place we could use assistance is just to let high school principals and teachers know about the program so they can understand that when we come in, we are actually coming in to enhance what is going on. i am a former teacher. i know the rigors that teachers deal with every day. the last thing they need is programs that don't actually enhance what they do but cause them an extra burden or more work. we are mindful of that. just advocacy and promotion of the outcomes, which i think will be beneficial for teachers and principals to understand. it just makes everything smoother working within the district. to your second point, we are definitely really aware of the need for working with first- generation college students and providing them what they need to get ready and prepared for college. the difference with the program during the school year is the time. we have the entire school year to do that.

we will definitely provide workshops on how to talk to schools, financially and workshops. we will work with college track. i will mention the rest of the partners in a second. we will pull from them and work to combine resources. they will be coming in and talking to our youth and letting them know how to go to the process. we have a college were planned for the spring. i'm really fighting to get more funding so we can possibly do that to where they go out of state for this portion of the programming. we will have a college tour at the end of the program as well. the youth the chance to visit schools. we are on that track and we want them to be aware of everything they can do at the next level in terms of education as well as all the job options that are available for them. >> you said 70 out of 74 past. -- passed.

>> the four that passed passed one of their class. one of the four did not pass english. two of those four did not pass algebra. one of them received an n. one of the things that would be helpful for us in terms of engagement and keeping people on track as having the names. we don't have the names, the actual names of the participants that received what. the district could not give us that information. we have gone through the formal mou process. we will have access to everything. we will be able to follow up and find out where gaps are and who missed what, and the best way to a system. >> for those that were successful that completed the program, has the district giving you any kind of a status update

or progress report on how these students are doing in this fall semester? >> the first reporting period is coming to a close and we will have the information in report cards. we will be able to track those used -- youth who went through the program over the summer. it will take some time to get that information. the district has said they will provide that for us. >> if i remember correctly, the program once -- was -- there were challenges in getting the word out. what kind of improvements will you be able to make? getting the word out, advertising, and would like to see even more students enrolled. >> i would like to be able to do it at each school site. i think one of the things, it was a first-time program. i think getting everyone to be aware of the constraints and the

time. and how quickly things move is something that we have the ability to do this year. same thing with the school year. just being prepared, and all this stuff being put in place. we are building from the ground up. we know what we need to do, when we need to start the planning and everything. i just need to get the go but in -- go button. we're prepared to move earlier. supervisor cohen: thank you very much. thank you for being good community partners. colleagues, seeing that there are no comments, i would like to open up for public comment. are there any members here that would like to speak on this item? no? public comment is closed appeared could you please read the second item on the agenda? >> there is only one item on the agenda today. supervisor cohen: great. thank you very much.

that adjourns the meeting. have a good week.

>> good morning. welcome to the grand opening of the san francisco police department's special victims unit. i am the commanding officer of the new svu. i would like to take a couple moments to briefly acknowledged our honorable mayor ed lee, chief greg suhr and command staff, commissioner azuko, and commissioner chan as well. thank you for joining us. i know how busy your schedules are. i believe district attorney

gascon is going to be here any moment. i wanted to take a moment to acknowledge our professional partners. child protective services, adult protective services, the child abuse prevention center, the mayor's office into violence consortium, -- anti-silence consortium -- anti-violence consortium, and casa de las madres. with that, chief greg suhr. [applause] >> welcome. i really appreciate everyone being here. in my administration, we do not do a lot of press conferences,

but this is really important. october is domestic violence awareness month. it was a major priority of mine and the mayor's to make an impression that we have to take care of our most vulnerable. we will open one is to be the special victims unit in the san francisco police department for the first time where we consolidate the domestic violence units, a juvenile, human trafficking, missing persons, elder abuse and neglect, financial abuse, and sex crimes into one unit. over the next few years, we will go through a huge transition in the police department. some of our most experienced officers will be retiring. we want to make sure we do not lose their expertise and their ability to work with the advocates to make the most

successful prosecutions possible for those who would victimize our most vulnerable. often the victims come with children. we wanted to have a warm space that was secure. i think when you find your way inside, you will find that is the case. a lot of these officers will pick up the expertise from each other where maybe they did not have it before. if there is a day when we are short, they will bring this additional ability to connect with the victims. the advocates will also be providing services and support. i like to think they do it in no other city like they do in san francisco. working with partner agencies is key to this. this is a cooperative effort that happens to be located

inside the police department. i want you to take special note that we have a children's play area to keep them occupied, safe, and warm. we have books in chinese that were provided by a community member. we have books in spanish that are on the way. we want to make this a place for everybody. i will not go on and on. i really want to get to what is important. that is to get inside. i will pass the microphone i cai appreciate his support in pulling this off. it took a lot of change and collaboration of the police department. they moved their space, they work on their time off. they worked with me and the command staff to get this done. i think when you go inside, their hearts are in the right

place. this is the deputy chief. >> good morning. fiona mah appreciates the invitation and appreciates the effort to better serve victims of crime in san francisco. as the chair of the select committee on domestic violence, she has been a tireless advocate for victims and survivors of domestic violence and human trafficking. she is unable to join us as she is chairing a select committee hearing. >> thank you. thank you for being here. we have a special victims unit.

it has been a culmination of a lot of discussions. i want to thank chief suhr. we said we would have to do more and do better with less. with those ideas in mind in knowing we have a dwindling force but increased amount of demand from our communities, we needed to do smarter things. it makes so much sense that this innovative idea of bringing the various investigative units together in the same space and under the same command can make the offer is even more resources put together. i want to thank the community- based advocates for their willingness to bring resources to work with our law enforcement. this effort is also a reflection of the commitment from our police commission. i want to thank each and every

one of them and their leadership in working with the community and our police chief. it means so much to bring more and better resources and enforcement of our laws right to where the victims need it. this is a special time. we have the most vulnerable parts of our population, women, children, and elderly, who can get better service here in a culturally competent way. i am proud to be the mayor of the city who knows how to do it better. for the state of california, our elderly population is the highest level in the whole state. bringing more resources to the victims who may be financial victims, victims of abuse, as well as recognizing this being domestic violence awareness month, that we will do better with this coordinated effort. i am excited to see this unit

come to fruition. i thank the chief for making sure we reorganize properly with the future in mind. i am glad to begin the ribbon cutting and allow everyone to see what we have done and for the committee to know that we're working hard to increase -- for the community to know that we're working hard to increase the resources for them. [applause] >> thank you, mr. mayor. we have the president of the police commission. >> it is great to see the collaboration between the commission, the mayor's office, the police department, the district attorney's office. it will increase the expertise our officers have. it will streamline the process in terms of managing the units. we're looking at losing a lot of

officers to retirement. this is an excellent idea to train them in new areas. we owe it to the precious crown jewels of our city. this is a great place for children to come and a great place for women to feel comfortable. i know the most domestic violence cases, the victims may decide not to cooperate. the results are sometimes tragic. i want to thank the mayor and police department for taking a big step in leading the state and country and how we handle these issues. thank you. [applause] >> i want to acknowledge our new officers in charge that are assigned to this unit. lt. jane, lt. foxx, and lt.

scallini. i also want to acknowledge the dedication and ongoing hard work that the investigators assigned to the different disciplines that will be culminated here. they have the logistical move and continued to work on their cases as we were moving forward with these -- this. they still had to work on their cases in debt outstanding job during this difficult time. along with that, i wanted to say thank you again to the mayor and chief for making this happen for us. it was a long time overdue. we're very excited. chief? >> channel 26 is really taking a

beating. [laughter] i am going to forgo the honor of cutting the ribbon. i will ask commander sandra tong who conceived of and was the first commanding officer of one of the first domestic violence sections in any police department in california to do the honors with mayor lee with these not so classroom-safe scissors. we will have you come forward and do the honors. [applause]