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Meeting Information



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 MINUTES
SHELTER MONITORING COMMITTEE
Wednesday, November 4, 2009
10:00 AM
City Hall, Room 408
San Francisco, CA 94102
Members present:
Chair Henry Belton
Vice Chair Aram Hauslaib  
 Committee Member Anthony Beliso
 Committee Member LJ Cirilo
 Committee Member Diana Greer
 Committee Member Elihu Hernandez
Committee Member David Nakanishi
Committee Member Maxine Pauson
Committee Member Ramses Teon-Nichols
Committee Member Cindy Ward

 Members absent:
 Committee Member Rita Lark
 
I. MINUTES      
Committee Member Elihu Hernandez requested that the October minutes be changed to reflect his comment that Committee Members be used to conduct the turn away count to elevate any overtime for City & County of San Francisco employees.
Action: Approved Ammended October 7, 2009 Minutes
m/s/c (Ward/Hauslaib/Unanimous)

II.  REPORTS      
A. Department of Public Health (DPH)  
Committee Member David Nakanishi gave an overview of the H1N1 education that DPH had provided and was providing for the shelter system stating that on November 16 and December 14 there were meetings for the shelter directors to review protocols.

Committee Member Hernandez reported that the H1N1 virus could be active for 5 to 10 days before symptoms appeared and asked what DPH would do in case of an outbreak.

Committee Member Nakanishi said that DPH had established protocols and stated that the protocols were available on the DPH website.

Public Comment
Jill Jarvie from DPH said that DPH had developed protocols for separation in the shelter and that more funding was needed for surgical masks for clients in the shelters.

Tomas Picarillo said that DPH should compel clients to be vaccinated.  Mr. Picarillo also stated that DPH should impose fines on the sites that were no adhering to the Standards of Care.

Steven Harris said that it was very hard to get the H1N1 shot and that Sanctuary had not posted any information on the H1N1 protocols and had canceled two clinics.

Regina Blake with ECS said that the flu clinic had been canceled for the second time and that ECS was posting educational materials at its shelters, including Sanctuary.

Charles Pitts said that [the Committee] needed to go back to basics as there were still shelters that did not have toilet paper and soap.

B. Shelter Status Report    
Ms. Briana Moore with the Human Services Agency reviewed the Vacancy Report and stated that there had been increases in capacity at Next Door, MSC South, Providence, and with the opening of 150 Otis.

Ms. Moore said that the finger imaging was required for clients checking in at a shelter with no identification.  Ms. Moore said that finger imaging was not required for making a client who wished to make a reservation at a shelter, unless that client was participating in a CAAP program.  She said that there was a finger imaging program in the shelters training clients and staff on the proper way to use the finger imaging system based on funding from the federal stimulus package.

Committee Member Diana Greer asked if the [training program] was the best use of funding.  Ms. Moore stated that the decision for the program was HSA Deputy Director Jim Buick.

Committee Member Hernandez asked how HSA was accommodating those clients who were able to use the finger imaging system based on a disability.

Ms. Moore said that there were some exceptions; however, the finger imaging system helped to ensure that the person who made the reservation at the site was the person checking in at the site.

Ms. Moore said that the Interfaith system was beginning on November 22nd and would be sending out the detailed list of which church would be hosting which dates in the four-month shelter program.

Committee Member Maxine Pauson asked why there was not an Interfaith shelter system for women.

Lindsay Parkinson from the Shelter Advocates presented the Denial of Service Report & Hearings.

Public Comment
Mr. Michael Wright said that the complaints were not being followed up and that when he submitted a complaint on behalf of shelter client that the Committee should follow up on that complaint.

Charles Pitts asked what the City was going to do when the policy started to subpoena the finger imaging records.

Jenny Friedenbach, Executive Director of the Coalition on Homelessness, thanked the Committee for discussing the biometric [finger imaging] system and said that biometrics were intended for fraud detection and that there was more money spent on the biometrics system itself than any money that might be saved by monitoring fraud.

Tomas Picarillo said that finger imaging policy was not necessary to increase the capacity at shelters.

C.     Standard of Care (SOC)  
Ms. Casey reviewed the written report provided to the Committee regarding the number of complaints received in the month and the last quarter.

Committee Member Diana Greer asked that report hold more information and Ms. Casey requested that Committee Member Greer follow up with her about the specific information she wanted included.

Public Comment
Charles Pitts said that the graphs [report] were hard to read.  Mr. Pitts asked what the Committee’s policy was on following up on complaints that included building violations.

III.  PUBLIC COMMENT     
Mr. Wright said that there was a breakdown in the way the Committee took complaints.  He said that he had taken a complaint on behalf of another shelter resident and because of his documentation skills the judge had awarded that client $2000.00.  He requested that all complaints he submitted be forwarded to the Local Homeless Coordinating Board.  He said that there was not enough time for public comment.

Tomas Picarillo said that he understood the previous speaker’s frustration and said the Committee was not helping with the process.  He said that there had been no improvements in the shelters since the Standards of Care had been passed.

Ali Schlageter of the Local Homeless Coordinating Board requested that the Committee no forward any shelter complaints to the Board.

Charles Pitts said that [Mr. Wright’s] comments were important and asked the Committee what its dream and vision was.

IV. NEW BUSINESS     
A. Nomination of Officers     
The Committee nominated the following Committee Members for Chair, Ramses Teon-Nichols and Aram Hauslaib, for Vice Chair Eli Hernandez and Ramses Teon-Nichols, for Secretary, Eli Hernandez and Ramses Teon-Nichols.  Election of Officers will happen at the December 2, 2009 meeting.

Public Comment
Charles Pitts said that officer descriptions were incomplete and did not include some of the legislated responsibilities such as attending the Local Homeless Coordinating Board meetings.

V. OLD BUSINESS     DISCUSSION/ACTION
A. Shelter Access     Bernice Casey 20 min 
The Committee will hear from Committee staff on the turn around counts conducted at CHANGES reservation locations.

B. Bylaws      Henry Belton  15 min
The Committee will review the changes to the bylaws and consider changing the monthly meeting date of the Committee to the third Wednesday of the month.
 Explanatory document- bylaws
Public Comment will be heard before the proposed action.
Proposed Action: Approve bylaws

VI. INFORMATION REQUESTS    DISCUSSION  
A. Staff Report      Bernice Casey 15 min
Ms. Casey will provide a monthly staff report to the Committee which includes an information report on requests made by the Committee at previous meetings. 
Explanatory documents-November 2009 Staff Report

B.   Information Requests    Henry Belton  15 min
The Committee will review the Information Request items put forward during the meeting and request a report back at the November 2009 Committee meeting.

C. Announcements     Henry Belton  5 min
Committee Members will use this time to make announcements. 
   
 Adjournment                          
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.

To obtain a disability-related modification or accommodation, including auxiliary aids or services to participate in the meeting, please contact Bernice Casey at 415.255.3642 or Bernice.casey@sfdph.org at least two business days before the meeting.

City Hall is accessible to persons using wheelchairs and others with disabilities.  Assistive listening devices are available and meetings are open-captioned.  Agendas are available in large print.  Materials in alternative formats, American Sign Language interpreters, and other format accommodations will be made available upon request.  Please make your request for alternative forma or other accommodations to the Shelter Monitoring Committee at 415.255.3642.  Providing at least 72 hours notice prior to the meeting will help ensure availability.

The nearest BART station is Civic Center Plaza at the intersection of Market, Grove, and Hyde Streets.  The MUNI Metro lines are the F, J, K, L, M, and N (Civic Center Station or Van Ness Avenue Station).  MUNI bus lines serving the area are the 47 Van Ness, 9 San Bruno, and the 6, 7, 71 Haight/Noreiga.  Accessible curbside parking is available on Oak and Hickory Streets.

The ringing of and use of cell phones, pagers, and similar sound producing electronic devices are prohibited at this meeting.  Please be advised that the Chair may order the removal from the meeting room of any person(s) responsible for the ringing or use of a cell phone, pager or other similar sound-producing electronic devices.
In order to assist the City’s efforts to accommodate persons with severe allergies, environmental illness, multiple chemical sensitivity or related disabilities, attendees at public meetings are reminded that other attendees maybe sensitive to various chemical based scented projects.  Please help the City to accommodate these individuals.
 
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Government’s duty is to serve the public, reaching its decision in full view of the public. Commissions, boards, councils and other agencies of the City and County exist to conduct the people’s business.  This ordinance assures that deliberations are conducted before the people and that City operations are open to the people’s review.  FOR MORE INFORMATION ON YOUR RIGHTS UNDER THE SUNSHINE ORDINANCE, OR TO REPORT A VIOLATION OF THE ORDINANCE, CONTACT THE SUNSHINE ORDINANCE TASK FORCE THROUGH:

Chris Rustom, Administrator
Sunshine Ordinance Task Force
City Hall, Room 244
1 Dr. Carlton B. Goodlett Place
San Francisco, CA 94102-4689
Phone 415.554.7724
Fax 415.554.7854
E-mail sotf@sfgov.org
Copies of the Sunshine Ordinance can be obtained from the Clerk of the Sunshine Task Force, the San Francisco Public Library, and on the City’s website at www.sfgov.org.
 
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Individuals and entities that influence or attempt to influence local legislative or administrative action may be required by the San Francisco Lobbyist Ordinance [SF Campaign & Governmental Conduct Code § 2.100] to register and report lobbying activity.  For more information about the Lobbyist Ordinance, please contact the San Francisco Ethics Commission at 30 Van Ness Avenue, Suite 3900, San Francisco, CA   94102; telephone (415) 581-2300; fax (415) 581-2317; web site: sfgov.org/ethics.