Honoring Emancipated Youth (HEY)Local Foster Care Policy Updates

San Francisco Budget Update

Justin Slaughter — Mon, 21 Jun 2010 18:07:48 +0000

photo from Human Services Network

[From Debbi Lerman, Human Services Network, June 11, 2010]

Over the past two weeks, more information has become available on which cuts are included in the Mayor’s budget, and which have been restored. The budget includes roughly $25 million in health and human service cuts. The budget funds the Children’s baseline at the required level, but does not comply with the Treatment on Demand initiative which requires that the City to not reduce funding or substance abuse treatment slots as long as there is unmet need.

Based on this proposed budget, the City Controller projects that the FY 2011-12 gap will be about $400 million, including $257 million to replace the one-time sources used this year and $219 million in expected expenditure growth. Some of the information is included in documents that have been released:

Dept of Public Health : The cut list is included in the Beilensen notice. This list does not include services that have been defunded or otherwise changed because of the RFP, but the RFP results are available.

Dept of Children, Youth, and their Families : There is a list of programs that the Mayor restored to the DCYF budget. As with DPH, the list does not include program changes due to their recent RFP, but a list of funded programs is available.

Controller’s Revenue Letter: On Thursday, the Controller’s Office released their last significant budget-related document, the annual Revenue Letter that reviews the Mayor’s proposed budget. Overall, he found the proposed budget to be reasonable, but issued three important cautions:

(1) The budget contains $123 million in federal revenue (including the FMAP funds that the DPH and HSA budgets are relying on) that have not yet been approved.

(2) The budget assumes a $30 million reduction in revenue from the state, which could be much larger given the state’s $17 billion deficit. Backfilling all of the proposed cuts in the Governor’s May revise budget would cost well over $100 million, though the Legislature has so far rejected many of those cuts.

(3) The budget assumes $19 million in revenue that requires local approval. This includes $8 million in revenue from the Mayor’s proposed Condo Conversion Fee, which the Board is expected to reject.

Calling all budget advocates, organizers, parents, youth, and community members!

Josefina — Tue, 27 Apr 2010 18:28:31 +0000

April 28^th is the big hearing on budget cuts for children, youth and families!! Several department heads will be present, but the hearing will feature a presentation from Maria Su of DCYF to talk about the DCYF RFP and their budget reductions. Coleman Advocates has requested that Mayor Newsom attend the hearing to better understand the impact of budget reductions to our communities.

It is crucial that we show City Hall our numbers, demanding not only that the Mayor and Board of Supervisors protect funding for critical services this year, but also that they commit to long-term solutions to a much larger problem, so that we don’t have fight tooth and nail every single year for the same money.

We demand that decision-makers restore funding to services for next year AS PART OF A LARGER LONG-TERM “Working Families Recovery & Reinvestment Plan”:

Ensure the future economic security and address the basic needs and everyday conditions of poor and working class children, youth and families in the City through investing in jobs, education, affordable housing, affordable and accessible health care, safe homes and safe streets, child care and after-school programs, and other critical programs.

Create an equitable tax structure (meaning progressive revenue) targeting the City’s wealth, in order to have funding for critical services for youth and families!

Hearing on Budget Cuts for Children, Youth and Families!!

Wednesday, April 28, 2010 @ City Hall
2:00pm: Rally/Press Conference on Polk Street Steps
2:30pm: Sign-up begins for groups/individuals who want to testify
—plus greeters to help youth and families navigate the ‘Road Map to City Hall’—
3:00pm: Hearing begins

While we must hold City Hall accountable to what happens next fiscal year, we must also continue to push for a long-term vision to address the racial and economic disparities that continue to persist in our City and the toll that it takes on our children and young people. Come to City Hall on April 28^th—to tell your story, and join us in holding decision-makers accountable to the future of our kids and communities!!’

Please contact me with any questions
Chelsea Boilard — Family Policy & Budget Campaign Lead
Coleman Advocates for Children and Youth
(415) 239-0161 x19
www.colemanadvocates.org

March 22nd – Protest in Sacramento

Claudia Mendez — Tue, 20 Apr 2010 23:12:23 +0000

The fight to protect public education is still alive after March 4th. Many students, teachers and supporters came together on March 22, 2010 to protest in Sacramento and tell our representatives that we are unhappy with the budget cuts that have been and are still being made to our education.

Some of the struggles and issues faced by students because of these cuts are:

Students cannot get the classes they need to finish their General Requirements, let alone meet the requirements for their selected majors.
The budget cuts do not only affect the amount of dollars received by students on financial aid, but it also jeopardizes whether they can receive aid at all. A lot of financial aid is tied to how many units a student can enroll in, if classes are not offered students cannot get the units they need to receive credits and ultimately financial aid. In order for a student to receive financial aid they need to be enrolled 12 units, which is a full time student, but how can student fulfill this requirement if there are not enough classes for them to do so?
The classes which are being offered are often at capacity. It is sad to see classmates sit on the floor or stand during class time because there are not enough seats, since the classes have more students enrolled than they can handle.
We have mandatory furlough days because the schools can no longer pay teachers as many days as they used to. As a result teachers are forced to take essential materials out of their curriculum.
The school is offering fewer Majors because it cannot afford them anymore.
Students are working many jobs just to be able to pay the raise in tuition, books that have raised their prices, then everything else: housing, transportation, and so on.
Even though services have been reduced, the average SFSU student is now paying $2,370 per semester. This is an increase of more than $400 dollars per semester. WE ARE PAYING MORE AND RECEIVING LESS!

I am disgusted and feel sad at the fact that my friends and I have to go through these struggles when all we want is an education and when we are paying so much money. This is why I got up at 5am to go to be able to leave with buses that San Francisco State University provided at 6:00am. I loved the fact that although we did not know everyone and that I had never heard about some of the schools that were there that we came together as one to tell our governor that we are not happy with the cuts made to our education and that we are not going to stop fighting until he stops making cuts. I hope to see more events like this, so that that we can create more awareness of what is happening with our public education and that our governor sees that he cannot deprive us from the great education we deserve. I know that as long we continue being persistent more students will come together and join the cause because they will see the importance of standing up for their rights and the rights of the younger generations. STUDENTS UNITED WILL NEVER BE DEFEATED!!!

ILSP Needs Volunteer Painters and Extra Hands April 24

Dana Mandolesi — Tue, 13 Apr 2010 23:45:56 +0000

ILSP is looking for volunteers to help with fixing up the ILSP Teen Center at 225 Valencia on Saturday, April 24, 2010!

Rebuilding Together is improving the Teen Center, including painting with warmer colors, putting in cabinets and benches, covering the floor with carpet tiles (much needed), and opening up the space. These changes will make 225 more welcoming for youth and pleasant for activities and groups. Rebuilding Together is bringing in volunteer architects, contractors, and other supports, they are asking for additional volunteers as part of the team.

San Francisco ILSP is lucky to have been nominated and selected as one of the community facility sites for Rebuilding Together San Francisco 2010 renovation program. The Rebuild Together organization preserves and repairs the homes of low income elderly and disabled San Franciscans and renovates community facilities like child-care, youth and senior centers, schools and homeless shelters so they can better serve their clients.

The facility renovation is scheduled for Saturday, April 24th, during their rebuilding weekend. Please mark your calendar now for this exciting event!!

Participation from staff and the community served by ILSP will greatly enhance the changes we hope for so It would be great if you could volunteer for a couple hours that day. The project will start at 9am and ends at 5pm and some of the tasks will include painting, light carpentry and laying of carpet tiles, rearranging furniture, etc.

This is a volunteer opportunity and not a work day. Please let me know soon if you can join us in volunteering, whether for a few hours or all day. if you have any questions, or need additional information, please contact:

Arlene Hylton
Program Director
San Francisco Independent Living Skills Program
225 Valencia Street
San Francisco, CA 94103
(415) 934-4202
(415) 934-4228 fax
Arlene.Hylton@sfgov.org

The Children, Youth and Family Budget Hearing

Josefina — Wed, 07 Apr 2010 18:18:05 +0000

Wednesday April 28th,

2pm: Press Conference/Rally,
3pm: Hearing @ City Hall, Board Chambers

There are $11 million in proposed cuts JUST to the Department of Children, Youth and Families for the next fiscal year. That doesn’t even begin to include the cuts that will impact families and kids from the state level, or from the many other departments, some of whom have not even submitted a budget yet. The DCYF RFP results are scheduled to be released on April 15th, and until then, we won’t know the impact of the cuts on the community.

April 28th is the opportunity to come out to City Hall and testify– but is ALSO an opportunity to tell Mayor Gavin Newsom, who will have control of the budget until June 1st, that we need him to step up and preserve funding for critical programs for children, youth and families! More details to come soon about the schedule and logistics for the April 28th press conference & hearing. If you have any questions, please contact Chelsea at cboilard@colemanadvocates.org.

Volunteer opportunity in Keeping the Promise Event

Josefina — Thu, 25 Mar 2010 19:00:59 +0000

Come join us to raise awareness about Foster Care and child abuse prevention in San Francisco. Over 1,300 abused and neglected children in San Francisco, and over 65,000 in California, currently reside in temporary foster and group homes.

HEY will be joining National CASA, California CASA and SFCASA at Civic Center Plaza for this special event called Keeping the Promise to shine a light of this important issue.

Dates: April 7, 8, and 9, 2010

On Wednesday, 7th, there will be a ceremony with speakers including the Honorable Donna Hitchens, Superior Court Judge in the Unified Family Court, guests from the Board of Supervisors, the Judicial Council of California and the foster care system. 433 cardboard cutouts of children will be on display representing the number of San Francisco children who entered Foster Care in 2009.

HEY along with some other partners will be tabling at the event. If anyone is available to volunteer and help table on those dates, that would be a great support. Thanks.

Waiver Investments to support Transition Age Youth

Josefina — Thu, 25 Mar 2010 18:01:34 +0000

In the last several days Alameda County Foster Youth Alliance has spoken about the current opportunity to shape investment of Waiver dollars to support Transition Age Youth. In specific, SSA is seeking input regarding purchasable services that address Waiver Goal 5:

To improve self-sufficiency and well-being for transition age youth emancipating from foster care.

The input and ideas that Alameda County Foster Youth Alliance has received so far have coalesced around the following several issues:

Child care is seen as a primary impediment to youth’s employment, educational attainment, and participation in ILSP. Suggestions include:
- offering on-site childcare so that parenting youth can attend ILSP classes
- creating a child care coordinator position to assist youth in maintaining access to child care and making informed decisions about providers
- brokering services with a child care center to provide sufficient capacity for all parenting foster youth

Employment continues to be a struggle. Many feel that youth have sufficient “soft” supports – i.e. case management, information, job skills training – and that what they really need are jobs. Suggestions include:
- creating a summer jobs program, perhaps onsite at Hegenberger
- partnering with an established supportive employment program (Rubicon, CiviCorps, etc…) to expand the Fresh Start Cafe, or to create a similar project
- creating an employer subsidy program similar to the ACHIRE program for current foster youth

Education – most everyone expressed concern that youth need more support with educational attainment. Suggestions include:
- more tutoring, academic advising, and mentoring programs
- incentive programs for attainment and/or grades
- more staff to support youth with college admissions and financial aid

ILSP Training Program enhancements: many expressed concern that ILSP classes are not equally available to youth with diverse needs. Suggestions include:
- Establishing non-classroom options/non-traditional curricula
- Providing for more time in the community/more interactive learning
- Providing for significantly more guest speakers/trainers etc..

Please remember that all waiver investments must benefit in-care youth – the funds cannot be used to backfill cuts to programs for older youth.

REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS (RFP): San Francisco Workforce Development Services

admin — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 20:05:37 +0000

Contracting Opportunity for Community-Based Organizations: Workforce Development Services

The San Francisco Redevelopment Agency (Agency) is seeking to provide funding to non-profit community-based organizations (CBOs) to provide workforce development services to San Francisco jobseekers residing within the Visitacion Valley Redevelopment Project Area as part of the Agency’s Job Readiness Initiative (JRI).

This JRI Request for Proposals (RFP) makes available:

• $201,290 for workforce services targeting the Agency’s Visitacion
Valley Project Area

The contract term will be a 12-month period from July 1, 2010 through June 30, 2011.

The RFP will be released Friday, March 19, 2010. This is an on-line RFP and interested CBO’s must register on-line through the following website:
http://www.elationsys.com/elationsys/index.htm, Promotional Code is SFRA-JRI.

Submittals are due at 5:00 pm, Friday, April 19, 2010

If after reviewing the website, you have unanswered questions, contact:
Astrid Zometa, Contract Compliance Specialist at (415) 749-2423 or astrid.zometa@sfgov.org.

San Francisco’s Human Services – 2009 in Review

Dana Mandolesi — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 17:53:21 +0000

[from the Human Services Network, HSN Update 3/3/10]

HSN played a leadership role in many crucial policy arenas last year, including:

• City budget advocacy: HSN was involved throughout the budget process, which culminated in the Board’s restoration of $20 million for health and human services. We analyzed the budget and kept nonprofits informed through both email updates and our new Budget Central webpage – the only place where you can find all health and human service budget information in one location. We advocated against cuts before the Mayor’s Office, the Board, departments and Commissions. We partnered with our allies to form the Budget Justice Coalition, which organized rallies and media efforts, culminating in a June rally with 1000 people marching down Market Street to City Hall.

As the deficit grew, we recognized that service cuts were inevitable, and took on the task of developing “Guiding Principles for Budget Reduction Strategies,” which we disseminated to Commissions and elected officials. We also succeeded in placing an op-ed piece in the San Francisco Chronicle contrasting the health and human service cuts with increases in fire and police budgets.

• Long-term solutions: The fiscal crisis has provided opportunities to bring forth long-overdue policy conversations around the effectiveness, efficiency and sustainability of our service system. HSN has pushed the debate in numerous forums, asking vital questions about how our sector can best deploy itself to provide services in the face of rising demand and shrinking resources. We joined with other coalitions to form the Community Budget Reform Council, which disseminated recommendations and met with Supervisors during the development of Proposition A. We provided input to the Mayor’s Task Force on community-based organizations and the DPH stakeholder process. Our member meetings have provided a unique place for difficult conversations around efficiencies and consolidation, the longterm impacts of city wage and benefit packages on nonprofit services, and the need for an inclusive city planning process that is policy and outcome-focused.

• Other policy issues and events: HSN continues to act as a watchdog for policy decisions that impact our sector and the people we serve, and to maintain opportunities for nonprofits to engage in dialogue with decisionmakers. Our monthly General Member and Public Policy Committee meetings have helped build our relationships with city leaders and explore issues in greater depth. Among our featured speakers last year were Controller Ben Rosenfield, Mayor’s Budget Director Greg Wagner, Board President David Chiu, Supervisors Avalos, Campos, Dufty and Elsbernd, State Senator Mark Leno, and department heads Mitch Katz, Trent Rhorer, Anne Hinton and Maria Su. Finally, our email updates have provided our members with regular information about important issues and opportunities to get involved at city hall.

We thank all of you for the support and participation that have enabled our success. We hope you will renew your membership and continue working with us this year. We would especially like to see more of you at member meetings, where we have had some exceptional speakers and discussions! We also appreciate your input and ideas, and active response to our calls for comment on policies and participation at hearings.

Looking Ahead to 2010

HSN will continue to work diligently in 2010 as we face the serious challenges of these times:

• FY 2010-11 budget advocacy: With the city projecting a $522 million deficit, HSN will continue to serve as an information resource, advocate for programs that serve vulnerable San Franciscans, and put forward policy recommendations to minimize the harm and ensure that our sector will be able to maintain crucial services.

• Revenue strategies: The city cannot address our structural deficit through cuts alone. HSN is already working with policymakers and allies to explore ballot measures for November, when we will have the opportunity to pass revenue measures by a simple majority vote.

• Longterm reforms: We will continue to push forward with our policy and budget process reform efforts, including input into the implementation of the Mayor and DPH nonprofit reports, and the implementation of Proposition A provisions for a two-year budget process, new fiscal policies and five-year financial plans.

• New Realities and Community Congress: For the first time since 2001, HSN is organizing a citywide nonprofit public policy conference to develop action items for the next few years. The “New Realities 4″ conference will look at financial sustainability, our system of care, our partnership with the city, and employment issues. We will then join with other constituencies in a Community Congress to develop a broader community agenda for the future.

• Legislation and Policy: HSN will continue to ensure that nonprofits have a voice at the table when City policymakers face decisions affecting member agencies and the people we serve. We will also continue to build relationships with city leaders to make sure they understand the value and challenges of our sector, and support our work. The upcoming Supervisor elections will give us an opportunity to meet and educate our new elected officials through candidate questionnaires and forums.

San Francisco Human Services Agency System Improvement Plan: Youth on Probation

Dana Mandolesi — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 01:18:47 +0000

[from Dana Mandolesi, HEY's Project Manager]

During the fourth and final meeting of San Francisco’s Human Services System Improvement Plan Core Team Meeting, we spoke in depth about youth in probation. The Juvenile Probation Department (JPD) presented statistics and numbers of youth who were referred to the probation department and those resulting in a petition being filed in 2008. In 2008, the latest year they presented, there were 3446 youth referred to JPD but only 1607 actually had petitions filed against them. Once a youth’s petition is sustained – they are booked – meaning they are placed in probation with their families, in out of home (foster care) placements, or sent to a facility. The majority of youth do not get placed in juvenile hall, Log Cabin Ranch or more serious facilities.

The purpose of today’s discussion was to present initiatives currently underway and planned for the future that would encourage the least restrictive placements for youth on probation. Over the course of the last three years, JPD had several peer and expert evaluations and realized that least restrictive placements are the most rehabilitative for the youth and their families. Lower level placements also save money for San Francisco County, making this option beneficial for all parties.

However, in order to keep communities safe, while also encouraging accountability in youth – and showing them that indeed consequences exist – intentional decision making processes must be implemented. Therefore JPD is currently working with Child Welfare Services (CWS) to utilize and learn from programs that work. Because youth on probation and youth in foster care are paid for by the same government funding, they should always have access to the same services. Unfortunately, because of a fractured system, and various other psychological divisions between the youth, the departments, and the rationale that placed them in care, they may not receive equal services. Both JPD and CWS acknowledge that this disparity needs to be equalized and have multiple initiatives to support and rehabilitate youth and their families.

This meeting concluded the System Improvement Plan’s Core Team Meeting Series. Once the final recommendation is released, HEY will develop a simple summary to include as a HEY Trend in our newsletter and website.