2009 2008 2007 2006 2005 MINUTES
SHELTER MONITORING COMMITTEE
Wednesday, November 1, 2006
10:00 AM to 1:00 PM
25 Van Ness Ave., 8th Floor, Suite 800
San Francisco, CA 94102
Members Present: Members Absent:
Chair Diana Valentine Committee Member Keith Kemp
Vice Chair Damian Ochoa Committee Member David Nakanishi
Committee Member Leonard Brown
Committee Member Bianca Henry
Committee Member Judi Iranyi
Committee Member Greg Kats
Committee Member Quintin Mecke
Committee Member Liz Olsen
Committee Member Maxine Pauson
Committee Member Hank Wilson
CALL TO ORDER/ROLL CALL/AGENDA ADJUSTMENTS
The meeting was called to order at 10:05 AM.
I. NEW BUSINESS
A. Homeless Outreach Team
Dr. Rajesh Parekh provided background Homeless Outreach Team (HOT) and introduced HOT member, Rann Parker. He said that it was formed in May 2004 by Mayor Gavin Newsom and that its clients are chronically homeless, which means they have been homeless for at least a year or 3 times in the last 3 years. The goal of HOT is to connect homeless clients with permanent housing. HOT collaborates with three agencies, the Department of Public Health (DPH), the Human Services Agency (HSA), and Community Awareness & Treatment Services (CATS). The staff is made up of front line workers, social workers, and a nurse. Dr. Parekh said that HOT could access 12 shelter beds in the past, but currently can only access 5.
Ms. Parker discussed how HOT had helped clients when the City closed shelters, Man's Place, Women's World, and McMillan. Ms. Parker said that HOT was able to place ten clients per month into permanent housing and that each HOT case manager worked with 10 to 12 clients.
Committee Member Bianca Henry asked what happened to clients after shelter closures.
Dr. Parekh said that some individuals move from shelter to stabilization rooms. In general, clients stay 5 to 6 months in a stabilization room.
Committee Member Judi Iranyi asked what role HOT had in ensuring that once clients were housed that they stayed housed.
Dr. Parekh said that HOT hooks clients up with additional supportive services and that the units where clients are placed [usually] have services on site. Dr. Parekh said that HOT is hearing that 70 to 90% receive services from case managers, specific case management.
Ms. Parker said that HOT offers outreach which entails short-term, intensive case management.
Committee Member Henry asked how evictions due to mental illness were handled.
Ms. Parker explained that evictions were not within the purview of HOT.
Dr. Parekh said the City had eviction-prevention teams.
Committee Member Liz Olsen asked for more information on the stabilization rooms and how HOT worked to make sure there was not an overlap in case management with other service providers.
Dr. Parekh said that the stabilization rooms were mostly in the Tenderloin.
Ms. Parker said that shelters provide case management on day-to-day basis and HOT provided management where gaps appeared.
Dr. Parekh said that most of the permanent housing through DPH was through the Winsor Hotel and the Care Not Cash housing was through the Elm. He said that most housing was in the Tenderloin and some was in the Mission.
Committee Member Wilson asked how HOT worked money management and payee services.
Dr. Parekh said that payee services can make a case that a client's funds should go through a service by writing to the Social Security Administration.
Committee Member Quintin Mecke asked what HOT's role was in the Golden Gate Park sweep.
Dr. Parekh said that HOT had identified "hot spots" within the park and had gone in two weeks in advance of Recreation and Parks and the Department of Public Works. In six weeks, HOT had moved 54 people out of the park into stabilization units and detox. HOT was working with the police department and has received referrals from police familiar with the park.
Chair Diana Valentine thanked Dr. Parkeh and Ms. Parker. She said that she wanted to develop clear lines of communication between HOT and the Committee.
Ms. Parker said that HOT does receive complaints about shelters, including sexual harassment. Ms. Parker provided her contact information to the Committee.
B. Annual Report
Chair Valentine tabled the annual report and asked Ms. Casey to work with Committee Member Mecke to incorporate his suggestions.
No public comment.
C. Mission Statement
Chair Valentine tabled the Mission Statement.
No public comment.
II. APPROVAL OF THE MINUTES
Action: Approve September 2, 2006 Committee Meeting Minutes and
October 4, 2006 Committee Meeting Minutes
m/s/c (Wilson/Iranyi/Unanimous)
No public comment.
III. COMMITTEE MEMBERS QUESTIONS/COMMENTS
Committee Member Wilson discussed the impact on the shelter and resource centers of hospital discharge. He suggested that the Committee place the item on its next agenda to consider next steps.
Committee Member Judi Iranyi said that San Francisco General Hospital (SFGH) considers a shelter a home.
Committee Member Henry said that all seniors and disabled people were supposed to have access to respite beds.
Committee Member Mecke said thanked Ms. Casey for providing copies of Kevin Fagan's San Francisco Chronicle articles on homelessness. Committee Member Mecke said that the articles were offensive and portrayed homeless people as mentally ill and substance abusers.
Committee Member Iranyi said that article does not describe where the City dollars go.
Committee Member Mecke said that the Committee itself still had not received a description of where the Care Not Cash funds were going.
Committee Member Olsen said that she believed that there was inconsistency in staff training and that full-time and part-time staff were not subject to the same training.
Committee Member Henry said that Committee should investigate who was overseeing the AB 502 contracts, services for seniors.
Committee Member Mecke said that it was crucial for the Committee to do 100% of its visits each quarter and that if the Committee was unable to do so, it would reflect poorly on the Committee.
Chair Valentine asked Ms. Casey to describe a food audit in her next staff report.
Committee Member Henry asked what the City considered an adequate meal.
Ms. Casey said that she would be reporting on beds for obese clients and hygiene protocols in shelters systems.
Public Comment
Ms. Linzie Coleman from the Episcopal Sanctuary said that hospitals are calling shelters to transfer clients from hospitals. Ms. Coleman provided an example of client who had been released from a hospital prematurely and Next Door sent the client back to the hospital. Three days later the hospital was calling Next Door trying to arrange for the client to return to the shelter.
Ms. Coleman said that Next Door was able to obtain 5 beds for obese clients.
Committee Member Greg Kats said that the larger beds had to be custom-made and were expensive.
Ms. Coleman said that some seniors do not want to go into housing. She said that a lot of women don't feel safe in housing, but they do feel safe in community settings.
IV. PUBLIC COMMENT
No public cooment.
V. OLD BUSINESS
A. Election of Secretary
Chair Valentine asked for a motion to elect to Committee Member Quintin Mecke for the position of Committee Secretary.
Action: Election of Committee Secretary
m/s/c (Henry/Iranyi/Unanimous)
No public comment.
B. St. Boniface
Ms. Michele Thorsen from St. Boniface said that David Curto from the Human Service Agency had said HSA and the Planning Department would be meeting on Thursday and HSA would than follow up with St. Boniface about its service delivery model.
Mr. John Weeks of St. Boniface said that they had not been provided a clear timeline of next steps.
Committee Member Kats explained that HSA was waiting to hear back from the Planning Department.
Chair Valentine asked how many beds would be provided to the system through the winter shelter [in lieu of St. Boniface opening on time].
Briana Wirrom of HSA said that HSA was looking at other sites and increasing beds at some sites.
Public Comment
Ms. Coleman gave an overview of the Interfaith Winter Shelters. The hours of the shelter were from 7:00 AM to 7:00 PM. Breakfast and dinner are provided. She listed the churches being used, Trinity, St. Marks, and St. Marys, and the number of mats at each site.
Committee Member Kats explained the challenges of establishing winter shelters. He provided the example of the closure of First Friendship Winter Shelter and community pressure for the closure.
Committee Leonard Brown said that [the contract, hearings, etc] everything should be resolved within one week so that St. Boniface could open its doors.
Committee Member Kats and Ms. Casey attempted to explain the checks and balances of issuing contracts within the City.
Chair Valentine said that the issues brought up with St. Boniface were bigger than St. Boniface and dealt with City's procedures and accountability. Chair Valentine suggested that the Committee revisit the larger issues in January and February.
Committee Member Kats suggested that St. Boniface initiate community meetings.
Ms. Thorsen said that St. Boniface had planned on having a community meeting on November 9, but the meeting had been delayed until early December. She said that they were planning on meeting with business owners and building managers.
Chair Valentine said that St. Boniface should alert the Committee of any community meetings.
Committee Member Mecke asked St. Boniface to alert the Committee if they need anything.
Ms. Wirrom said that she had received four primary type of complaints from members of the public about the establishment of a shelter on Clementine, elderly people in the neighborhood, small street, queues in front of the shelter, and an increase in the crime.
Committee Member Wilson said that a lot of the issues brought up in the neighborhood can be handled. He said that by working with vested community based organizations like Swords to Plowshares and developing MOUs that the community would have a bigger buy-in.
Committee Member Kats said that HSA had been discussing the service delivery model with St. Boniface for the last two months.
Mr. Weeks said that they would be meting tomorrow.
Ms. Thorsen said that they [St. Boniface] had faced more hurdles than anticipated.
Committee Member Mecke said that the City needed to be proactive on developing winter shelters.
Committee Member Kats said that it [winter shelters] was much more complex [than being described].
Committee Member Henry stated that the City knew [roughly] when winter would happen and should have taken steps to provide shelter.
Chair Valentine asked Committee members to send questions [for HSA] regarding St. Boniface to Ms. Casey by Friday so that she could compose a letter.
C. Follow up to CAAP Letter
The Committee reviewed the correspondence between the Committee and the County Adult Assistance Program regarding shelter, food, and utilities.
Action: Approved letter to CAAP
m/s/c (Ochoa/Olsen/Unanimous)
ADJOURNMENT
The meeting was adjourned at 1:05 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.
To obtain a disability-related modification or accommodation, including auxiliary aids or services to participate in the meeting, please contact Bernice Casey at 415.255.3653 or Bernice.casey@sfdph.org at least two business days before the meeting.
25 Van Ness Avenue 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.
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Frank Darby, Administrator
Sunshine Ordinance Task Force
City Hall, Room 244
1 Dr. Carlton B. Goodlett Place
San Francisco, CA 94102-4689
Phone 415.554.7584
Fax 415.554.5784
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