and caseloads have increased.  Losing eight PO’s will be devastating.  They will be swamped with kids with mental health issues and serious offenders.  Kids today are more violent. 

·        Stacey, Program Director at CARC, expressed that the job of the PO’s is to hold kids accountable.  Losing eight PO’s would not give them the ability to immediately see the kids and the kids can then relapse.  PO’s need to get to the kids right away to serve them.

·        Mo, PO since 1998, stated that when he started, there were more PO’s and less paperwork.  Now, the caseloads have doubled and he almost filed a workers’ compensation case due to stress.  Chief Siffermann hired more PO’s.  With the eight PO cuts, it will be a loss to the city, community, JPD and him.  He will now have more caseloads and paperwork and will most likely file a workers’ compensation case due to stress.  They are now admitting only serious crimes at Juvenile Hall.  These PO’s do a professional job and without them, he will be more stressed, less effective on the job, and if he does not do a good job, kids will go back to committing crimes.  The situation will get worse and he asked to please save these positions

·        Chief Siffermann expressed that the Commission wrote a letter to Mayor Newsom supporting JPD’s budget.  COMM Woodson said that the letter, prepared by the Finance Committee and reviewed by the Full Commission, detailed the consequences of the budget cuts and the actions JPD would have to take.  COMM Chang noted that the Mayor called for a reduction target and JPD advanced a budget that did not meet that target.  Chief Siffermann said that the Mayor’s target was $7 million and JPD gave them $1.3 million. 

·        No further public comments.

 

3.              Review and Approval of the Full Commission Meeting Minutes of February 17, 2010 (ACTION ITEM)

·        Motion to approve the Full Commission Meeting Minutes of February 17, 2010 by COMM Chang, second by COMM Albright, and approved by the rest of the Commission.

·        No public comments.
 

4.               Election of Commission President and Vice President (DISCUSSION AND ACTION ITEM)

·        COMM Beijen nominated COMM Woodson for President, second by COMM Chang.  The Commissioners voted and there were five “Ayes.”  COMM Woodson was reelected President. 

·        No public comments.

·        COMM Woodson nominated COMM Chang for Vice President, second by COMM Beijen.  The Commissioners voted and there were five “Ayes.”  COMM Chang was elected Vice President.

·        No public comments.

 

5.              Report to the Commission (DISCUSSION ONLY)

a.  Chief’s Report:  Update on March 4, 2010 Board of Supervisors Rules Committee: Implementation of Ordinance No. 228-09 - Confidentiality of Juveniles' Immigration Status (DISCUSSION ONLY) 

·        Chief Siffermann provided a copy of the written remarks that he summarized.  Most of the questions dealt with clauses in existing policies regarding the presence of undocumented youths where crimes occurred. 

·        The Chief expressed that he is committed to examining the practices of the existing policies and developing supplemental training for officers.  He was informed to follow policies based on the advice from the City Attorney’s Office and outside legal counsel. 

·        Chief Siffermann sent his follow-up response to the BOS yesterday. 

·        The ICE cost analysis was assessed at $900/per child, which took into account the number of youths reported and time spent on these cases.  This formula was based on the hourly rate of a senior probation officer, offered by one of the Supervisors at the BOS’ hearing.

·        Commission President Woodson asked when the supplemental training will occur.  Chief Siffermann said that they were still developing the outline, but it will focus on the feedback received at the meeting with the City Attorney’s Office and the advocates for immigrant rights. 

·        COMM Albright expressed deep concern regarding the BOS’ policy for immigrant and non-immigrant families in SF.  COMM Albright agrees that the department will be putting employees at risk of federal violation, but the federal policy does match equal rights.  She urges the City of San Francisco, not JPD, to take a leadership role in trying to change the federal law. 

·        Public Comments:

·        Angela Chan, Attorney at the Asian Law Caucus, stated that a reporter called ICE last Monday and asked for the figures in the number of youths reported to ICE and the spokesperson, Virginia, said it was 167, which she said differed from the Chief’s report.  Her second request for clarification was on the costs of housing youths before they are sent to immigration.  When a youth is reported to immigration they are held for an additional 48 hours in addition to the delinquency.  The 48 hours times 167 youth reported to ICE is an additional cost that would be more than $900.  If a youth commits a serious crime, under Supervisor Campos’ policy, they will be reported to ICE. 

·        Chief Siffermann expressed that in terms of numbers, many referrals are made to ICE.  His report shows 125 youths released to ICE, which is a duplicated number.  107 youths have been released to ICE 125 times.  The 17 youths turned over to ICE have come back and have been rereleased to ICE.  The issue is “reported” versus “released.”  In terms of the federal register of 48 hours, they are not able to draw down any reimbursement from the federal government for juveniles. 

·        Bill, PO, expressed that they try to bring all kids to CARC and undocumented youths are a significant percentage.  CARC has had an impact and recidivism rates are phenomenal. 

·        No further public comments.
 

6.               Update and Tour of Huckleberry Community Assessment and Referral Center (CARC) Presented by Denise Coleman/CARC (DISCUSSION ONLY)

·        Denise Coleman provided a CARC update handout.

·        CARC received a grant from Edgewood, through DPH, for a bilingual mental health therapist.

·        The Lioness Girls Group, is a leadership group for girls (13-15 years old), and meets twice a week for two hours.  They have gone on various field trips, such as the Paul Mitchell cosmetology school.  It is considered an after school program, funded by DCYF, and the girls are referred from case managers, CBO’s and/or probation.

·        A mentoring program was established with SF State.  SF State students are mentoring youths and it is a semester long project.  COMM Chang stated that there is funding available for intervention programs in the private sector.

·        Toured the CARC facility.  

·        No public comments.

 

7.  Future Agenda Items (ACTION ITEM)

·        Commissioner Wan requested an update on the impact of the PO budget cuts and caseload analysis from Chief Siffermann (Discussion Only).

·        Program Committee report on its recommendation regarding supporting the PROMISE Act (Discussion and Action Item).

·        Commissioner Albright requested an update on the collaboration between CARC and JPD regarding CARC referrals (Discussion Only). 

·        No public comments.
 

8.  Adjournment (ACTION ITEM)

·        The meeting adjourned at 7:49 p.m.