City and County of San FranciscoJuvenile Probation Department

September 14, 2011

Full Commission - September 14, 2011

CITY AND COUNTY OF SAN FRANCISCO
JUVENILE PROBATION COMMISSION

JUVENILE PROBATION COMMISSION REGULAR MEETING

Regular Meeting Minutes
Wednesday, September 14, 2011
6 p.m.
Southeast Community Facility, Alex L. Pitcher Room
1800 Oakdale Avenue
San Francisco, CA 94124

Commissioners
Julian Chang, President
Dirk Beijen, Vice President
Katharine Albright
Joseph Arellano
Susan Jones
Sarah Ching Ting Wan
Rebecca Woodson

Meeting Minutes

1. Roll Call
The Commission President called the meeting to order at 6:07 p.m. Commissioners Beijen, Chang, Jones, Wan and Woodson were present. Commissioners Albright and Arellano were excused.

2. Public Comments
• Supervisor Malia Cohen greeted the Commission, Chief Siffermann, and welcomed everyone to the Southeast Community Facility. Supervisor Cohen was honored to kick-off the meeting and hopes that the Commission will have more meetings at the facility.
• Jonathan Mead, SEIU Field Representative, looks forward to working with Chief Siffermann and employees at YGC.
• Greg Foote, Counselor at Juvenile Hall, discussed the stresses and medical leave at Juvenile Hall.
• Alex Hodsen, SEIU Field Representative, discussed the disregard of input of counselors at Juvenile Hall and the stress caused while working in the maximum security unit.
• No further public comments.

3. Review and Approval of the Full Commission Meeting Minutes of July 13¬¬¬, 2011 (ACTION ITEM)
Motion to approve the July 13, 2011 Full Commission Meeting Minutes by COMM Beijen, second by COMM Chang, and approved by the rest of the Commission. Minutes approved.
No public comments.

4. Presentation on Neighborhood Courts by Lenore Anderson, Assistant District Attorney (DISCUSSION ONLY)
This initiative focuses on adults and restorative justice. The program places prosecutors in police district stations; prosecutor discharges cases and sends them to Neighborhood Courts; Residents are panelist who sit in Neighborhood Courts. Residents are trained in restorative justice in nine different languages. Translators are also available at the hearings. The hearings are on a weekly basis and are data tracked. The four-stage process consists of police sending citations to prosecutors at district stations; the neighborhood prosecutor makes a referral; participant appears in court; and participant engages in restorative justice. This initiative started in May and the average time to process has been 12 days. The DA’s office would like to expand this model for juveniles and include the family, as well as the community. “Community Conferencing,” is similar to Neighborhood Courts because it is restorative justice based. It includes more discussion with parents, community members affected by the crime, and is an alternative to juvenile court. The point of the dialogue is to resolve the underlying problems the juvenile is facing. The plan is to meet with the Chief Probation Officer and Police Department to look at the potential opportunity to start Community Conferencing for juveniles in SF. Chief Siffermann supports this notion and hopes the informal system can achieve better results in a more timely fashion.
No public comments.

5. Presentation on Community Youth Center of San Francisco (CYC) Bayview Branch Office by Eddy Zheng, Project Manager (DISCUSSION ONLY)
CYC’s purpose is to provide education and encouragement for multicultural exchanges to share commonalities and differences in history, experiences to raise awareness, promote diversity, understanding, tolerance and respect. The vision is to reduce tension through programs and services. CYC has 41 years of experience working with community youth service providers, government agencies, law enforcement, SFUSD, parents, businesses, and elected officials. CYC Bayview Branch Office will be staffed by community activists and trained individuals with diverse backgrounds. CYC Bayview Branch’s first program, CYC-Bayview Youth Advocates, is a youth-led peer leadership program comprised of 12-16 young people who live in the Bayview and are committed to making an impact in their community and SF by working together to advocate for non-violence and positive change. These youths will be a voice for all youths in the community and work together to reduce violence and create harmony and understanding through advocacy, education and outreach.

6. Report to the Commission (DISCUSSION ONLY)

a. Chief’s Report:

CPO Response to Comments Made by SEIU Representatives & JJC Counselor
• Chief Siffermann addressed comments made earlier by SEIU representatives regarding employment issues. JPD continues to negotiate matters of safety and security through the collective bargaining process, and personnel matters, such as those sensitive and complex personal issues raised by the JJC Counselor and SEIU Representatives, will be addressed only in the context of confidential proceedings. Youths in custody deserve the best protection, as well as the staff that monitor their activities. It was noted that JPD staff are not correctional officers, as previously stated by the JJC Counselor. They are counselors with much more involvement and impact on youth, rather than performing correctional officer duties.
Summary of Camp Mather Team Experience
• On 08-25 through 08-28, JPD, Rec and Park, DCYF, SFPD, CBO’s and 37 youths participated in a “Youth Team Experience,” recommended by Mayor Lee. Rec and Park drafted the curriculum, CBO’s created modules, and it focused on job leadership and job recruitment. It allowed kids to have new experiences and the top ten kids will be offered job employment for the rest of the school year. Gary Bieringer, JPD JDAI Coordinator, worked as a counselor. JPD’s organizer, Assistant Chief Probation Officer, Allen Nance, made sure that all youths who were referred by CBO’s, were qualified for this event. JPD paid for meeting supplies from grant funds; Rec and Park assumed the costs for food and beverage and transportation; All staff and CBO’s were on duty 24/7. Chief Siffermann especially commended the CYC staff. In the future, parents will be included in the planning and surveys will be issued to the youth for feedback.
Garry Bieringer recognized Assistant Chief Nance and the role he played in this event. Eddy Zheng recognized and thanked Chief Siffermann and added that everyone came together for this event.
No further public comments.

b. Committee Reports

• COMM Bejen stated that the Programs Committee met on Monday, September 12th at 2:30 p.m. at JPD. At Public Comment, Jaren Bonillo and her colleague spoke of the Imagine Bus Project, an organization which serves under privileged and incarcerated youths with the aim of using visual arts to spark positive change in their lives.
Liz Jackson-Simpson, Executive Director of Youth Guidance Center Improvement Committee (YGCIC) and her colleagues presented on YGCIC. YGCIC includes the Early Morning Study Academy; New Directions Employment Program; and Beautification Team Express. A fund raiser will be held on October 2nd at Deerfield Winery.
No public comments.

7. Future Agenda Items (ACTION ITEM)

Announcements
• COMM Chang announced that JPD or JPC will not incur any charges from SFGovTV to post JPC audio meetings online. This was addressed at the July Full Commission meeting.
• The draft Juvenile Probation Commission’s Annual Report 2010, requested by the Mayor’s Office, will be reviewed at the October 12th Full Commission Meeting.
No public comments.

8. Adjournment (ACTION ITEM)
The meeting adjourned at 7:38 p.m.