Youth Justice Committee - March 11, 2014 - Minutes
Meeting Date:
March 11, 2014 (All day)
Related Meeting Content:
San Francisco Youth Commission
Youth Justice Committee
Minutes
Tuesday, March 11, 2014
5:00-7:00pm
City Hall, Room 345
1. Dr. Carlton B. Goodlett Pl.
San Francisco, CA 94102
There will be public comment on each item.
Members: Sophie Edelhart-Chair, Ramon Gomez, Joshua Cardenas, Denesia Webb; Part-time member: Monica Flores
1. Call to Order and Roll Call
The meeting was called to order at 5:00 pm. Commissioners present: Gomez, Cardenas, WebbCommissioners absent: Edelhart, Flores
Staff present: Adele Carpenter
There was quorum.
2. Approval of Agenda (Action Item)
Commissioner Cardenas, seconded by Commissioner Webb, moved to approve the agenda. There was no public comment. The motion was approved by acclamation.3. Approval of Minutes (Action Item)
A. February 18, 2014 (Document A)Commissioner Webb, seconded by Commissioner Cardenas, moved to approve the minutes from February 18, 2014. There was no public comment. The motion was approved by acclamation.
B. February 25, 2014 (Document B)
Commissioner Cardenas, seconded by Commissioner Webb, moved to approve the minutes from February 25, 2014. There was no public comment. The motion was approved by acclamation.
4. Public Comment on Items not on Agenda (Discussion Only)
There was none.5. Business (All Items to Follow Discussion and Possible Action)
A. Review committee recommendations for Children’s Fund and PEEF(Documents C and D)
Committee members discussed the following recommendations:
• The youth justice committee supports the expansion/increase of the Children’s fund beyond the current tax/set aside rate
• Financial literacy programs for juvenile detainees
• Job preparation support and job opportunities that are targeted toward at-risk and justice-system involved youth
• Restorative practices and support for school discipline reform, including non-punitive forms of early intervention
• Consistent and long-term group and individual counseling services for TAY and youth through counseling centers and programs
• Extend mentoring programs (currently provided to juvenile detainees and probationers) to TAY in the adult probation system and 18 year olds in the transition/gap (support with interviewing for diversion and alternative sentencing programs, release, etc.)
• Increase parent education opportunities
• Expand support services and leadership/advocacy programs for youth with incarcerated parents
Commissioner Gomez, seconded by Commissioner Webb, moved to approve the above recommendations from the Youth Justice committee for the Children’s Fund and PEEF:
There was no public comment. The motion was approved by acclamation.
B. Work on committee priority: Investigation into the needs of youth with incarcerated parents
Denesia Webb gave an update on her and Commissioner Edelhart’s recent meeting with Project WHAT youth leaders. At the meeting, they heard directly about the experiences of youth with incarcerated parents including: communication and financial barriers, difficulty maintaining contact and with visiting policies; trauma, mental health concerns, difficulty with reuniting upon release, and needs for support for youth with incarcerated parents; Instability and housing and education as a result of parental incarceration.
Project WHAT gave feedback on the hearing motion draft and suggested changing the word “engage” regarding law enforcement’s interaction with youth during parental arrest. Commissioner Cardenas agreed to follow up on this.
On Monday, March 24th Commissioner Webb is meeting with Project WHAT youth leaders to deliver copies of the motion, if approved on March 17th, to members of the Board of Supervisors. Committee members agreed to help reach out to their supervisors before that date.
There was no public comment.
C. Review committee priorities
• SFPD-SFUSD MOU: Commissioner Cardenas gave an overview of the recent meeting with community advocates regarding the SFPD-SFUSD MOU. The MOU was signed and now we need to work on informing students, as well as making sure the DGO (SFPD) and admin regs (SFUSD) created out of this are effective at implementing the changes. Commissioner Gomez agreed to follow up with Commissioner Van Stark to discuss the idea of making a short video regarding students rights and responsibilities when interacting with police on campuses later in Spring, which could be aired on school TV stations in homerooms.
• New Time of Arrest Protocol for SFPD: Staff member, Adele Carpenter, distributed copies of a proposed SFPD DGO regarding parental arrest in front of children. Commissioner Cardenas agreed to speak in public comment at the police commission meeting the next evening.
• JPD Budget and the Juvenile Hall Recreation Yard: Commissioners reviewed the proposed JPD budget that was presented to the juvenile probation commission in February. They noted the proposed $2M facilities upgrade involving camera installation and that the need for security cameras was one of three security upgrades noted as needed in order to open the recreation yard. Commissioner Gomez agreed to attend the Juvenile Probation Commission meeting the next night to inquire about the camera installation as an opportunity to secure the rec yard at juvenile hall as a step towards opening the recreation yard.
• District Attorney’s Office and Alternative Sentencing/Restorative Justice: Commissioners Webb and Cardenas gave an overview of the presentation from the DA’s office at the last committee meeting regarding Make it Right and the Alternative Sentencing planner. Commissioners agreed they would like to follow up further into the “Make it Right” pilot to request a report on progress and find out how they can support the expansion of the program. Commissioner Gomez noted he would like to volunteer with the program, if volunteers are needed, and that the committee is interested in all efforts to connect victims and perpetrators in order to restore harm. They also asked staff to follow up to learn more about how they can support TAY in accessing services through the Alternative Sentencing Planner.
• Police training: Commissioners requested staff to request an update meeting with SFPD’s Lt. Fatooh regarding progress on the juvenile policing trainings.
6. Staff Report
Adele Carpenter asked committee members when they would like to tour Juvenile Hall. Committee members suggested this should wait until May, as should the possibility of attending a juvenile advisory council presentation.Spotlight for the Arts is making a documentary on youth-police relations and asked commissioners to appear in it. Commissioner Webb and commissioner Gomez were interested.
Adele Carpenter reminded commissioners about the CAHRO planning meeting Friday. Commissioner Cardenas could attend. She also reminded commissioners that the meeting March 17th would be long.