San Francisco Youth Commission
Education, Health, & Wellness Committee
Held jointly with Student Advisory Council Representatives
DRAFT - Minutes
Wednesday, January 22, 2014
5:00-7:00 p.m.
City Hall, Room 345
1. Dr. Carlton B. Goodlett Pl.
San Francisco, CA 94102

There will be public comment on each item.

YC Members: Anna Bernick, Luisa Sicairos, Joyce Wu, Ariel Yu,
SAC Members: Liam Thirtyacre, Rain Talosig, Elizabeth Jones

1. Call to Order and Roll Call

The meeting was called to order by Commissioner Yu at 5:04pm.

Commissioners Present: Bernick, Sicairos, Wu, Yu

SAC Representatives Present: Thirtyacre

Staff Present: Allen Lu

2. Approval of Agenda (Action Item)

Commissioner Wu, seconded by Commissioner Bernick moved to approve the agenda for the meeting. The motion was approved by acclamation.

There was no public comment.

3. Approval of Minutes (Action Item)

A. Wednesday, December 18, 2013
(Document A)

Commissioner Sicairos, seconded by Commissioner Wu moved to approve the minutes from December 18, 2013. The motion was approved by acclamation.

There was no public comment.

4. Public Comment on Items not on Agenda (Discussion Only)

There was no public comment.

5. Business (All Items to Follow Discussion and Possible Action)

A. Check-in

Committee members and guests introduced themselves and shared how they were doing that week.

B. Q&A Session with Parents and Community Members involved in Inclusion for Youth with Special Needs

Guests: Nicole Plata, Community Empowerment Coordinator at The Center for Dignity, Recovery, and Stigma Elimination, Chryss Gon, Community Resource Parent at Support for Families, Jynette Oji, Women’s Ministry Leader at Bay Area Christian Church, Ray Kim, Program Developer at E-Soccer, and Lauren and Jonathan, students

Ms. Gon shared the role of SpEd CAC, the difference between a 504 plan and an IEP. She shared that inclusion works best when we start at a young age. Her organization has a team that has a Special Needs Inclusion Practice/Training that can come present to the committee in the upcoming future.

Ms. Plata shared her program Fire Within, which utilizes entrepreneurship to, for example, promote mental health and wellbeing so students can learn how to ID signs of mental distress. She would love to connect the committee with other organizations.

Lauren, a student, talked about the importance of having Peer Support. Other people agreed, stating that students are the ones engaging with each other most at the school setting which provides a great potential and opportunity if we can have students conduct themselves with compassion and care.

Commissioner Yu mentioned that having guest speakers come in to provide workshops to students can be beneficial since teachers are reportedly overwhelmed.

Jeanette added that the problem is that the school district does not have the resources or money to train their teachers. Just having general awareness from everyone would be essential. Students follow the behavior of the parents. If we can only teach people how to care and express that they do to special students, half the battle would be over.

Commissioner Sicairos shared her and her sister’s experiences with teachers, paras, and the district.

Jeanette talked about the law called the IDEA. Everyone starts out in General Education. If the teachers, administrators and staff at a school are not on board with inclusion, then it’s not going to happen. She recommended that the committee members visit and observe an inclusive school that is fantastic such as HOPE Technology, and another that may not be as inclusive, and think about what works and what doesn’t work.

Ray Kim shared that he feels policies will not be pushed through because policy makers only concern themselves with, “Will this help typical kids?” He recommended the committee check out www.naste.org . He specifically mentioned a study that found inclusion not only helps students with special needs, but also everyone else with academic achievement, positive outlook, and social awareness. These are things administrators care about.

Nicole also talked about having an oversight/accountability body to ensure laws, programs, and rules are being observed. Youth need to feel safe to share when they see something inappropriate happening.

Commissioners shared their personal thoughts on age, and also the fact that they want to write a resolution that can be implemented. They don’t want to make it too big to include everyone and everything, but that they want to get down to the specifics.

Ray recommended that the committee should narrow down their focus even more and have fact-based definitive statistical findings. He asked the group if PE might also be a good place in addition to the health classes.

The committee had more discussions with their guests before the guests left. They would follow up with each other regarding statistics and updates to the resolution.

C. Research Break-Out

The committee broke up into three groups and investigated the resources that were shared to them by the guests. After, they came back to report to the group their findings.

Commissioner Sicairos motioned to go over the hard material guests left behind next meeting. Commissioner Wu seconded the motion, and the motion was passed.

Commissioner Yu motioned to invite Support For Families back for the two hour Training Ms. Gon mentioned. Representative Thirtyacre seconded the motion, and the motion was passed.

There was no public comment.

6. Staff Report

A. Programmatic updates, review upcoming events

Mr. Lu updated the committee on next week’s Shape Up SF’s campaign launch and the Free MUNI For Youth Art Contest Planning Committee Meeting. He also reminded everyone about the SpEd CAC coffee hour and meeting happening the next day which Ariel will be attending.

There was no public comment.

7. Items to Report to Executive Committee (Action Item)

Commissioner Yu motioned to report updates from this meeting and the committee’s transition into heavy duty research. Representative Thirtyacre seconded the motion. The motion was approved by acclamation.

There was no public comment.

8. Executive Committee Report (Discussion Only)

There was none.

9. Adjournment

The meeting was adjourned at 6:57pm.

Any materials distributed to the members of the Youth Commission within 72 hours of the meeting or after the agenda packet has been delivered to the members are available for inspection—along with minutes of previous Youth Commission meetings and all supplementary information—at the Youth Commission office during regular office hours (9am to 6pm, Monday—Friday). The Youth Commission office is located at:
City Hall, Room 345
1 Dr. Carlton B. Goodlett Place
San Francisco, CA 94102
Phone: (415) 554-6446, Fax: (415) 554-6140
Email: youthcom@sfgov.org
www.sfgov.org/yc

KNOW YOUR RIGHTS UNDER THE SUNSHINE ORDINANCE
(Chapter 67 of the San Francisco Administrative Code)
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FOR MORE INFORMATION ON YOUR RIGHTS UNDER THE SUNSHINE ORDINANCE OR TO REPORT A VIOLATION OF THE ORDINANCE, CONTACT THE SUNSHINE ORDINANCE TASK FORCE, please contact:
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) 554‐5784
E‐mail: sotf@sfgov.org
Copies of the Sunshine Ordinance can be obtained from the Clerk of the Sunshine Ordinance
Task Force, at the San Francisco Public Library, and on the City’s website at
http://www.sfgov.org.

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To obtain a disability‐related modification or accommodation, including auxiliary aids or services, to participate in the meeting, please contact Phimy Truong, Youth Commission Director [phone: 415-554 7112; email: phimy.truong@sfgov.org] at least 48 hours before the meeting, except for Monday meetings, for which the deadline is 4:00 p.m. the previous Friday.