research shows that compared with heterosexual peers, lgbt older adults report higher rates of chronic illness from diabetes, asthma, type 2 diabetes, a chevy, and the stigma that many lgbt seniors experience increased these risks. i guess what to close by saying that i know many of our community partners are here to day, and to ensure that they have access to the broad range of services, these partnerships are critical. just to name a few that open house works with all of the senior centers around the city, we have a terrific partnership with the california pacific medical center to provide critical physical and mental health services, work with the institute on aging, stepping stone, the lgbt community

center, the lgbt committee partnership, a critical thing for housing and service providers to discuss how better to serve these populations. we are building that infrastructure that is critically important for this growing population. in these very challenging economic times, it seems timely and appropriate to focus on the need of this particularly vulnerable population and how we can work together to meet the needs being raised here today. lgbt seniors are adaptive, resilient, some of the strongest people i have ever met, but our community faces. and take challenges and obstacles, and i look forward to working with the supervisors and the human rights commission and how we could put these resources together to confront all of these challenges. thank you. supervisor farrell: ok, so our final two presenters. the director of adult mental- health at the department of

public works, and daniel rudman from the national center of lusby legal rights issues. they will each have three minutes or so to%. -- they will each have three minutes or so to present. >> hello, everyone. my name is ed wynn. i have to apologize because our public health director could not be here today. she's very supportive of this effort, and we are also eager to learn how to improve services to the lgbt population. i come from the committee behavioral health services side, which includes mental health. i want to talk briefly in broadly about the services of the department of public health. it is basically over a billion

dollars worth of services located between 3 service delivery centers, one is the san francisco general hospital, the other is a good hospital, and the other is a wide variety of community programs -- the other is laguna hospital, and the other is a wide variety of community programs. in the department of public health, which is now under the leadership of garcia, we have really embraced integrated care. the care needs to be duly coordinated so that the mind and body and other needs are the best for the clients. and the service delivery and

public health. this also includes collaboration with other city departments. in all of our efforts, we have collaborated with the adult probation office, we have cooperated with the adult aging services, human services agencies, and a whole variety of initiatives. within in particular behavioral health, mental health and services, it has a budget of about $200 million, $300 million, and it is mental health and substance abuse treatment across several modalities, ranging from outpatient clinics to residential treatment programs, transitional residential, to acute in patient psychiatric services to day treatment, to vocational organizations, agile services,

and also we provide housing through a variety of programs that allow for services in that direction. at we have all of our programs that are able to serve everyone, regardless of age, however, we realize that we also -- hopefully, all seniors will be served. we still have an older adult programs, assisted health care, his mission is to really serve the senior population. it also, we are aware of it and lgbt issues, and that has been the subject of our training. at prior to the closing of a new leaf, it is also the subject of special laws funding, to have the behavioral health program

that best serve the lgbt community. we have tried to make sure that we have reallocated the dollar's to organizations that have cultural competence and sensitivity to the lgbt community, and at some point in time, we may have to look at that, for aspiring providers, to have the opportunity to serve on the committee. so i think i will leave at that. there are any questions, i will be more than happy to answer. >> thank you very much. mr. redman. >> thank you very much, members

of the board of supervisors. it my name is daniel rudman, and i am an attorney. our elders came of age during a time when to even gather as lgbt people was an extraordinary act of bravery. they stood up for us in bill to committee we call home, and now it is our time to stand up for them. today i will speak about the varieties of discrimination that lgbt people face in our city. across california and in san francisco, lgbt elders face significant discrimination and their families, accessing service, housing, and employment. it is compounded for lgbt elders of color, others who are immigrants or a document, and others with disabilities, and others who are hiv-positive who could comprise the majority of people with hiv in the united states. studies show that lgbt others are more likely to end up in facilities then there street peers. there are disturbing levels of

neglect and harassment, and i would like to share two-story specifically from san francisco in our report. johns partner jack was a san francisco skilled nursing facility in 2008. for 16 days, staff members refused to pay him, there were not comfortable helping a gay man to baith. john had to resort to taking check out of the facility and into his apartment for showers. buanother story. a woman in her 80's had gone by the name rusty her entire life. the staff members insisted on calling her hazel, which was her birth name. they also excluded her from activities in the facility because she was a lesbian. and another store, a man witnessed a transgendered resident and one of the facilities he visited being prevented from meeting with other residents. these are not isolated incidents.

80% of lgbt elders reported in this study they would not feel safe to be out in a nursing home. when one man put it, when i'm at the gates of the nursing home, the closet doors will shut behind me. all efforts to mandate cultural competency in lawn care facilities have faltered, san francisco can step in to help facilities train staff. that can step up monitoring of care facilities and quarter made average to residents to let them know their rights. and there is precedent for this. san francisco haslett on senior issues in the past as well. in conjunction with the city- funded singer care facility, san francisco and implemented a program to stop the unlawful fiscal restraint and drugging of residents. -- physical restraining and drugging of residents. lgbt elders also face complete disregard for their powers of attorney in advance directives. in my own work, i seen this

firsthand. in one case, state officials separated the gay couple, stole their belongings, and cut the help the partner from visiting his sick partner. this went on for weeks, and the man died without his partner getting a chance to say goodbye. we assisted in a similar case two weeks ago in another state. it would do something about this as well. activists are currently pushing for the establishment of a kinship residency -- registry and san francisco, allow anybody to choose from a menu of options to determine who should make decisions about medical care, finance, and other issues. many seniors to not enter into domestic partnerships. this is a strongly to provide a chunk protections. lgbt elders are far more likely to rely on non biological family of choice. lgbt people -- san francisco must take the lead in finding creative ways to ensure respect for all of our families.

the board should also focus on employment discrimination. in national survey found over a quarter of lgbt people plan to wait until the 70's to retire. lgbt others are more likely to be in poverty than their st. pierre's, and these numbers will rise. for lgbt elders who are recent immigrants and undocumented, the city has a role to ensure their culture reed caught the tend to work with them and their resources and our rich material are culturally sensitive and translations are always available. it is incumbent to ensure that all lgbt seniors are included. lgbt elders also suffered from an ability to access services. they fear access to services when did not have documentation, hiv-positive elders have health needs, and city services serving people with hiv must be inclusive of elder sexually. last but not least, many lgbt

elders feel pushed out of the city by the availability of affordable housing. these are all issues that must be explored by the board. we need a concerted city-wide pushed to assess this, bring together diverse members of the community to share struggles and suggestions, and invested all of the ways the power of the city can be brought to bear on this issue. the lgbt elders of our city deserve nothing less. supervisor wiener: i just have a few quick questions. in terms of the cultural competency training, has there been any movement forward locally on offering that to nursing facilities? >> in terms of what is available for cultural competency training, set from open house and other organizations provide competency training. there have been efforts at the state level to mandate them. atin 2008, a law was passed, but

that has not been implemented. in terms of what the city can do, the city can assist facilities in obtaining those trainings, and the city can certainly ramp up monitoring to ensure that cultural, take care is being administered. i hope that answers the question. supervisor wiener: and working together to move that ford, absolutely. -- to move that forward, absolutely. >> i will be very brief. i have a couple of paragraphs about our training program. we have a contract with the city and county to deliver the competency programs. it's a small contract, but it has helped us with training other city contractors. we have trained since 2004 about

1800 individuals from about 170 separate agencies in san francisco, to help them create safe and welcoming environments for the lgbt seniors that currently serve and to the lgbt seniors that they should be serving the seniors are reluctant to seek out those services. we have a very small competency training program, the product of many years of work to cooperate on putting together a good training program, which is enormously effective, but the demand for the services and the demand for that training just far outstrips our ability to deliver right now. but the demand is certainly out there. i think the interest is out there among service providers and lawn care facilities -- long-term care facilities to get these. we have the material, and we need to put together some resources and the plan to broaden that. supervisor wiener: thank you very much. before we get to public

comment, supervisor campos and olague? supervisor campos: thank you, since we are talking about some of the programs about city funded programs, what is the city require in terms of cultural competency? is that part of the requirement of getting a contract? and to the extent that is the case, what kind of oversight does the department provide to make sure that it is appropriate? >> yes, but that is part of the requirement of our providers. we also have business office compliance that monitors the procedures that require it that to be implemented. we do have a monitoring unit that does that.

specific to the goals of cultural competency for the lgbt population, we have had those kinds of trainings within the department of public health. i think probably one weakness is the intersection between older adults and lgbt issues, because of those. we are committed to training. aside from dedicated funding for organizations that serve dedicated populations, we really want our whole system to be able to surerve clients anywhere they show up. we also place a value on training, as well as actually hiring culturally competent staff. >> when we first had our contract with open house, we sent letters to all of our contractors to strongly encourage them to do this. the idea was to see what would

come from that. if we did not get everybody, then we would do something else. we were pleasantly surprised at the number of organizations that signed on to the training and you asked for further training, and that includes organizations that we thought, given the history, probably would not do that. i think, as seth says, the demand has been there. supervisor campos: i think that is wonderful. i think we should do more than just strong liking courage, and we should require people to provide that if they're going to get city funding, and also check with the people who are benefiting from the service to make sure that we feel they're being treated well. >> i think there is potential to do that within the department of public health. we are reported the contracts that contractors have american

health equity disparities, the history of the african-american community, that is the first time that it was ever required to have specific training. supervisor olague: along the lines of what supervisors wiener and campos were saying, it seems that we couldn't work with the department of aging and adult services and actually provide a series of training for all of those agencies that are receiving funding. it was useful for us that we had a series of training from the transgender lost institute, and they came in and give us some training, and it was informative and useful. i think definitely health-care providers should be included in this, but beyond that, it should just be folks who are receiving money through daas to deal with

the public. maybe as supervisor campos said, there is a way of mandating that, but it is certainly something to look at. >> we can mandated at dph. supervisor wiener: thank you. we are about to get to public comment. first, we have a three-minute video, and then we will get right into public comment. supervisor farrell: just to remind everyone, we do have an overflow room, room 250, for those of those -- for those of you who are standing. if you want to go to the overflow room. ok, we're getting filled up. also, for those of you who want to speak, please fill out your public comment cards. let me just call a few names so that we can get it started before. bill, you'll be first, public comment afterward, marcy, bill

hersh, every bush, and betty trainer. la --rry bush, and betty trainer. >> i am just supposed to warn the people in the book that we are about to play a video. -- and the peoplein the booth that we are about to play a video. i>> is that an sfgtv issue? sfgtv, can we -- thank you. >> a lot of people believe that you just live happily ever after.

>> people are scared to death. >> you just know when they don't want you there. >> taking out the bible and having the elder. , asking for forgiveness. >> and to be cured, it is not too late to be cared. they go back into the closet. >> they're resisting any kind of medical attention. >> a person within their mid-20s during the mccarthy era -- >> that could lose their job, they could lose their families. >> people were involuntarily hospitalize to its psychiatric facilities.

>> electroshock. >> their satisfaction, and being tortured themselves. >> there is a real distrust of mainstream institutions. >> i would never put myself in danger. >> much more fearful of people knowing that we were gay. ♪ >> lgbt elders are more likely than the general population's to age along, because many never had children and have not had great relationships with their family of origin. there would be a higher degree of alienation and isolation. >> my family was the reason i existed, and i lost them all. if they ever choose to catch up

before i die, i welcome them. >> lgbt aging issues are an epidemic. there is a small and growing group of us. >> we're trying to go into existing networks so they become more inclusion. one of the common things we get is, like, we do not have any gay elders here. >> i would have ended my life. >> this is our life. ♪ >> we have a whole generation of people who do not know who we are. that is really sad, because you're missing out on a lot. we know a lot. we did a lot for you. you would not be here if it were not for us.

>> look at house scrawny they are. -- look at how scrawny they are. >> we are seeing come out and be filled with pride. it is our responsibility to make sure that continues right through their last days. ♪ supervisor wiener: thank you very much. before public comment, we have the rules committee which is starting up right now, and we will be talking about bringing choice of voting. which i am sure will be a brief conversation. so supervisor campos and supervisor farrell: have had it over there. there on that committee.

and president chiu has joined us. i have an item at rules, and i will have to pop out briefly. if you see the musical chairs, just so you understand what is happening. supervisor farrell had already called a few names. let me call a few more. the rules for public comment, you receive two minutes. when you have 30 seconds left, you'll hear is off to bell. at two minutes, you'll hear a louder bell. at that point, quickly wind up so we can keep moving. if people would line up, the next person will quickly come up to the podium. in addition to the folks that supervisor farrell called, i will call camille, felicia, nickie, gustavo, maggie, lynn,

jessie, and pamela. previously, supervisor farrell called bill, marcie, bill, isaac, and betty. you do not have to come up in any order. maybe lineup on that side. any of the names, does not matter if you are in the exact order. maggie, you can start if you want. >> thank you. very generous of you. well, i have a lot to say, and i am going to try to say it in two minutes. i am a native san franciscan, 81 years old. i grew up in the castro peter i am bisexual. i have two children who are grown, in their 50s, and a granddaughter who is 12 and is

brilliant. i have a history as a registered nurse, a psychotherapist, and sexologist. i am very fortunate. i bought my house in the 1960's. i bought it for $16,000. a lovely little house in glen park. it has no stairs inside, no stairs from the street. as a very lucky. but i live alone. i have a cat. my kids come over a lot of my friends come over a lot. and i go out and do stuff. i am longtime member of harvey milk since the beginning. i knew harvey will. harvey milk is putting on an lgbt elders forum in march, march 24. i just wanted to focus on so many issues, particularly on housing, which was so brilliantly discussed here, homelessness issues, aids issues, on a safety and health

care and independence issues, particularly housing. i have friends and younger than me who have been waiting for years. [bell rings] i want to say one more thing, i was on the advisory board at new lease for 11 years before it closed. so i am lucky. my help is good at 81. i do not know how it will be later on. but i cry, and my heart breaks for all those people out there who do not have the good fortune that i have. and i urge the board, and i thank you for listening to me, that we take immediate action. not years later action, on this. thank you very much. supervisor wiener: thank you. mr. bosch, my other constituent. >> thank you. i am larry burch. for 1985 to 1990 -- to 2000, --

to 2010, as a public affairs office for the department of housing and urban development. one out of 10 families in san francisco lives in housing that is funded in part by hud. in 2000, might then boss tried to work on open house to see what could be done. eight years where nothing was done. but with the new administration that came in with the new assistant secretary, a great deal of progress has been made, particularly on the issues of lgbt seniors. it needs hearings like yours to establish a documentary record of what has to be done. when weaver started working with washington on this issue, i was able to go to the national center for lesbian rights and to the city's human rights commission, and they were the best resources in the country for what was going on, and they do not have as much as we needed. the record has been built since that time. the records