but how to get it timely out to nonprofit organizations. we are doing a couple things. we are estimating the costs. they are hopeful you will appropriate money in the budget and we need to allocate that to 450 organizations facing differ different pressures. this does not lend itself to an across the board approach. if the board would allocate $10 million it would not be appropriate to divide it across each organization. it was also recommended that in lieu of letting each department manage the pots of funds that we should run a city wide process. single form that is more efficient for nonprofit

organizations in the city. this is different than win mum wage increases. -- minimum wage increases. we should get it done as quickly as we can. we have already begun working on these recommendations. we have a small group working to develop a form and process should there be money to allocate in the budget. we will be ready with our response to these three. the dissent on the two that deal with how much money should go into this predominantly was the three city reps on the committee me and dan and kaplan. while we understand generally that nonprofits face a host of different pressures and wage increases should be warranted

for a lot of reasons. directly attributing the wage cost to $30 an hour as a result of the pressure felt overly broad to us. that we thought a range of costs or other options should be presented to the board of supervisors or mayors to give you choices. there were a number of nuance questions related to how equity, meaning extending wages to noncity contracts will work and what is fair there. we talked about issues that not all are we talking about work force, workers working for nonprofit organizations in san francisco or are we talking about a large organization with workers in san francisco and other surroundings counties. what if? some of those contracts are funded by other governments?

are we comfortable taking that to pay adequate wages? that was the disagreement. thathat is a quick summary of te work and cost estimates. there are other members here to address you directly. we have a number of attendees here today for public comment. >> chair fewer: supervisosuperv. >> supervisor ronen: thank you everyone to everyone who participated as supervisor few fewer. it is also important to completing that work. tons of gratitude to you and your staff for the tremendous

work. we hear a couple questions. why the $30. where did that come from and do you have any other wage comparisons or how the amount of money would differ if we used a different metric? >> we did talk about the level to which it could be. we talked about different ones. as i recall the $30 level is twice the minimum wage in san francisco. it corresponded to 400% of poverty for a family of four. so there were two -- a poverty measure and minimum wage. it is not magic but we had to to pick one and this felt logical

to the working group. there were a number of possibilities talked about. so in my version control issues, can we flip to the overhead? so this is a complicated chart. i will briefly describe it. bottom is the wage rate that we are talking about. the percentage on the left is percentage of the dollar increase required for those under $16.50 passed on to workers as you worked up the wage scale. the working group recommendation is reflected by the red line. basically that we would maintain that same $1 increase, 100% of it for the entire way up to

$30 an hour. that is visually depicting what the working group recommends. that is $14.2 million estimate that we talked about earlier. there are different ways to talk about. one alternative we discussed would be that you maintain full dollar increase to $17.50 or $18. as pressure fades after that as you get further up the wage scale the pressure is legs acute -- less acute. that is this blue line. that is a cost of $6.6 million of million dollars. there is no magic to it. it is what feels best and is affordable at the end of the day. we would be happy to run other scenarios for you. >> $9.8 million for equity.

does that take into account workers in other working on other contracts in other counties or that would be complete equity across all organizations? >> the equity adjustments on noncity contracts is, i should stress the cost estimates remain preliminary. the estimates there are draw the sample of 42 from last fall. i would say we don't have the level of information to say it includes or excludes noncounty workers or otherwise. it is one of the things we will discover in the application process. we will ask every organization interested in the funs to submit full information. at the end of the process we will have much more information. >> i think it would be great to

hear from other working group members before public comment in that would be possible. >> chair fewer: president yee is on the roster. there were 10 people in the working group is that correct? >> we don't have 10 here but we have several. why don't we have president yee first make comments. thank you very much. >> supervisor yee: a question. in regards to when you ask these non-profits, are you assuming that they do have people making the minimum wage or did they tell you the numbers of people making the minimum wage? >> the survey we did for the 42 we asked specifically for information from organizations how many workers they have at

15, 16, 18. we got a very complete list to use to model this. yes, we know how many the percentage of workers in organization a at minimum wage versus a, b, c. >> let's say the organization starts at the bottom wage earner. eighteen dollars. would that nonprofit if we were to add the compression piece, would that nonprofit also get a little bump in the contract? >> so the question is in. >> supervisor yee: i am running an organization and i decided i want to pay more than minimum wage to involve any additional money. would i also benefit -- would

the organization benefit in terms of the compression piece? >> it is a good question. it gets to how the allocation of the pot of money approach would work later. we envision the mayor and board would allocate a pot of funds for this purpose. we would take missions in and use the analytical process to pro rate this. i would say we haven't gotten through all the rules that would govern how that would work. >> this is my suggestion that you don't punish organizations that try to give more than minimum wage. they have to compete for the same workers. those organizations should benefit. if we choose to do the compression piece, if it is a straight out minimum wage there is nothing to talk about.

the other question i'm not clear about is whether or not the early education organization. they have city contracts would they fall under this also. >> given the relationship most child care have from the city they are not covered by the mco. they are not im indicated by it. although i think there have been actions by the mayor and board to increase the wages for those workers. >> supervisor yee: thank you. >> chair fewer: i think supervisor ronan next we have somebody from the working group. >> i am from the san francisco labor council. i want to make a brief

observation. the controller highlighted the dissenting opinion. there are a couple key points why the other working group members voted affirmative. one of the concerns if we have a nonprofit service provider it is operating on a city or not city contract or as you will hear from the public under the same roof with blended funding for multiple workers in the same service provider organization. we weren't able to study whether or not one entity providing services has an office in pittsburgh or somewhere. it was outside of the scope of the working group process. that speaks to the man recommendation to have the controller's office to administer the process to add more whatever funds the city and county may allocate for this effort. i think it will be upon the service providers to justify the

compression and compaction afternoon on the controller to determine the need. that will directly tie into the services provided here in san francisco. this goes back to who or what organizations fall under the mco. thathat is the genesis. the $30 per hour benchmark. it is true it was an art but it came through the working group process and members of the public participating in the process. some of th the survey results informed why we want to that. the survey results and interestingly were similar between noncity and city contracts. there is a significant number of workers the nonprofit service providers reported that are in the higher wage brackets. if we were to limit to $25 an hour or just moving the problem

from that point in the wage scale to a higher point. some service providers, many, particularly union ones are paying well above. that is pretty evident in the direct cost it is remarkably low in implementation numbers overall. many of the providers are paying well above the minimum compensation ordinance. that is why this is so important. a lot of the work around addressing those higher wage earners was really important to the scope of the study. i want to comment on those key points. i think overall the working group when you look at the input that was taken, it was a thoughtful process and we appreciate the leadership of the members of the board when we were not able to go through the

committee with a different board. supervisor yee helped us to take this to the full board of supervisors. everyone appreciates that. >> good afternoon, supervisors. i was also on the task force which i am very grateful that i was invited. i have been a nonprofit workers since i moved to san francisco after school programs and working after college at tenderloin housing clinic, housing councilor and we saw this massive inflex of money and programs in the nonprofit. i am an elected officer of miu. thank you all for bringing this to the committee today to the controller's office and the support from that office, from other staff from the city.

i think the task force was very helpful to understand so many different viewpoints and ideas and considerations how to implemented an increase in the compaction and nonprofit organizations. many organizations have multi funds, different ways to operate, different versions of contracts how they receive the dph, and sore city agencies, a lot of the information was put on the table over the course of a month in the two to three hour meetings with the controller and task force members. i am from the folks who voted yes to the full recommendation up to $30. i agree with brother rudy on the reasoning. a lot of that has to do with retention of many of the nonprofits. we see folks who just got a pa

or masters, msw, nurses and others. we see them just before the mco and up to about mid-20s. that is where we know from units and employers. we see a lot of turnover and folks who as soon as they find the job at city and county of san francisco they take that job and go for it. if they find other companies and places that is where they go. 99% of the time we hear from them because of the wages. because our employers in the nonprofit sector are success and there is only so much room. we are here. we thought this is the best time to implement the wage piece that is significant. we are the nonprofit sector in the country which surpassed new york city for our union brothers

in new york city. public services in the city is an extremely important part of public service delivery. we are constantly mindful of the wage pieces. we snoozed on the mco for the last four years because of the great minimum wage increases. we are back again. costs of increase have not slowed down. you will hear that from followings who came -- folks who talk about the work they do and struggles they are facing. we see this as an enormous opportunity to make a change on inequality with the cities stably the nonprofit sector. we definitely feel like it is time to put the effort in there and be includes i of all of the

work -- inclusive of all of the workers in the nonprofit sector in san francisco. >> i am a representative of local 10-1. i am a former nonprofit worker. i worked at the center and hospitality house and the free clinic befor before i came to te union where i make a better wage and benefits. i wassent age to stay in the nonprofit field. we need funding for not just compaction but equity issues. we have desk clerks making $15 per hour. they are not necessarily funded by the city. the lead desk clerks are making $16.10. if they come up to m. co they

will be making 16.50. we need the super visors to make more than the people they are supervisorring. we have people with msws making 24, $25 an hour working in these nonprofits like community housing partnership. they are working in residential hotels with our most vulnerable citizens who would otherwise if they weren't living in the hotels with the support of the staff there, you know, they could decompensate and be bac bk on the street where the city will spend money to take them to the psychemergency or the er. by investing in the non-profits

you are getting a good deal and helping the residents stay stable and saving the city money. by paying a little more and fixing the compression issue, we can hopefully stop the turnover happening and keep people in the nonprofits more than other jobs to build those therapeutic relationships with clients and residents. when you see the rotation of the staff they lose trust and therapeutic relationship and are more likely to have problems decompensate or not - keep their housing. we ask you to fully fund this issue.

we appreciate supervisors for helping us get to this point. we really appreciate it. >> chair fewer: public comment. i have a lot of cards. i am just going to invite people to come speak. i want to really thank you for sitting through this long hearing and coming to share your public testimony. everyone will have two minutes. please come up. mr. right, you are number one. thank you for waiting so long. mr. right. you have two minutes. >> i want to start off with the type of conversation i was using speaking up for the hotel workers. the people working for city clean are making more than minimum wage are doing the same work as the poop squad.

they are making $186,000 a year. okay? they are going around seeing a pile of shit and getting paid $186,000 a year and retirement. the city people are not getting paid the same money and they are doing the same work. it is violation of the united states code service. about this $30 million for portable toilets and the budget the department of public works $72.5 million today. thethey have a budget of $330 million. i demonstrated that the mayor, the governor is handing out $500 million for homeless people. i demonstrated several times

that there is a apartment complex built for $57 million. i will get you to start looking at process control where you spend minimum amount of money for maximum output. about this $300 million you took from the hospitality house and other organizations during the timeframe when i demonstrated you are wasting multi millions of dollars on twitter. it took me awhile to persuade you that you are wasting money to give to the public. you wasted $217 billion. i need that back to the hospitality house, the homeless and also the . >> thank you, mr. wright. next speaker, please. >> good afternoon. charles minister. i am a member senior disability

action, retired trade unionist in support of part league and resident of district one. there is a study a wage of $33 per hour is minimum required to maintain existence in this city. now at $16.50 an hour $34,300 a year before taxes. i make $30,000 a year as a retired individual. i have a rent control department because i wouldn't be here without it. luckily i have some insurance although 10% of my income goes to insurance. what you said today i saw released by wal-mart corporation which they shared that their

average pay to associates, wage sleeves is 14 -- wage slaves is $14.50 an hour. the wal-mart family has an income. they have an income of half a a billion dollars a year. should i mention uber and lyht? the billions they are worthwhile the workers are on strike today. let's hope a lot of them are on strike. back in october i said there should be a $30 minimum wage. it should be $33 to survive in this city. thank you. >> chair fewer: next speaker, please. >> i am with edgewood center for

children and families, which is the oldest nonprofit in san francisco. it is here for 167 years. we serve 11,000 clients annually. those clients are 72% represented in san francisco. 65% of those are ages 6 through 17. due to the challenges of hiring and retaining staff in the city we experienced significant vacancies. last year we had a turnover rate of 42%. the number one reason for departures was cost of living. without staff, you know, we have been unable to draw down or contract revenue. you know, for example this year alone we had lost $1.4 million in revenue due to the vacancy of filling staff. the effect of that is we lost

$5.3 million related to census declines and programs closing. last year we finished 5500. we lost $2 million as an agency related to vacancy related issues. this is not sustainable. this year it is very similar. the wages start with entry level and move up and impact all levels. it can take two to three months to hire an entry level staff and up to five months for clinicians or teachers or managers to continue to serve the san francisco population we need to address wage ineckwes so we can hire and retain staff. this is critical to ensure our financial solvency.

>> chair fewer: next speaker, please. >> good afternoon, i am stanley edwards. i work at the multi service center fifth and bryant. i am here to discuss about the wages. we serve a total of maybe 500 homeless clients each day. a lot of the cases we deal with acts of violence. i have seen people get murdered inside the shelter. we have seen clients. i have clients jump on staff as well. we are doing the bulk of the paperwork but at very low wages.

we are doing the work that some of you will probably never think of doing. some can't do. some are afraid to do. as well as working with the sros. we have the majority of the homeless and the mental health off the streets of san francisco and we are subject to harassment, threats, acts of violence, and we are still getting very low wages. i appeal that you look at the work that we do, try to understand it, and help us out. thank you. >> chair fewer: next speaker please. >> doug gary in support of housing providers network. i had a chance to sit in on the

work group and network thanks to the controller and his team for a great process and thanks to you for making the min compensation ordinary man's possible. it is fan -- ordinance possible. at this point as you know we are experiencing untold vacancies among or workers. i like to think i add value the real value are my co-workers. we are unable to hire janitors and desk clerks and the temperature agencies don't have anyone to send us. the outcomes are from housing retention challenges. workers are working extra hard to deliver because we can't hire. a fully funded mco will bring wages up in terms of the lowest

wage and medium wage earners. we want the desk clerks that start on july 1st. we hope the wage difference wilo recruiting. the controller offered the sun to $30 the network urges that even if you don't go that high the controller offered a number of possibilities to take care of as many hourly workers as possible. thank you for your support. >> chair fewer: supervisor, how are you? >> supervisors john avalos. i work a at the national union r healthcare. i represent mental health workers and those at neighborhood health centers. they have contracts with the city, multiple contracts with

the city and county of san francisco, and i want you to think when when we contract out as the city with nonprofit organizations. what is the purpose? to me we are extending the reach and arm of government to the communities. the city workers don't have the cultural understanding the people who work at nonprofits have. we are making sure or government can have effective services that meet people where they are at. when we deal with issues of mental health and homelessness and people who don't have housing, struggling in the streets. it is important to be able to reach out and meet people where they are at. it also means we should look at how to do the services effectively. we see the constant discussion and the pressure on you and i

should know that we want our city to be effective in what it does. if we see because the nonprofits are underpaid and people don't have the ability to stick with their job because they can't afford to live here. i work at rams where there is 20% turnover in 115 mental health clinics where we will not be able to meet clients. how do we retain workers and deal with disparity with city workers and public health and city contractors with the same interest to make sure people turn lives around. i hope you can join us to make sure workers get paid. >> chair fewer: next speaker, please. >> i am tabatha housing with tenderloin housing clinic.

thank you for the great work. we support the recommendation for fully funding up to $30 the wage compaction so that we can continue hiring and recruiting good staff and retaining the staff that we have. we have a lot of staff vacancies right now, a lot of gaps that we fill with highering temps. that comes at a higher price and we can't fund those gaps. that means reduction in service, staff taking on larger caseloads, not able to provide the full-service they should for the tenants in the building. it means longer turnaround time for work orders for residents in the building, longer turnaround time for turnovers making it slower to offer additional units to people that are homeless and

for a long time we haven't been able to raise these base rates. it is important for positions in between 16.50 and $50 an hour to do that. we have many staff commuting from really far. we have staff in stockton, sacramento because they can't afford to live. the commute is expensive. we want to support them so they can live closer and get a living wage. thank you. >> i am andrea field repwith sciu represents tenderloin housing and catholic charities. i want to give you an idea what compaction looks like. with somebody starting at $16.5o

have been working in our sros in the tenderloin for many years at $16.84. without making this proposed increase that means somebody is starting at july 1st at $16.50 and somebody giving care to the tenants and building will be at $16.84. that is what the compaction looks like. it is something very calling for workers working together side by side to understand why that is, and it is an important aspect to maintain people. we see on average of 40% turnover already. it will only exasperate the issue. i want to talk about city funded employers like catholic

charities. they don't have the luxury to say to one worker working next to somebody. your job is city funded and you get an increase and the other person doesn't. that is another reason to fully fund this. the third part i want to talk to the supervisors and share that it is difficult to be a nonprofit worker and see the benefiters to city employees. relying on the nonprofit employees to do this work that is the poster child of the city dealing with homelessness and demographic that needs the most care. >> chair fewer: next speaker please. >> boys and girls club of san francisco. we have been serving families for nearly 130 years.

i want to rends our endorsement of our support for this. we appreciate this. my salary falls above this so i won't been fit from it. i do want to stalk about folks and how they struggle. we know the struggles of those who make less. i moved here from san francisco after 9/11 because i wanted to be closer to the kids i served. i knew i was giving up a lot. if it is hard for me to live here. imagine how hard it is for the person making minimum wage to live here. we want our staff to live in the same neighborhoods but they can't afford to do that. this is a step that is outside of the purview of the board to look at the cost of living in

san francisco as a whole. you can add more to wages but the cost of living is going to out pace that. what are we going to wrangle in the actual cost of living. there is only so much fund-raising we can do to match it. it is then going to break and no one will be able to live and work in san francisco. thank you. >> chair fewer: i am the program manager doing vocational work with youth. i want to talk about impact to clients. when these increases happen the budget is adjusted and funding adjusted accordingly. over the last three years the minimum wage went from 13 to $15. i had no increase to cover the stipend cost i pay my kids.

it forced me to roll back services an and reduce the numbr of clients served. we have jan torial train sees that do that -- janitorial trainees in many of the buildings they have not had funding increases for the wage. every time the minimum wage goes up clients struggle to hang on to benefits. they get caught flat-footed. there is a need to provide counseling support throughout the city for these changes especially since it sounds like moving forward the rate will be a moving target. thank you so much. >> chair fewer: next speaker, please. >> good afternoon.

i am daniels. i am a desk clerk affected if this is not funded. my position is blended funding. even though i make $15 an hour i would not be taking advantage of the $16.50 if it is not fully funded. i serve the residents unable to specify which service is vital for their well-being. we all work as a team. i don't understand how one can be funded without the other. we all work together. we are all needed. it is a great service. i urge this group to fully fund us. we need it. thank you. >> chair fewer: next speaker. >> karl kramer, san francisco living wage coalition. we fully support the process

that ben rosen field outlined about having a pot of money that nonprofits can make requests and that there is a priorities that are developed in a very transparent process how the decisions are made t to allocate that money. keyword it needs to be transparent. also, it needs to be the process of listening to the nonprofit organizations and hearing what their needs are. it is in the legislation each department is to submit a letter saing they took into effect the wage increases for what the nonprofit organizations for which they are contracting. that hasn't been taking place.

that wage rate has been frozen. going forward we will expect every year a cola adjustment. next year when those department heads come to you and they are presenting their budget, you need to say do you have a written letter stating up taken into account what the needs of the nonprofit organizations are for their wages. our organization is doing a survey of different city departments. that line of communication has not been taking place. the board needs to step in to make sure the nonprofit organizations are being heard from. >> chair fewer: next speaker, please. >> as a community organizer with

lane labor for over six years i have been privileged to see the hard work our nonprofit labor work force does each day in support of our residents. you all at city hall have never heard about the janitor who shares their story to provide personal empowerment and recovery. you don't hear that because the metrics used to document success is don't dig that deep with janitor staff. that work is under valued and underpaid. i remind our staff that they could work for profit and get made more. the outcomes with the interactions won't have the same results. being nonprofit labor is part of the changes. we don't invest in what we need

to have the same results. some of the same colleagues are clients and our work force cannot afford the affordable housing solutions our city promotes. we should apply for pmr housing. we don't take home the monthly amount. no some full-time worker should have to work two jobs. nonprofit workers in the front line in the battle of life and death navigation of city resources when the city did not fund its front line soldiers they have given up the battle. we cannot continue to fund the labor resource. we demand the minimum compensation ordinance. >> your time has elapsed. >> chair fewer: next speaker,

please. >> we are still pending on the pit stop program $9 per flush. can you place construction site type toilets on sidewalks in highly polluted areas to mitigate costs. $70 million. street cleans is 23cents per day. the city is presently paying to ecology. would you specify on a piechart somehow each quarter of the dollar is being expended. $4 million is spent yearly. visually information might encourage public support and mitigating expenses rather than spending opportunities. would you be willing to install in the airport and in the city

coin resepcles to collect change from individuals providing them the opportunity to unload the change they may be carrying in modest revenue through small donations. the city's population is day and evening that goes the to day and evening factors. the airport is used by millions. coin receptacles can be emptied to maintenance is not time consuming. 50 resepcles to plant a thousand trees. it might raise public consciousness and civic contribution. i saw one displayed in

indianapolis a few days ago. they are enjoying a high volume of new construction. >> chair fewer: thank you very much. next speaker, please. >> good afternoon. thank you for hearing this matter. i am the chief operating officer at the school community services. my boss at stokes is the eta and was part of the work group. we fully support the $30 for wage compaction. it is to raise up the staff and employees. it is not necessarily a been first for the again -- benefit to the agency. we would like to support our staff to increase their income and their ability to stay in san

francisco. thank you. >> next speaker, please. >> i am tiffany jackson at hospitality house. we run an access point center to provide low threshold services to job seekers. two years ago we were part of nine different agencies providing employment services to homeless folks. our funding was taken away from us. with being part of that allowed barrier removals such as tools, boots, union dues. this leaves our folks in a hole. i ask you fully support and fund

our program which would allow better practices in around involving work force services in our shelters, re-entry, people on the street, targeting the vulnerable. one of our job seekers came to our site. he was living in the shelter looking for a job. he was offered sro but was told he could not get a job in the sro. he needed $314 deposit. he was wondering how he would get that without a job? those are the practices we teach folk you can get housing without a job. they should be hip to hip. you can't have housing without work. we are also asking more community involvement in the board meetings. the people working on did ground

should have more presence in the meetings. specifically hospitality house we are on the ground doing the work. >> chair fewer: thank you. next speaker, please. >> thank you for hearing us. >> for the past year and a half i have been conducting outreach. i have been doing outreach in the mission. z for the street-based san francisco san francisco mission residents. we have been working with the housing. [ inaudible ] >> sorry about that. i will get to the point we are

asking $400,000. we have been working with neighborhood groups and be we would plan to increase outreach and increase potential access to housing to street based sex workers in the mission. >> chair fewer: thank you. next speaker, please. >> good afternoon. i live in san francisco and work at health ridge 360 offering primary care addiction treatment to more than 10,000 in san francisco. as part of the nonprofit community serving the low income and unsheltered population we thank you for making sure our community nonprofit employees are compensated for the work. they need livable wages to live with the programs we work. non-profits provide vital services including mental health

and addiction. our contracts do not cover the full costs of services. we support minimum working groups ask for $27 million for the hourly rate of 16.50, address wage compaction and provide ways raises for similar work for the people not funded by the city contracts. the $27 million will help with the challenges of the nonprofit organizations we face in recruiting and retraining and the rising of health and costs of insurance. it will help original stability and increase services to those that need it most. we appreciate you listening and hope to see them in the next year's budget. >> chair fewer: next speaker. >> i am with the senior action

with the local 29. i was thinking we are the cinderellas of the city. we don't have a fairy godmother. non-profits are going to continue doing hard work like cinderella with no godmother. we need to consider this proposition because, guess what? we have rent increases and we went from 30 something per year to 90 something thousand dollars per year in rent. that is a big chung of money. if you are at a cash register at a super market and you have to check what is your subtotal all

of the time and see, you know, what you can really afford to take home? you are not doing enough, not making enough to provide for your family. in a lot of our, you know, people, in the nonprofits are in that bracket.

>> we have a big gap where we

can't bring anybody in because the wages are just not compatible with the private sector and i'm hoping our business does not go under for that reason, so i'm doing what i can do, it has become apparent, thank you. >> thank you very much. x. speaker, please -- next speaker, please. >> i'm a youth advocate at lyric , serving lgbtq youth in district eight and throughout san francisco. q. groups are confidential school-based support groups for san francisco unified school district students. this program is the only one of its kind in california. i'm calling on the board of supervisors to show their investment in and support? or and transgender middle school students, experiencing some of the greatest levels of mental

health disparities. last november, one of our students was struggling with depression due to bullying, sexual harassment and homophobia by peers. over the course of three months, we were able to connect them with supportive staff members, affirming communities, and a therapist. in february, another student was struggling with self-harm ideations and depression, and we connected them with a therapist and community group. these experiences are common across all eight of the school's we work at -- of the schools we work at. there needs easily fall through the cracks under the school system where the ratio of social workers to students is one per 100 students, and one school councillor per 500 students. our students deserve better than this. in middle school groups, youth are actively involved in learning tools and practices to ensure safety, self compassion, supported communities, and connectedness as students to navigate trauma of homophobia and trans phobia each day.

a past q. group student recently served on the school district's council. we have seen increases in confidence and higher comfortability in many of our nonbinary and transgender identities. many of our students that we work with regularly attend community groups and access therapy at lyric. lgbtq youth ages 12-14 are critical in development and need lgbt competent support services to be vital for the resiliency and adulthood. thank you. [applause] >> hi. i am a brick program manager at lyric serving lgbtq youth and young adults in the castro in district eight. as a trans man who grew up in oakland, i know the importance of growing this leadership. i'm calling oe