2009 2008 2007 2006 2005 2004 2003 2002 2001 2000 1999 1998
Gavin Newsom
Mayor
Susan Mizner
Acting Director, MOD
Ed Evans,Chair
Vincent Behan
Norma Block
Jack Fagan
Eugene T. Flannery
Elizabeth Grigsby
Michael Kwok
August Longo
Ruth Nunez
Jul Lynn Parsons
Denise Senhaux
Mayor's Disability Council
Minutes
19 December 2003
1 ROLL CALL
Mayor's Disability Council Members Present: Norma Block, Ed Evans, Jack Fagan, Eugene T. Flannery, Michael Kwok, Ruth Nunez, Jul Lynn Parsons and Denise Senhaux.
Absent: Vincent Behan, Elizabeth Grigsby and August Longo
Mayor's Office on Disability: Susan Mizner, Acting Director; Josie J. Lee, Council Clerk and Howard O. Wong, Council Clerk.
Ed Evans, Chair, called the meeting to order at 1:07 p.m.
2 APPROVAL OF THE AGENDA
The Council approved the agenda for the December 19, 2003 Mayor's Disability Council (MDC) Meeting.
3 APPROVAL OF THE MINUTES
The minutes from the meeting of November 21, 2003 were approved.
4 PUBLIC COMMENT
* Ruach Graffis updated a suggestion she made at the last MDC Meeting, that City Hall should provide electric scooters for the public. She reported that City Hall has available non-motorized wheelchairs that are kept at the information booth on the Van Ness side of City Hall; but expressed concern that there are no signs to inform the public of this, and not all of the guards are aware that they are available. She suggested that the deputies' training should include training about the availability of these wheelchairs. She also suggested that the deputies ask persons with disabilities if they would like to use the wheelchairs that are available.
Ms. Graffis indicated that because she and others are unable to use a manual wheelchair, she would still recommend that electric scooters be made available to the public. She said that they cost less than $2,000, and that the engine/motor can be easily replaced and can be easily plugged into a 110 socket for recharging.
* Lori Guidos called in via the Bridge Line. She suggested that the Bridge Line phone number should be listed on the television screen at the start of MDC meeting. She also suggested that there should be a direct link on MOD's website to the SFGTV's website.
* Walter Park spoke in opposition to the proposed state cuts to Healthy Families and the Lanterman Program as these cuts would hurt a great many people most in need of services. Mr. Park advocated resolving the State's budget problems through increasing revenue. He noted that Prop 56 which has qualified for the March 2004 ballot would create one set of rates for residential property taxpayers and another for commercial taxpayers - the voters' intention when they passed Prop 13. This would enable commercial property owners to be taxed without the requirement of a two-thirds vote. Mr. Park can be contacted at "[email protected]".
5 REPORT FROM THE CHAIR
Ed Evans reported that sidewalks in San Francisco are getting more hazardous all the time. He has been talking to the Police Department about this issue and he hopes in the future that there will be a resolution to this problem.
6 REPORT FROM THE ACTING DIRECTOR
Susan Mizner reported that the Department of Public Traffic will be coming to the Council Meeting in January to discuss both parking on the sidewalk, as well as pedestrian access to traffic circles.
Ms. Mizner said that the economic situation had made the year a difficult one for the City, for the disability community, and for the Mayor's Office on Disability. Ms. Mizner thanked all the Council Members for volunteering their time, for their assistance to MOD, and for their thoughtful grappling with the issues presented before them each month at the MDC meetings.
Ms. Mizner informed Council Members that Ken Stein has been developing short information sheets on a variety of issues having to do with disability and the ADA. The first set of these sheets deal with deaf and hard of hearing issues. They have already been reviewed by the Programmatic Access Committee and are available for the Council to review. MOD is planning to use them both for training within the City, as well as an advocacy tool for the public.
In addition, Ms. Mizner reported that Richard Skaff and Jim Whipple are in the process of formalizing architectural policies ranging from the number of curb ramps in construction sites, to whether the present guidelines for playground structures provide enough access for children and family members with disabilities.
7 REPORT FROM THE COMMITTEE CHAIRS
REPORT FROM THE PROGRAMMATIC ACCESS COMMITTEE
Jul Lynn Parsons, Chair of the Programmatic Access Committee reported that the committee has reached a consensus on using California's Fair Employment and Housing Act definition of disability in conjunction with extending 12 D to include disabled-owned businesses. The next meeting of the PAC is on Friday, January 9, 2004 from 11:00AM-12:30PM at the Rose Resnick Lighthouse for the Blind. The public is encouraged to attend.
REPORT FROM THE PHYSICAL ACCESS COMMITTEE
Ed Evans, Chair, reported that the committee is working on prioritizing issues relating to physical access. One of the main items is accessibility to City-funded housing. He noted that there is a tremendous need for accessible and affordable housing for seniors and people with disabilities.
8 CONTINUED DISCUSSION - SAN FRANCISCO'S BEHAVIORAL HEALTH COURT. COUNCIL CONSIDERATION OF PROPOSED RESOLUTION SUPPORTING THE BEHAVIORAL HEALTH COURT.
Eugene Flannery reported the Behavioral Health Court provides an opportunity for people with mental disabilities to go through the legal system without being incarcerated for criminal behavior when that behavior is due to their disability. He believes that the Behavior Health Court is the best solution presently available. Mr. Flannery read the proposed resolution supporting the Behavioral Health Court (See Attached).
Delphine Brody, Regional Coordinator of the California Network of Mental Health Clients, testified against the Behavioral Health Courts. She feels that it is discriminatory and noted that the ongoing criminalization of persons with disabilities is no solution.
After the discussion and public comments, council members voted on the resolution. The motion passed, with seven Yes votes and one Abstention (Ruth Nunez).
9 CONTINUED DISCUSSION - WHETHER SAN FRANCISCO SHOULD IMPLEMENT AB 1421, A MEASURE THAT PROVIDES FOR INVOLUNTARY PSYCHIATRIC TREATMENT AND ASSISTED OUTPATIENT TREATMENT.
Ed Evans, Chair, said that AB 1421 is another tool and resource for families, the psychiatric community, police departments, etc. to assist people with mental illness. He proposed that the Council approve the implementation of AB 1421.
Eugene Flannery opposes implementation because there is no dedicated funding to cover the legal costs, court costs, etc. This measure supports outpatient treatment which he feels is the least effective type of treatment for the intended population because it allows for one to three outpatient visits per week, which is not sufficient for treatment. Lastly, he has heard from other health care providers and the Department of Public Health who advised strongly this is not an effective tool. He made a motion that MOD draw up a resolution opposing implementation of AB 1421 in the City and County of San Francisco.
Jul Lynn Parsons feels that this particular law could be worded better. She expressed support for community advocates who had testified that there is a need for more services.
Norma Block pointed out that AB 1421 stipulates the provision of housing is necessary, but currently there is a crisis of affordable housing in San Francisco. In addition, voluntary services are not being met.
Michael Kwok does not support this measure because of the potential cost, funding, and reasonable doubt of its effectiveness.
Ruth Nunez suggested that the community needs to talk to leaders about taking a more therapeutic approach. She said we need to put ourselves in the situation and think about how we would like to be treated. Ms. Nunez believes that the community needs to focus on decriminalizing behaviors, on providing less dehumanizing treatment options, and on working with people who have mental illness and not against them.
During Public Comment, Delphine Brody thanked the Council members who oppose the implementation of AB 1421. She supports a resolution opposing this measure. She believes that voluntary treatment is always much more effective than involuntary treatment. Ms. Brody pointed out that the Mental Health Initiative is working on various proposals to be brought up for the November 2004 ballot which would provide funding for a variety of voluntary community-based and client-driven types of treatments.
After the discussion, the Council voted unanimously to oppose implementation of AB 1421.
10 SUICIDE PREVENTION HOTLINE - Presentation by Eve Meyer, Suicide Prevention Hotline
Eve Meyer, the Director of San Francisco Suicide Prevention, presented a history of the Suicide Prevention Hotline. Until 1962, in California, it was illegal to attempt to commit suicide. If for some reason, one lived through one's suicide attempt, one would be jailed. A news crew from Britain founded the first suicide hotline in the United States. It was staffed by volunteers and became San Francisco Suicide Prevention. At that time, it was called "Bruce" because one could not say the word "suicide". Within the first month, 30 phone calls came in, one phone call per day. Today, the hotline receives 200 phone calls per day.
Ms. Meyer noted that the reason for this increase was due to the Hotline's ready accessibility, enabling people to just "phone in," rather than having to go somewhere to talk to someone. The Hotline is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
The service is free. They have installed a TTY line, so that it is now directly accessible for deaf and hard of hearing callers as well. The office is staffed entirely with volunteers, making it a true "community service." The service assists callers across a broad range of disabilities, including emotional, mental, physical and developmental. The Hotline has also expanded its training and volunteer pool to include people with a variety of abilities. They are currently planning a computer online service, so that people will be able to access the hotline by e-mail or via their website (www.sfsuicide.org).
Due to a lack of funding, they have a difficult time advertising their services. Ms. Meyer pointed out that there are two sets of people they are trying to reach out to. The first are those people who are considering choosing human services as a career; the hotline is a great place to volunteer to gain experience and to see if this is something that they would like to pursue as a career choice. The second group of people are those in need of services.
Norma Block commended Ms. Meyer on her presentation and their services. Ms. Block asked if callers were screened as to their need for mental health services. Ms. Meyer responded that suicide is a pain issue and often one can tell if someone is in pain. One cannot put the idea of suicide into someone's head. It is very unnatural to talk about suicide, but the fact that a person is talking about it to another person is a gift, considering the attitudes in Western society regarding suicide.
Ed Evans inquired as to what services are available to the person after they contact the hotline. Ms. Meyer responded that her staff tries to link people to other services. Many of the people have already been to those services, no longer want to go to these services, and have called the hotline as a last resort. Ms. Meyer pointed out there is a common perception that when someone calls, they are advised them not to kill themselves, and provided with a phone number for some other agency and they never hear from them again. The fact is that the process is ongoing. The hotline becomes their support system, sometimes for years.
Jul Lynn Parsons complimented Ms. Meyer's office for providing a great service to the community. She commended them for having a TTY line and for offering services directly to the deaf community. Ms. Parson said the on-line service will be very useful and wanted to be kept informed of this and other future projects.
Denise Senhaux asked what the training entails, and how the public can utilize this hotline. Ms. Meyer responded that training starts out by teaching people about "active listening," which means listening to someone without imposing your own judgment on what they are saying. Also, they teach their staff not to try to "fix" or give advice on the situation, but to assist the callers to arrive at solutions for themselves.
The public can reach the 24-hour hotline by calling 781-0500 (voice) or 781-2224 (TTY). Persons with AIDS/HIV specific issues can call (415) 781-2226 from 5:00PM-5:00AM. Again, she reiterated that they don't have much funding for advertising and outreach, except for a few fliers with large print. They spend the funding they do have on rent and salaries.
Jack Fagan asked if their staff receives any special training in handling calls from the deaf community. Ms. Meyer responded that staff from UCSF's Center on Deafness trains hotline staff in the specific protocols used for TTY calls, including verbal expressions and typing shortcuts.
During public comment, Jerry Grace asked how many people have committed suicide. Ms. Meyer responded that the number in San Francisco usually hovers round 100-120. It goes up and down with the economy. Currently, it is rising; last year's number was 111. The number of homicides last year was 69. The number of suicides is always approximately one-third higher than the number of homicides in San Francisco. Nationally, it is usually about twice as high.
11 REVIEW OF PROPOSED NEW ADA GRIEVANCE PROCEDURE FOR SAN FRANCISCO - Presentation by consultants and MOD Staff.
Susan Mizner introduced the topic, explaining that Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) requires all cities to have an ADA Grievance Procedure. When the Mayor's Office on Disability began in 1999, it inherited a Grievance Procedure that had not been reviewed or vetted in years. Furthermore, when program managers were surveyed, and asked about an ADA Grievance Procedure, many did not know one existed.
The Mayor's Office on Disability hired the consultants, Magar & Milstein, to research ADA grievance procedures around the country to learn the best practices, and propose updates or modifications to San Francisco's procedure. Ms. Mizner introduced Ms. Milstein, who presented the Draft Grievance Procedure and reported on comments from ADA Coordinators and community members.
Ms. Milstein reported that one of their goals was for San Francisco to embrace a citywide policy of non-discrimination and full inclusion for people with disabilities. Three things were used as guiding principles in drafting the grievance procedure.
1. To promote cooperation between a complainant and the City, rather than fostering an adversarial environment. The grievance procedure should be seen as an opportunity to open dialogue between a person with a disability and the City.
2. To take full advantages of existing expertise and resources available in the bay area. Therefore, the grievance procedure will incorporate the capacity for both sides to be able to confer with people with expertise.
3. To ensure that the procedure in no way disadvantages people with disabilities from their rights and opportunities under Federal law and state law, in order to help ensure that people with disabilities will go through the grievance procedure process rather than filing a lawsuit against the City.
Under the proposed Grievance Procedure, any individual who believes that he or she, or a specific person, or a specific class of individuals has been discriminated against on the basis of disability by the City and County of San Francisco or any its contractors, may file a grievance. Authorized representatives may also file complaints on behalf of any aggrieved party. The discrimination may involve either physical or programmatic access to any programs, services and activities of the City.
A complainant has 180 calendar days to file a complaint. The complainant is encouraged to file the complaint with the City department, which is responsible for the alleged act of discrimination. The complaint may also be filed with the Mayor's Office on Disability, which will forward the complaint along to the proper department.
After filing a complaint, a letter of acknowledgment will be sent out within four business days, informing them that their letter has been received and identifying the person will be investigating the matter. If someone is unable to file a complaint in writing, then the person can also do it on the telephone. Within 12 business days of the receipt of the signed complaint, the responsible ADA coordinator must investigate and provide a proposed resolution to be sent to the complainant.
When the complainant receives the results of the investigation with the proposed resolution, he/she will be given 15 business days to review it and comment. This will give the individual the opportunity to contact resources such as Protection and Advocacy, the Independent Living Resource Center, or other advocates, to advise them whether or not the resolution will meet their needs or can be improved. If the complainant does not respond within 15 business days, the resolution will become final. However, if the complainant does respond within the allotted time, the ADA coordinator will have 5 business days to consider the complainant's suggestions and make any changes to the proposed resolution. Once the complainant receives the final resolution, he/she has an additional 20 business days to consider whether she wants to appeal the decision.
A three-person panel will decide the appeal. The panel will consists of an ADA coordinator from another department, and the other two will be people in the community with expertise in the ADA. MOD will develop a pool of community people with expertise in disability rights issues, and draw from that pool. The appeal will consist of a hearing at which the ADA coordinator will present the results of the investigation and the proposed resolution. The complainant can request the assistance of an ombudsperson during this hearing.
Magar and Milstein have suggested building in a quality assurance system and a record-keeping system to the grievance procedure, so that the City could have a way of assessing systemic problems as well as determining which departments are receiving an inordinate number of complaints and/or appeals. They propose the record keeping be done both by the City department involved, as well as by MOD, and that the record be kept for a period of 5 years. It was also recommended that the quality assurance should be handled by MOD to do spot-checks by calling a number of the complainants to evaluate their experience with the process.
Council members discussed whether filing one's complaint should initially go directly to the responsible department, or to MOD; methods of investigation, as well as concerns regarding people with cognitive or developmental disabilities who may have difficulties explaining their issues; etc.
The Council Members commended Ms. Milstein and her consulting firm and all members agreed that more training is needed in all areas of the ADA Grievance Procedures.
12 ELECTION FOR CO-CHAIR OF THE COUNCIL.
Two council members, Jack Fagan and Michael Kwok, were nominated to be co-chair of the MDC. The first vote was a tie between the two candidates. A second vote was taken, and once again, it came out a tie. It was decided that a run-off vote would take place at the next regular MDC meeting on Friday, January 16. The nominees were instructed by Ms. Mizner to come prepared to co-chair the January meeting.
13 CORRESPONDENCE
No correspondence.
14 ITEMS NOT ON TODAY'S AGENDA, BUT WITHIN THE JURISDICTION OF THE MDC.
Michael Kwok announced that he is working with the Planning for Elders in the Central City on making Medi-Cal available to those elderly who are qualified. If you have any questions and/or concerns, please call (415) 703-0188 or visit their website at www.planningforelders.org.
15 COUNCIL MEMBER REQUESTS FOR FUTURE AGENDA ITEMS.
Ms. Mizner reported that the MDC's meeting has a full agenda for the next few months. In January, the Department of Parking and Traffic will be attending with a presentation. There will be a DCARA Training at February's MDC Meeting. Also, for March, there will be a training in Aspergers Syndrome and Autism. However, MDC is open for agenda items in April.
Some council members suggested future agenda items include the Ramp Taxi Program, a presentation on the standardization for curb ramps, and Accessibility issues relating to homelessness.
16 COUNCIL MEMBER COMMENTS AND ANNOUNCEMENTS.
Mr. Evans, Chair, wished everyone a Happy Holidays and asked everyone to take a moment to think about the people overseas during this time, and to reach out to families who are less fortunate.
17 ADJOURNMENT
The meeting was adjourned at 4:00 p.m.
Mayor's Office on Disability
401 Van Ness, Room 300
San Francisco, CA 94102
415.554.6789
415.554.6159 fax
415.554.6799 TTY
[email protected]