2009 2008 2007 2006 2005 MINUTES
SHELTER MONITORING COMMITTEE
Wednesday, October 4, 2006
10:00 AM to 1:00 PM
25 Van Ness Ave., Basement, Suite 70
San Francisco, CA 94102
Members Present:
Chair Diana Valentine
Vice Chair Damian Ochoa
Committee Member Bianca Henry
Committee Member Judi Iranyi
Committee Member Greg Kats
Committee Member Keith W. Kemp
Committee Member Quintin Mecke
Committee Member David Nakanishi
Committee Member Maxine Pauson
Committee Member Hank Wilson
Members Absent:
Committee Member Leonard Brown
PUBLIC COMMENTS WILL BE TAKEN FOR EACH AGENDA ITEM.
The meeting was called to order at 10:06 AM by Committee Chair Diana Valentine.
No public comment
I. APPROVAL OF THE MINUTES
Action: Approved August 25, 2006 Committee Retreat Minutes
m/s/c (Wilson/Mecke/Unanimous)
No public comment
II. COMMITTEE MEMBERS QUESTIONS/COMMENTS
Committee Member Hank Wilson asked that [the staff person] invite the Homeless Outreach Team (HOT) on November 1.
Committee Member Greg Kats said that he would set up the time and date with the HOT team.
Committee Member Wilson said that the HOT team had not been seen at Tenderloin Health. He wanted to know who the [HOT team] liaisons were to each [shelter and resource] site and who were doing street outreach.
Committee Member David Nakanishi said that there were only ten outreach workers.
Committee Member Wilson said that with the raining season pending, the Committee should follow up with Ella Hill Hutch as there was no space for clients to wait out of the rain while accessing shelter.
Committee Member Judi Iranyi gave a brief presentation on the International Federation of Social Workers conference she attended in July in Germany. Committee Member Iranyi discussed the homeless shelters she visited and the public policy around homelessness in Germany.
Committee Member Bianca Henry asked how the information [presented by Committee Member Iranyi] could be applied to the shelters in San Francisco.
Public Comment
Pat Harrison asked where [in Germany] the shelters were located.
Committee Member Iranyi said that it was in the Bavarian part of Germany.
A member of the public asked if the shelter services were permanent.
Committee Member Iranyi said they [the services] were.
Committee Member Quintin Mecke provided an overview of the past meeting with Barbara Garcia, Deputy Director of the Department of Public Health (DPH), regarding the closure of McMillan [39 Fell]. Committee Member Mecke said that during a recent site visit clients were worried about the closure. Committee Member Mecke suggested that the Committee requested a report from DPH about the status of the closure. Committee Member Mecke said that Committee should also consider requesting how the Golden Gate "sweep" will impact the shelters.
Committee Member Nakanishi suggested asking the HOT team to report on Golden Gate Park. Committee Member Nakanishi also circulated a handout about the closure of McMillan. He said that the closure would only take place once additional 24-hour services were identified. Committee Member Nakanishi said that he was still holding weekly community meetings every Wednesday at 2:00 PM and invited Committee Members to attend.
Chair Valentine asked Committee Member Valentine to clarify the closure of Next Door's respite.
Committee Member Nakanishi said that the respite floor at Next Door would be closing on November 30 for one to two months for renovations. The reopening would also ensure appropriate staffing levels.
Committee Member Iranyi said the Homeless Service Providers Network has been discussing the impact [of the loss of 39 Fell] on their services.
Chair Valentine asked that the Committee submit a letter of inquiry regarding Next Door.
III. NEW BUSINESS
A. Domestic Violence Awareness
La Casa de las Madres Domestic Violence Shelter's Community Program Director Lisa Polacci provided an overview of the services La Casa provides and discussed the work La Casa has done in the homeless community and in shelters. Ms. Polacci said that she had conducted trainings in some of the shelters. Ms. Polacci said that La Casa provides training for staff and workshops for residents free of cost. Ms. Polacci said that all services provided by La Casa are free. The domestic violence shelter has 35 beds for women and their children. In addition, the program offers 24-hour intake. The program allows for an 8-week placement, with an emphasis locating more permanent housing.
Ms. Polacci said that there 71 beds in the City and County of San Francisco for single women and women with children designated solely for domestic violence emergency beds.
Chair Valentine asked what more could be done to put homeless women who are victims of domestic violence in touch with services.
Ms. Polacci said that referrals [from case managers and shelters] could be stronger.
Committee Member Nakanishi asked if domestic violence prevention services should be included in all homeless services. Committee Member Nakanishi asked how 39 Fell was/had been utilized by domestic violence victims as a 24-hour drop-in center.
Ms. Polacci said that she wasn't familiar with 39 Fell by name. She said that domestic violence screening should be done during an intake at each shelter or drop-in center. Ms. Polacci also said that some homeless women [who may be victims of domestic violence] may prefer to stay on the street rather than a homeless shelter.
Public Comment
A member of the public said that the larger question may be what is the structure that allows violence to happen and where can individuals go to learn to take care of themselves rather than having others take care of them.
Pat Harrison asked who shelters should contact to set up training.
Ms. Polacci circulated her business cards.
Committee Member Iranyi asked if La Casa de las Madres still had a 24-hour hot-line.
Ms. Polacci said it did.
Vice Chair Damian Ochoa asked for an overview of the statistics collected [by La Casa] each year.
Ms. Polacci said that the police receive over 500 complaints of domestic violence per month and of those complaints, 1 out of four are complaints of same sex domestic violence. Ms. Polacci said La Casa receives 4400 calls per year.
Ali Schlageter asked if La Casa wanted to expand the number of beds in their shelter and asked Ms. Polacci to discuss the housing component in more detail.
Ms. Polacci said that La Casa was not looking to expand. She said that housing was the second step. She said that La Casa notes that for some women and children the shelter is a continuum and that the woman may not always leave her partner. Ms. Polacci said that La Casa works with women where they are at and works on safety plans for women who leave the shelter.
Chair Valentine asked about discharge and shelter rights.
Ms. Polacci said that the discharge includes an exit plan they begin when a client arrives. La Casa works to find housing and sometimes those options are outside the Bay Area. She said that La Casa posts a grievance policy in every room and that clients are provided a key to their own room. If there is a complaint, the client can contact the Human Rights Commission and that information is posted as well. Ms. Polacci said that La Casa conducted anonymous surveys as well to gauge how clients feel. Ms. Polacci said that clients are asked to leave if they break confidentiality [for example, the location of the shelter] or are violent to clients or staff. She said that there is an intensive face to face intake in which these issues are discussed. If someone is asked to leave, La Casa works with them to find another place to go.
Committee Member Maxine Pauson asked if women needed to be physically abused to access the services at La Casa.
Ms. Polacci said that clients do not need a police report or to show bruises to access the services. The intake is made on the client's immediate need and how the client feels.
Committee Member Kats asked if transgender women could utilize services at La Casa.
Ms. Polacci said yes that all women were welcome.
Committee Member Keith Kemp said he was concerned that there were only 71 [domestic violence] beds in San Francisco.
Chair Valentine thanked Ms. Polacci for her presentation.
Vice Chair Ochoa asked Ms. Casey to provide the Committee with information about the re-appointment process.
IV. PUBLIC COMMENT
A member of the public said that he had three complaints about Episcopal Sanctuary, one was staff behavior, the second was the lack of privacy, and the third was segregation.
The member of the public said that certain members of staff speak to clients in a way that makes the shelter feel like a jail house. He said that they talk down to clients and intimidate clients by saying things like "f_ _ king animals" and calling the shelter a "zoo."
The member of the public said that female clients are coming on to the men's floor at 5:30 AM. He said that he understands that sometimes women need to be on the floor but believes that there is abuse happening.
The member of the public said that there was segregation in the shelters. He said that there was signs up that said that one lounge was for Spanish-speaking individuals only. He said that one community room had a television and a VCR and another room had a television only.
Committee Member Kats asked the individual if he had heard back from the Human Services Agency regarding this complaint.
The member of the public said he had not.
Ali Schlageter asked if all investigations were confidential.
Committee Member Kats said that all confidential information would be redacted before any information was released.
Committee Member Henry said that these issues [presented by the member of the public] were specific to the Committee.
Committee Member Kats said that the complaint was made directly to the Human Services Agency (HSA).
Committee Member Mecke asked if HSA had a parallel process to the Shelter Monitoring Committee of investigating complaints and if HSA shared complaints with the Committee. Committee Mecke requested that HSA share the number of complaints and the number of the resolutions to those complaints on a regular basis.
Committee Member Kats said that the request should go to the HSA.
Chair Valentine asked that the monthly investigation procedure of the HSA be placed on the November agenda.
Committee Member Pauson said that clients' complaints should be included in the request to HSA.
Committee Member Kemp said that the Committee needed to follow up on complaints lodged before it.
NEW BUSINESS-CONTINUED
B. Mission Statement
The Committee decided to have a few individuals meet to draft a mission statement. Chair Valentine, nominated Committee Member Liz Olsen, Committee Member Henry, and Vice Chair Ochoa said they would work on the statement and report back.
Public Comment
Pat Harrison encouraged the Committee to support shelters and the elderly.
C. Nomination of Secretary
Chair Valentine asked for nominations for the position of Committee Secretary.
Action: Nominated Committee Member Quintin Mecke for the position of Committee Secretary with elections to be held at the November 1, 2006 Committee meeting.
m/s/c (Iranyi/Wilson/Unanimous)
Action: Nominated Committee Member Quintin Kemp for the position of Committee Secretary with elections to be held at the November 1, 2006 Committee meeting.
m/s/c (Mecke/Ochoa/Unanimous)
No public comment
D. St. Boniface
Committee Member Greg Kats said that the contract for St. Boniface had not been approved at the last meeting of the Human Services Commission because St. Boniface had to complete additional processes.
Vice Chair Ochoa asked when the contract would be awarded.
Committee Member Kats said that it was a public process [regarding a public hearing] and between St. Boniface and the Planning Department [regarding an environmental impact report].
Committee Member Wilson said that it was a timely issue based on the season. He asked why St. Bonfiace's contract had been placed on the Commission's agenda if they had not completed the processes required. Committee Member Wilson said that there should a better process so that agencies are notified in a timely fashion of what they need to do. Committee Member Wilson asked if the money had been appropriated what the timeline would be for St. Boniface.
Committee Member Kats said that it [the process] was with the Planning Department.
Committee Member Kemp asked if the shelter would be available in December. He talked about the high quality of services offered by St. Boniface.
Committee Member Wilson asked Ms. Casey to write a letter to the Planning Department asking that the environmental review get priority attention so that a contract for St. Boniface could be expedited.
Committee Member Henry said that St. Boniface is especially important to developmentally fragile people.
Chair Valentine asked that a timeline request be submitted to Acting Housing and Homeless Director Joyce Crum.
Public Comment
John Weeks, Interim Executive Director of St. Boniface said that St. Boniface had been ready to go since July. Mr. Weeks said that St. Boniface only learned of the public hearing last week and the environmental review yesterday. Mr. Weeks said that as winter approached it was frustrating not to be able to provide services.
Committee Member Kats said that David Gurto from HSA should have informed St. Boniface about all the requirements.
Mr. Weeks said that he had not been provided with that information. He said that he needed clarification on the timeline and the requirements. He said that the shelter would have 105 beds.
Committee Member Mecke asked why there was an environmental review.
Mr. Weeks said he was not sure.
Committee Member Mecke asked the case had been assigned a planner.
Mr. Weeks said that it had.
Committee Member Kats said that the review was due to a change of use.
Committee Member Mecke said that City agencies [who are the contracting agency] should stress to contractors what is important.
E. Shelter Grievance Policy
Committee Member Kats reviewed the actions taken at the last Shelter Grievance Advisory Committee on suggested edits or changes to the policy.
Committee Member Wilson asked how long a denial of service (DOS) would last.
Chair Valentine said that a DOS could be from six months to permanent. She said that it [the new policy] would be a problem for a woman who received a DOS from one of the Episcopal shelters as Women's World was closing; therefore, the woman would not be able to access a shelter with a female specific area. Chair Valentine also discusses the DOS policy at family shelters.
Committee Member Mecke said that after he had completed a site visit at 260 Golden Gate he learned that there was no a protocol for DOS and families had to leave after 5:00 PM with no place to go.
Committee Member Henry asked what the City was doing about monitoring its contracts.
Committee Member Wilson asked if there was DOS policy at the resource centers.
Committee Member Kats said that that each resource center had its own grievance policy.
Public Comment
Linzie Coleman said that the shelters need to have policies that are written out that if there was not a policy in the place, staff could not take action.
F. Homeless Count
Local Homeless Coordinating Board staff Ali Schlageter reported that the San Francisco Homeless Count will take place on January 31, 2007. Ms. Schlageter said that the count was mandated by the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) every two years. She said that she had been requesting community input for the process.
Committee Member Henry asked if people in the shelters will be counted.
Ms. Schlageter said that all facilities which house homeless people will be counted and that the count will be done by approximately 500 volunteers. She said that the count would also include an interview component. She said that the City was attempting to identify a methodology that would allow the count to include those doubled up in Single Resident Occupancy hotels (SRO).
Public Comment
A member of the public asked if people who resided in SROs were considered homeless.
Ms. Schlageter said that the count would have to clarify by identifying City-ran and privately owned SROs, which can rent week to week. She said that count will not collect personal information and each person will be considered anonymous.
Chair Valentine asked if the women and their families in domestic violence shelters and patients in treatment centers will be counted.
Ms. Schlageter said they would be counted.
G. Follow up to CAAP Letter
The Committee reviewed the correspondence between the Committee and the County Adult Assistance Program regarding shelter, food, and utilities.
Chair Valentine said that the response did not addressed the Committee's questions as far as shelter meals, beds, pay phones, outlets, and allocations of [Care Not Cash] funds.
Vice Chair Ochoa said that there may be challenges for letting clients use outlets to charge their phones in the shelters.
Committee Member Wilson said that access to a phone was crucial for those who were looking for clients.
Public Comment
A member of the public suggested have CAAP representatives come to discuss the issues.
Chair Valentine asked that the Committee put that request in writing.
ADJOURNMENT
The meeting was adjourned at 12:43 PM.
To obtain copies of the agenda, minutes, or any explanatory documents, please contact Bernice Casey at 415.255.3653 or Bernice.casey@sfdph.org 72 hours before the meeting.
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