2009 2008 2007 2006 2005 MINUTES
SHELTER MONITORING COMMITTEE
Wednesday, August 6, 2008
10:00 AM to 12:00 PM
25 Van Ness Ave., Suite 70, Basement
San Francisco, CA 94102
Members present:
Chair Quintin Mecke
Vice Chair Damian Ochoa
Secretary Liz Olsen
Committee Member Henry Belton
Committee Member Chris Callandrillo
Committee Member Kim Clark
Committee Member Diana Greer
Committee Member Aram Hauslaib
Committee Member James Leonard
Committee Member David Nakanishi
Committee Member Maxine Pauson
Committee Member Tomas Picarello
Members absent:
Committee Member Cindy Ward
Committee Chair Quintin Mecke called the meeting to the order at 10:02 AM and welcomed new members, Committee Member Aram Hauslaib and Committee Member Tomas Picarello.
I. MINUTES
Committee Member James Leonard asked for a correction on page 2 of the July 2, 2008 Minutes
Action: Approve Amended Minutes.
m/s/c (Ochoa/Belton/Unanimous)
II. REPORTS
A. Human Services Agency (HSA)
Housing and Homeless Program Greg Kats reviewed the vacancy report and turn aways for family shelter; there were 50 families turned away in July seeking emergency shelter and a five month wait for the 145 families waiting for transitional housing.
Committee Member Picarello asked how the vacancies were determined [for the single adult shelters].
Briana Moore, MSW, Single Adult Shelters Program Manager said that Sanctuary, Providence, and Next Door call in their vacancies and all other single adult sites use CHANGES.
Committee Member Chris Callandrillo stated that last month the turn away for families was 35 and now it was 50.
Committee Member James Leonard stated that he had observed staff at shelters doing bed checks and pass 8 to 9 clients up [in response to call in vacancy reports].
Mr. Kats reported on the status of Tenderloin Health Resource Center contracts stating that the "saga continues" on Friday, August 8, 2008. He said the City & County of San Francisco was in on-going negotiations with Tenderloin Health. Mr. Kats said the City was looking for a "best practices" model [for the resource services] in the Tenderloin.
Mr. Kats stated that the response to the Committee's Information Request on site specific implementation of the Standard of Care was each site's self declaration of what they [the site] were doing to implement the Standards.
Committee Member Callandrillo requested that Committee staff review the responses.
Committee Member Picarello stated that Department of Public Health needed to enforce the Standards
Committee Member David Nakanishi stated that there has not been a complaint that has made it to the investigation process.
B. Standard of Care (SOC)
Committee staff Bernice Casey reviewed the Standard of Care overview of complaints memorandum provided to the Committee and public. Ms. Casey noted that she had been unable to follow up with each site about the complaints received and noted that phone calls have decreased. Ms. Casey stated that she believed that clients were not coming forward to the Committee due to her lack of response [based on staffing].
C. Department of Public Health
Committee Member Nakanishi said that DPH, HSA, and SMC staff were coordinating presenters for the Standard of Care training for sites. He said that he would provide future updates.
III. PUBLIC COMMENT
A staff from Providence stated that she had not received any of the 9 complaints in the report.
Laura Guzman, Director of Mission Neighborhood Resource Center, stated that she had not received any SOC complaint. She said that she has noticed any increase of challenges of clients accessing shelter beds [through CHANGES at the resource centers].
Mr. Charles Pitts said that the "TB room" at MSC South had been fixed. He said the Committee should have extra meetings.
Jackie Jenks from Hospitality House asked if the City & County of San Francisco were analyzing the different drop-in centers in the Tenderloin before making any service changes and requested that other programs be consulted before making changes.
IV. OLD BUSINESS
Shelter Enrichment Report Update
Mr. Kats said that any Shelter Enrichment changes would rely on existing funding. He stated that there was work being done to increase the number of beds for women and seniors. He also said he was working on developing Customer Service Training model.
Chair Mecke asked if there was a response to the Local Homeless Coordinating Board's letter regarding Shelter Enrichment.
Mr. Kats said that he and Dar [Kayhan] presented a response at the August 4, 2008 meeting.
Mr. Kats said that another component of the Shelter Enrichment was a mobile homeless connect model.
V. NEW BUSINESS
A. Polices and Procedures
This item was moved to the September 3, 2008 Committee meeting.
B. Site Visits and Forms
Chair Mecke reviewed the protocol for site visits. He stated that the stipends were designed to pay for transport to and from site visits. He said that if a Committee member could not come to a visit that they must contact their team members in a timely fashion. He asked Committee Members who thought they might encounter transportation challenges to contact himself of Ms. Casey.
Committee Member Henry Belton stated that he took his position on the Committee seriously and requested team members call him ahead of time.
Vice Chair Damian Ochoa asked each member to reconsider their commitment to the Committee before their term ends on November 23, 2008.
Chair Mecke asked that examples of site forms be forwarded to the sites.
Committee Member Picarello said that the Policies and Procedures required a minimum of an hour visit.
Committee Member Diana Greer asked for copies of the site inspection forms.
C. Tenderloin Health
The Committee reviewed a letter to the Human Services Agency addressing the add back monies from the 2008-2009 budget.
Chair Mecke asked that the letter incorporate Ms. Jenk's comments.
Committee Member Nakanishi asked to be excused based on a conflict.
Action: Approve Committee Member Nakanishi's request to be excused.
m/s/c (Mecke/Ochoa/Unanimous)
Action: Approve amended letter
m/s/c Ochoa/Leonard/Belton/Callandrillo/Clark/Greer/Hauslaib/Mecke/Olsen
/Pauson)
(Opposed: Picarello)
D. Homeless Women
The Committee reviewed a letter to the Board of Supervisors document the Committee's reports on women in the shelter system for the Board's August 7, 2008 hearing on Homeless Women in San Francisco.
Chair Mecke asked that letter be addressed to Supervisor Chu.
Action: Approved letter
m/s/c (Belton/Ochoa/Unanimous)
VI. INFORMATION REQUESTS
A. Staff Report
Ms. Casey reviewed the staff report and reviewed the Access Memorandum, which provided an overview of the turn aways tracked by staff on July 29, 2008
Committee Member Picarello stated that he did not feel the staff should be working on these issues and concentrate on the Standards of Care and answering and returning calls.
Committee Member Greer stated that at future meetings the Committee had decided that Ms. Casey should not go to sites.
Ms. Casey cautioned the Committee about discussing any personnel issue as she was an employee of DPH and encouraged the Committee to work on Charter amendment which would allow them to have their own staff.
Chair Mecke stated that the officers met monthly with Ms. Casey to review the tasks at hand.
B. Information Requests
Committee Member Picarello noted that HSA provided the incorrect contract (Ella Hill Hutch) to the Information Request.
Committee Member Callandrillo made a comment that the Committee may want to consider requesting annual reports from sites in future Information Requests.
C. Announcements
ADJOURNMENT ACTION
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.
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 415.554.7724
Fax 415.554.7854
E-mail sotf@sfgov.org
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