we are celebrating the glorious

grand opening of the chinese rec center. ♪ 1951, 60 years ago, our first kids began to play in the chinese wrecks center -- rec center. >> i was 10 years old at the time. i spent just about my whole life here. >> i came here to learn dancing. by we came -- >> we had a good time. made a lot of friends here. crisises part of the 2008 clean neighborhood park fund, and this is so important to our families. for many people who live in chinatown, this is their backyard. this is where many people come to congregate, and we are so happy to be able to deliver this project on time and under

budget. >> a reason we all agreed to name this memorex center is because it is part of the history of i hear -- to name this rec center, is because it is part of the history of san francisco. >> they took off from logan airport, and the call of duty was to alert american airlines that her plane was hijacked, and she stayed on the phone prior to the crash into the no. 9 world trade center. >> i would like to claim today the center and the naming of it. [applause] >> kmer i actually challenged me to a little bit of a ping pong -- the mayor actually challenge me to a little bit of a ping-

pong, so i accept your challenge. ♪ >> it is an amazing spot. it is a state of the art center. >> is beautiful. quarkrights i would like to come here and join them >> good morning everyone. how is everyone doing? nice and loud crowd, that's exactly when we need, engagement. i am part of the mayor's office. the director of crime prevention services. and we are proud to launch this first forum in the county of san

francisco and particularly here at the hall of justice. today we have an array of presenters and keynote speeches. and district attorney opening the forum and we will have a forum by the chief and our own mayor. today we want to explain a little bit of background how this panel came about. the forum was an effort that was designed a year ago. with many key stakeholders that are present here today. the attempt was to begin bridging the dialogue between criminal justice agencies and community-based organizations. so there a strong attempt to try to help a population that is mostly impacted right now by criminal justice. by violence in general in our community. the 18-24-year-old population. today is one of the many

conversations we hope. and we want to be sure that we strive and communicated to the community as a whole. that this community that we see of the rates we see that relate to this population. given this harsh reality in our city and county. many of the city departments decided to come together with the community-based agencies to plan this forum. the forum is comprised the criminal justice agencies and elected officials and the managers that are willing to work with the community-based organizations that are doing the work day in and out. i welcome you to listen at first and hear the perspective from each agency as they relate to the different perspective titles. and i would encourage you to

make sure that you listen in terms of asking any questions during the second panel. so we can begin that dialogue that is need in the city and county of san francisco. once again we would like the district attorney to give a couple of words and to be able to acknowledge the importance of this forum today. please welcome the district attorney. >> thank you, and good morning, and welcome to our hall of justice. welcome to the first-ever transitional youth forum that is being held here. i think it's important for us to recognize there a difference between those of the ages of 18-25, and someone that is older or someone that is below.

the criminal justice system doesn't always recognize the difference. i can tell you if we look at a study that has been done. and like the u.k. or look deeply in the process of younger people. and the reality that there is a role to the social development of the age group between 18-25. and the fact involved and the psychological world has recognized this long ago. but the criminal justice system has not. and to address the solution and do in a thoughtful way to avoid incarceration and the impact of this young life is important. i think here in san francisco, we are in a long way of other communities recognizing the need to do this. and working with the young

people to reduce incarceration and to involve the right services. i am excited about this. and i want you to take away one other piece. but the british are further away in this area, because they have spent the money and resources to look at this more deeply. but according to the studies by the university of europe that were released. looking at crimes involving young people. they considered them in the u.k. about 30% of the criminal justice system is impacted by people that are the ages of 18-25. unfortunately not 30% of our resources are dedicated to dealing with this group. what we often don't recognize, if we don't deal with this group at this early stage. they will also become the problem with our criminal justice system for the rest of their lives. the opportunity to intervene and the opportunity to prevent is so

critical at this age group. and i am proud to be joined by so many people that care about this. and here in san francisco we are looking forward to coming up with different answers to this problem. i want to thank you and welcome you to today's event. >> thank you, district attorney. of course this forum would not be possible without the participation of everyone here. with the planning committee. before we come to the next keynote speaker. we want to welcome our partners from san mateo county, thank you for joining us. we would also like to acknowledge the community-based organizations that are here present doing work every day and out. and if we could have those organizations please stand. [applause]

and then we also would like to acknowledge the city agencies, city departments that support community-based organizations that work day in and out as well. very diligently to make sure that the resource and the policy changes that are necessary in our community are here. if i could have the department heads also please stand. [applause] thank you very much. so we are going to do a quick change. and we would like to present our next keynote speaker. someone that has done a lot of work in the city and county of san francisco. in terms of reentry programs here in all the communities of san francisco. someone that i very much, that is very much a strong advocate around reentry. and the need for reentry

services, i would like to welcome chief adult probation officer, wendy steele. [applause] >> a little shorter. thank you very much. it's such a privilege and honor to be here today to talk about this really important subject. adult probation's goal is to break the intergenerational cycle of incarceration. if we do it where we have the greatest risk and opportunity is with this 18-25 transitional age group. adult probation has undergone a transformation over the last three years. we have learned so much, and diag gasone. and the greater partners and others who put this forum

together. it's really important that if we find solutions, that we find them together in partnership. and we do that by recognizing that the criminal justice system doesn't have the solution. we have part of the solution. but we are only a part if we partner with community-based organizations. because you are experts in your field also, right. and we all share that same goal to save lives and break that cycle. it's a privilege to have it opportunity to interact with you. and i want you to know from my heart, how important the services you provide are. is -- and we are about ready to put our money where our mouth is. show me the money. and this important event and the service providers partnering with all the community justice system is how we will reduce recidivism.

we have worked with over 5600 offenders that we supervise, and 20% of this age group, 18-25 year olds. and we supervisor on adult probation and city jail and commitments in the community, and those getting out of prison. we know this is a high-risk, high-need population, approximately 58% of our 18-25 years olds are already assessed at high-risk and high need. if we don't do something successful to intervene, to change the behavior, to provide opportunity for services. we know what is going on happen. they will become another incarceration statistic. and not only them. but for that second and third generation in the families. having worked in the prison

system for years, it was nothing to walk on the yard and see three generations of families out there. it's such a privilege to work in san francisco, because we are creating a system that includes all the partners. the community-based organization and the sheriff system and the collaborative court system and the d.a. and the chief of police. and that's what it takes, when people talking about changing the system. everyone working together collaboratively and unselfishly, keeping our eye on the prize. we have implemented evidence-based model of adult probation. all that means is that everything we do is based on evidence. motivational interview. and the type of services. and risks needs instrument tools. so we know what that individuals's needs are. but we have taken it a step forward for this population.

and we are the only probation department in the state that has created a specialized group, 18-25 years olds that have wrap-around services and individual treatment plans. but the other important thing we have done is create a success-based supervision model. and you have to couple that can services. and when individuals trip, they will trip and fall. so many of them have addictions; right. it's how we address those basically violations they have. we do it in a strength-based way. we do in a disciplined way. that's what a strength-based system looks like. before the next step, i would like to take a minute and introduce adult probation, my

own unsung heroes. the probation officers that work with these 974 individuals, i would ask that this group would come please stand up. [applause] these are the individuals that have dedicated their professional career to saving and changing lives. they just had a graduation last week of eight individuals that went through a "thinking for change" cognitive behavior program. without them we basically would not have the success. thank you very much and i will turn it back over to diana. >> thank you. and once again, this wouldn't be possible without the planning committee. so i would like to highlight those who work day in and out

for last year to make this possible. jessica fort from adult probation, and (inaudible) from the district attorney office. jasmine dalton from the attorney's office. and rafael (inaudible). thank you very much for all of your hard work. we hope this will be one of many in the future. now i would like to welcome to the stage our very own city and county mayor, edwin lee. [applause] >> thank you, good morning everyone. and thank you all for being here. let me express my appreciation for all of the law enforcement agencies coming together with gaskin's office and adult and juvenile probation, and sheriff

and the public defender's office in addition. and all of that the residents and the citizens and agencies that are concerned about our youth. last april i authored a directive it our city departments to increase the coordination of our youth services. and the advice of both diana and maurice and others who have been working with me. and sharing my concerns about the levels of gaps that we continue to see in the coordination of services to our youth. and the fact that i have made it a person fo -- personal focus of mine to ensure that our youth ages 18-25 get stronger attention to the city. and i want to welcome those from the bay area to join us as well. oftentimes we can learn from each other what are the better

practices and what this coordination means in this day and age. it isn't just talking through but identifying the gaps that exist. and for our youth those gaps could be literally life dependent. and whether it's mental services. whether it's education. whether it's getting a referral to a job. or counseling. whether it's just those two days getting out of either incarceration or something to do with our criminal justice system. we have to pay more attention to the whole level of existence. and i want to thank all of the agency heads for coming here together. this is my understanding, the first time we have asked everybody to come together and to share what you are doing. as good as they might be, as

great as they might be. that we still have gaps. and i would be the first to admit it in our city. while we are probably exhibiting of the most successful things we are doing. whether it's 5,000 more summer jobs. we will do more of that. and whether it's getting an exciting grant from the department of laborer to the tune of $8 million and to get kids involved in technology. or whether it's the latest program in our youth and getting more housing for them and services directly connected. as good as those things may be, they are one offs. unless we all coordinate how it is that we can attack those gaps. and not leave any period of time where the kids might feel they have to go back to habits that they may have learned.

whether from their families or environment they grew up in. i am cognizant of that, having grown up in public housing. and to get better. and to try to do that with the public housing residents now. to give hope to them. no matter where they are, sunnyvale or potrero. but to work with the families and it's not just brick and mortar. i want to give you my personal thoughts of bringing everyone together. it's worth it. it's worth every ounce of our energy to really fill in all the gaps. what makes me the saddest is when diag, and i and police chief suhr get the texts on