this idea of just not taking advantage of this crisis, but acknowledging that we have a deep responsibility to ensure that we are directing our very, very limited financial and staff resources to protecting the public health of this crisis and establishing the basis of a strong and resilient and equitable economy coming out of this crisis. thank you. >> so with that, i don't know if there's any final questions -- ors, director brinkman. >> thank you. just one final comment. yes, i think that we do want to be bold. it sounds like we do want some type of nesty, down and dirt workshop scenario that doesn't create extra work for staff, but actually gives staff and gives

you the opportunity to get our feedback so that you know we're fully in support of the decisions that will be made and the direction that will be taken and again, i'll agree with you, director eakin doesn't create a responsibility for us to respond to this whole situation is keep things going. so that's it and yes, let's we can figure out a way to do a down and dirty workshop scenario, let's do it. >> director hemmingger. >> dr. bringingman stole the words out of our mouth. our director was challenging us to down and dirty and i think we should accept the challenge. i would remind him the variable toll we had on the bay bridge before covid was something i put in place. [ laughter ] >> so maybe it just needs to be higher. [ laughter ] >> so director, i guess we'll

talk off-line about what that means, this down and dirty process. we, obviously, have a june 2nd u anticipate taking that meeting to do part of the process? how do you see that out of curiosity and maybe working through the secretary, as well, to think that through a little bit? >> i think i'll want to make sure we're collaborating with secretary boomer to making sure that my ambition is grounded in reality and one thing that we may want to do is rather than trying to do one workshop -- so look at a sort of rolling workshop pattern through the summer. and things need to move far more quickly than they typically do at this agency and so, having a workshop component of each meeting might allow us to move forward quickly and also reduce

the burden on staff for preparing them. and that way, we could present to you in real-time what we're working on, the guidance as we go along. >> so maybe we can pick the area that is most eminent in terms of what we want to address, whether it's a quick build or things to get done in the near term as the first topic. secretary boomer, i know that you want to weigh in. >> thank you. , madam chair. so while you've been talking, i received an email and staff is being coordinated to bring a transit recovery plan to the board on june 2nd. originally, we had not thought that meeting would be necessary given the lack of essential-to-government items scheduled for that meeting. we would still have those items all on consent but like you did today with this meeting, we could focus the rest of your time and most of your time in a

workshop type of fashion, an informational item, and i think it may be too early for final decisions to give staff a little bit of time to get the information from you, you know, bat things around and come back at subsequent meetings for key decisions as staff is ready. so i think the june 2n june 2nd meeting could easily accommodate a messy down and dirty idea and just really focusing staff towards that at this point. >> great, so if we can target those items that we like done more quickly, right, the things we want to work for that are much more eminent, that would be ideal, think i think, for june d june 2nd and we could phase out the stuff that's the bigger picture of how to be in the future versus the things we want

to do in the near term. >> yes, madam chair. we are very cognizant of dr. tumlin's sense of urgency and need to get not only decisions in place in the next two months, but also to put the disdisthedecisions in the groun, the earlier to start the dialogue with the board, the betterrer. better. >> whatever we can prioritize before we are reopened, so to speak, we have a real opportunity to do things and a real desire and if we don't make any changes and people just go back from completely shelter to how it was before, we'll have lost this opportunity to capture people's idea and the spirit of creativity and desire to see something different because we will revert back to old patterns. so whatever we can do and if

there's ever agencies and other people to engage in the process sooner, even have at that workshop, have the conversation and the second to think about, let's do that, as well, and maybe even tap into the mayor's recovery task force and other things worked on there that intercept. because i think because we were just talking about the way the toll authority works, i think there is a intersection of how we can best capture some of these economic violat vitality s that intersect with more open space and street space. >> madam chair, that concludes all of the business before you today. >> wonderful. so with that, we are adjourned and everybody have a safe couple of weeks and memorial day and we'll see you back on june 2n june 2nd. >> thank you, director torez.

>> good morning, everyone. the meet willing come to order. welcome to the may 28, 2020 regular meeting of the public safety and neighborhood committee. we're joined by vice chair

catherine stefani and supervisor shamann wallton. our clerk is john carroll. i want to thank corwin cooley at sfgov tv for staffing this meeting as well as i.t. for lending their support to today's matter for all that you are doing to keep the board of supervisors running smoothly in these strange, virtual times. mr. clerk, do you have any announcements? >> yes. thank you, mr. chair. in order to protect board members, city employees and the public during the covid-19 health emergency, the legislative chamber and committee room are closed. however, members will be participating in the meeting remotely. public comment will be available for each item on this agenda. both san francisco cable channel 26 and sfgov.org are streaming a public comment call-in number across the screen. each speaker will be allowed two minutes to speak. comments or opportunities to

speak during the public comment period are available via phone by calling 415-655-0001. once connected and prompted , enter the access code. today's access code is 926-116-335. then press the pound symbol and then press the pound symbol a second time to be connected to the meeting. you will hear a beepful after you hear the beep, stop and listen to the meeting, wait for public comment to be announced on your item of interest. when public comment is called for your item of interest, dial the star button followed by a 9 to be added to the speaker line. when you press star and then 9, you will hear, quote, you have raised your hand to ask a question. please wait to speak until the host calls on you. end quote.

following this you should wait for your turn to speak. when it is your turn to address the committee, you will hear, quote, your line has been unmuted, end quote. this is your opportunity to provide your public comment. when your time ends, you will be muted again. everyone must account for time delays and speaking discrepancies between live coverage and streaming. best practices are to call from a quiet location, speak clearly and slowly, and turn down your television, your radio or your streaming device. alternative, you may submit public comment in either of the following ways. you can e-mail me, my name is john carroll, i'm the clerk of the public safety neighborhood services committee. my e-mail is john.carroll@sfgov.org. if you submit public comment via e-mail, it will be included in the legislative file as part of the matter. your written comments may also be sent by u.s. postal service

to our office in san francisco city hall, the address there is 1 dr. carlton b. goodlettplace, san francisco, california 94102. finally, items acted on today will appear on the board of supervisors agenda of june 9, 2020 unless otherwise stated. thank you, mr. chair. >> thank you, mr. clerk. can you please call our first item? >> agenda item number one is a hearing to consider the premise-to-premise transfer of a type 21 off sale to selma wines and spirits incorporated. doing businesses east cut traders located at 301 howard and will serve the public convenience or necessity of the city and county. members of the public who wish to provide public comment on this hearing should call the public comment number, 415-655-0001 and enter the

access code 926-116-335 and press the pound symbol twice to connect to the meeting and then press the star key, followed by the number 9 to enter the queue to speak. mr. chair? >> thank you. first up, we'll hear from our a.l.u. >> good morning. i am here. >> hello. good morning. >> good morning. are we ready? >> we are ready. give us our report. >> all right. you have before you a p.c.n. report for east cut traders. they have applied for a type 21 license and, if approved, this would allow them told operate as an off-sale general premise. there are zero letters of protest. zero letters of support. they are located in plot 238, which is considered a high-crime area. they're in census track 615, which is considered a high saturation area. southern station has no opposition. a.l.u. recommends approve value

with the following condition. number one, they should actively monitor the area under their control in order to prevent the loitering of any persons on their property as depiktsed on the form and should be noticed that they had agreed to the above listed conditions. >> all right. thank you, officer sammondson. i believe we have our applicant on the line as well. >> yeah. >> this mr. ammana? >> yes, sir. >> you can make any remarks you'd like to to the committee. >> yes. thank you so much. i don't want to take too much of your time. but i'm applying for a 21 under soma wines and spirits and we've been doing business in soma since 2006. this is our third location. we'd love to assist the market

with [inaudible] and groceries. no protests. i would like to get this thing done so we can hopefully, by the time the city opens, we can start with a recovery. any questions, i'll be able to answer. >> i don't see any comments or questions from my colleagues, but thank you. >> caller: thank you. >> mr. clerk, you can open this up for public comment. my -- the instructions that i have around public comment are a little different i think from what i heard you say. at this point, do we have any folks in the queue? >> mr. chair, operations will check to see if there is there are any callers in the queue. please let us know if there are any callers that are ready. for those who already connected to our meeting via phone, please press the star button followed by 9 to be added to the queue to speak for this item. for those already on hold in the queue, please continue to wait until you're prompted to begin at the beep. for those who are watching our meeting on cable channel 26 or via streaming link on sfgov tv,

if you wish to speak on this item, please call in by following the instructions on your screen. dial 415-655-0001 and enter the access code. today's access code is 926-116-335. press the pound symbol twice and then press star and then 9 to enter the queue to speak. do we have any callers who are connected for this agenda item? >> operator: mr. chair, there no callers wishing to speak. >> great. then public comment is closed. colleagues, my understanding is that supervisor haney is supportive of this item moving forward with positive recommendation and given that, i will move that we do forward this to the full board -- or i will ask that our clerk prepare a resolution binding that this license will meet [inaudible] necessity and then i will move

that we forward that to the board for rel daysing andic that without objection. >> we -- >> [inaudible] on everything. >> we'll be taking roll call vote on everything, please. on the motion to forward resolution finding public convenience or necessity for this service premise, vice chair stefani? >> aye. >> member wallton? >> aye. >> walton, aye. chairman mandelman? >> aye. >> mr. chair, there are three ayes. >> great. the motion passes. mr. clerk, when you're ready, please call the next item. >> i do have a lot of paper i'm shuffling. agenda item number 2 is a hearing to consider that the transferer if of a type-21 off-sale general beer, wine and distilled spirits liquor licenses to safeway incorporated doing business in

andronickos community market located at 375 32nd avenue with an alternative address on clements will serve the public convenience or necessity of the city and county. as before, members of public who wish to provide public comment, call 415-645-0001, enter the access code of 926-116-335. press the pound symbol twice to connect to the meeting and then press the star key, followed by the number 9 to enter the queue to speak. mr. chair? >> again, we'll hear from the a.l.u. officer? >> ok. andronickos has applied for a type-21 license and there is one letter of protest, zero in support. they are in a low-crime area. they're in census track 427, which is considered a high saturation area. richmond station has no

opposition. a.l.u. recommends approval with the following condition. petitioner shall actively monitor the area under their control in an effort to prevent the loitering of persons on any property adjacent to the license premise as depicted on abc 235 form and should be noted on april 24, 2020, the approximately cants agreed to the above listed conditions. >> great. thank you, officer. and i believe we have the representative of the approximately -- applicant on the line as well. mr. zuckerman or ms. hager? >> good morning. justin zucker. i'll keep it brief. safeway andronicos re-establish add grocery store at a vacant building that was previously a fresh and easy. we want to add liquor stores to ensure the viability of the grocery store while also providing the neighborhood with

a convenient one-stop shop for food, household supplies and beverages. we're available for any questions that the committee may have. >> great. don't see any questions. and so we can open this up to public comment. ms. clerk? -- mr. clerk? >> thank you, mr. chair k. operation will check to see if there are any callers in the queue. for those who have already connected to our meeting via phone, please press the star and then the 9 key to be added to the queue to speak to this item. for those already on hold, please continue to wait until you are prompted to begin at the beep. for those watching our meeting on cable channel 26 or via streaming link on sfgov tv, if you wish to speak on this item,members of public who wish to provide public comment, call 415-645-0001, enter the access code of 926-116-335. press the pound symbol twice to connect to the meeting and then press the star key, followed by

the number 9 to enter the queue to speak. do we have any callers? >> operator: mr. chair, there are no callers wishing to speak. >> all right. we'll close public comment. and colleagues, i believe that supervisor fewer is supportive of this item moving forward. so i think we can direct our clerk to bear a resolution, determining that this license will serve public means and necessity and i will make a motion that we send that resolution forward to the board for positive recommendation. mr. clerk, please call the roll. >> on the motion to forward a resolution finding public necessity for this proposed service premise -- [roll call] >> mr. chair, there are three ayes.

>> thank you. it's great to see a good union grocery store going back into that space. not that that had any bearing at all on the vote that we just cast. mr. clerk, can you please call the next item? >> yes. agenda item number 3 is a resolution supporting the nonviolent activists facing prosecution in sonoma county over their attempt to expose the conditions of animals in factory farms. members of public who wish to provide public comment on this resolution should call the public comment number. 415-655-0001 and enter the access code, 926-116-335. press the pound symbol twice to connect to the meeting and then press the star key followed by the number 9 to enter the queue to speak. >> ms. mcdonald, you're from supervisor haney's office to present. >> yes.

thank you, chair mandelman and good morning, committee members. on behalf of supervisor haney, thank you for hearing this resolution today. and i'd also like to thank the animal control and welfare commission for passing this resolution and requesting that the board adopt it. i believe you all have received an e-mail from the commission expressing their support. a similar resolution was passed by the berkeley city council earlier this year and simply urges that sonoma county d.a. to dismiss charges against nonviolent activists. many of whom are san francisco residents who were investigating the confinement and conditions of commercial animal operations. in order to share evidence with state regulatory agencies to enforce state law. san francisco has a very long history of protecting animal rights, including becoming the largest city to ban fur sales in 2018. we prohibited pet stores from selling dogs and cats not

obtained from animal rescue organizations in 2017 and have supported numerous animal rights bills at the state level over the years. aye also like to close by thanking the activists with direct action everywhere in compassionate bay for their advocacy and should you have any questions about this resolution, we also have a representative from the organization, john fronmeyer on the line to answer. thank you and i hope we can count on your support. >> great. thank you, ms. mcdonald. i don't see any comments or questions from colleagues. so we can open this up for public comment. >> thank you, mr. chair. operations, we'll check to see if there are any callers in the queue. please let us know if there are any callers that are ready. for those that already connected to our meeting via phone, please press star and then 9 to be added to the queue. for those already on hold in the queue, please continue to wait until you're prompted to begin at the beep.

for those watching our meeting on cable channel 26 or via streaming link or through sfgov tv, if you wish to speak on this item, please call in by following the instructions on your screen. that would be by dialing again 415-655-0001 and enter the access code 926-116-335. press the pound symbol twice and then press star and then 9 to enter the queue to speak. do we have any speakers for this item? >> operator: yes, i do have one caller in the queue. >> before you do that, i will just say a few things about public comment. namely that speakers do have two minutes. we ask that you state your first and last name clearly and speak directly into the phone. if you prepare add written statement, you're encouraged to send a copy to our city clerk, mr. carroll, for inclusion in the official file and in the interest of time, speakers are encouraged to avoid repetition

of previous statements and we can hear from our first caller. >> caller: can you hear me? >> yes, we can hear you. you have two minutes. >> caller: thank you. thank you. good morning. jordan davis. i'm speaking to you today as a san franciscan asking you to support the resolution pending before you. i'm a proud animal rights activist and what my comrades were doing were not only morally right, but allow under state law [inaudible] for sick and dying animals and yet these brave individuals are being prosecuted by a district attorney. it's really getting hot out there and i know that everyone listening would smash a window to get a dog out of a hot car. why can't we extend that right to rescue pigs, sheep and cowsle. we must also consider this a covid-19 crisis which has

upended the world was caused by animal exploitation [inaudible] investigation exposes and rescues animals from. i urge you to pass this, but also take a step further and with collaboration [inaudible] push for policy initiatives that prevents animal abuse and cancel animal [inaudible] for the animals, for our health and for our environment. i would also encourage good modeling for city leaders and urge you to stop buying, wearing, using, needing animal products. it's not only cruel and inhumane but are the reason we can't be there in person. thank you. >> thank you. do we have any further -- anymore callers? >> that completes the queue. >> then public comment is now closed on this item. colleagues, any comments? i don't see any.

and if there are none, i will make a motion that we send this resolution forward to the full board with positive recommendation. mr. clerk, please call the roll. >> on the motion to forward this resolution to the full board with a positive recommendation -- [roll call] >> mr. mandelman, there are three ayes. >> motion passes. thank you. mr. clerk. mr. clerk, please call our next item. >> agenda item number 4 is a hearing on suicide, domestic abuse and family violence during the covid-19 pandemic. members of the public who wish to provide public comment on this hearing should call 415-655-0001 and enter the

access code of 926-116-335. press the pound symbol twice to connect to the meeting and then press the star key followed by the number 9 to enter the queue to speak. >> thank you, mr. klo*erk. -- mr. clerk. vice chair stefani, this is your hearingful thank you for introducing it. the floor is yours. >> thank you, chair mandelman and good morning, supervisor walton and to all those on this call. i'm glad we're having this hearing today. you know, from the onset of this pandemic, one of my foremost concerns was the impact this crisis would have on the mental health and well-being of all of our residents. particularly of those who are in already stressful situations. at the onset, i also sent out an e-mail to all of my constituents and everyone on my list about basically saying, you know, there's no shame in admitting that this is going to be very difficult.

especially for those who suffer from anxiety, depression, those who are in recovery. you know, anything about addiction. those who need to deal with their addiction often go to 12-step meetings and those meetings keep people sober. they keep people on track. they keep people out of isolation. and right now people aren't able to meet like they once did. they can meet on zoom. but it is very difficult for people at this time and, you know, a lot of people that are trying to get sober at this time is really difficult. and i just want to recognize that it's ok. it is ok to have anxiety. it is ok to be depressed and it is ok to suffer from addiction and want to get help. i called this hearing on suicide and domestic violence during this covid-19 pandemic because i am extremely worried about the real human consequences of sheltering in place.

and like i said, i just really want to recognize that these are extremely hard times and it is ok not to be ok and i feel like so often in society, we have this idea that, you know, you can't handle the heat, get out of the kitchen. where really if you can't handle the heat and you're in the kitchen, ask for help. that's ok. this toxic masculinity where men don't get to show their emotions and they don't get to ask for help like they should be able to. when you look at what is going on in our country right now, the fact that we lost 100,000 americans in just a short period of time, all those people are connected to so many families. and it's hard, especially for people who are sensitive to see that news and see the reports of who we lost and not to feel that and not to have that tug at your heart. we know that one in nine san

franciscans are, you know, fellow citizens and unemployed. we have an 11% unemployment rate. we are absolutely worried about people's livelihoods. people who started their small businesses, their restaurants, we're worried about the recovery. so many people are worried about how they will put food on the table for their children. we are also worry about the benevolence we can't see. i've shared with people before that i have a dad who lived in merced who suffers from dementia. and i haven't been able to see him since march 1 and that does take a toll on me and that is ok. we're in a political climate right now where we have leaders who think it's ok to be cruel to one another. we have leaders who are not setting a good example of getting through this crisis with love and dignity and understanding that people come to issues with different experiences. we see how our president behaves. and i think the totality of all

that and how it affects people and when you're isolated and can't be with your friends and family like you once could takes a toll. again, it is ok not to be ok. when i look at what is happening with domestic violence, i was extremely alarmed to hear that the domestic violence report that cases of domestic violence, intimate partner violence and child abuse are increasing across the city. san francisco suicide prevention reported that they have seen a significant increase in the acuity of callers that require immediate emergency intervention. i have notifications from our chief of the fire department and notifications that we get about suicides that have happened in my district at a rate that i don't normally get those notifications. they also report seeing a 22% increase in the first-time -- in first-time callers in the

first month of the shelter in place order. and overall they have serious concerns that a larger spike is in our future. i'm really extremely concerned about this and san francisco's [inaudible] rebuilding their lives after the orders are lifted. i believe we should do what we can to understand this issue afternoon to prevent the residents from harming themselves or others. today we are fortunate to have with us beverley upton from the san francisco domestic violence consortium and we also have emberly cross from the cooperative restraining order clinic to answer questions about the course. they're here to report on what they're seeing in the field and to give us insight into how we can better serve those who are in distress. i also want to thank my aide annie mullen who has been there every step of the way on this issue and who helped bring this

together, i'm very fortunate to have the staff that i have and i want to recognize this hard work. and with that, i'd like to turn it over to lanai. i'm sorry. i think i -- - >> it's ok. lina. hi, everyone. thank you for having me join you this morning and share with you some issues that we're starting to see at san francisco suicide prevention felton institute. i'm going to upload the -- figure out how to do this now. there we go. >> if -- it looks like you're getting it there. >> did i get it?

>> closer. >> how's that? can you see it now? >> can you bring that to full screen? >> yep. >> looks good. >> ok. thank you. ok. so, i'm going to start here. so we're going to talk a little bit about suicide and mental health in the covid-19 era and we're just at the beginning of this era, really. i'm the interim director at the san francisco suicide prevention and i've been there for the last year and a half. as we transitioned and merged, let me tell you a little bit about that. we're going talk a little bit about san francisco suicide prevention felton institute and then do an overview of suicide trends in san francisco over the last few years and then we'll talk a little bit about suicide and mental health in the covid era and then some considerations and recommendations to consider for

the future. i just wanted to give this fun fact that, you know, bernard mays came from england and actually started the first hotline in san francisco in the country and, you know, he was also one of the founders. so,san francisco suicide prevention felton institute provides 24/7 emotional support to those affected by any kind of crisis, including individuals that experienced suicidal ideation. and last year, i think several of you know that we merged with felton institute to really try to bring the community response to suicide in a broader clinical continuum of mental health and social services. so, while suicide prevention is

about 56 years old and felton is 130, felton's the provider of the largest outpatient mental health services here in the city. and we felt like it would be a really good bridge to not just work with people kind of at the sort of tail end of their mental health. but we're at the beginning of their mental health crises but to try to figure out how do we create a better continuum of services. and felton has really been able to modernize operations staffing and infrastructure to enhance our program capabilities already with -- you know, we had to go remote almost immediately when covid hit and didn't have that infrastructure place so we were able to do that, also with a partnership with a couple other companies and then text and chat capacity. we've been wanting to do that for many years and now we're able to.

so what do suicide trends look like in san francisco? as you can see, this is coming out of the department of community health needs assessment last year that was released and this is sort of rate of suicide across different ages -- ethnicity groups as well as sort of suicide is the 12th leading cause of death in san francisco and, you know, completion is much more common amongst men than women and the average age is 51 years old and we do see the highest rate in the [inaudible] neighborhood. so, most likely amongst the lgbt community. but it is widespread across the city.

you know, looking atle usufc high school and middle school survey, you know social isolation is often a precipitating factor to suicide and some of these concerning trends already in the environment because young people actually are at highest risk of attempting is that 13% of sfusf high school student and 20% of middle school have considered attempting and of course that goes up for lgbtqisfusg students up to 32% to 40% considering and we see low-income s.f. residents at three times more likely to experience serious psychological distress. so i think these are concerning trends because, within the -- and we'll talk a little bit about within the covid but i

want you to hold those data points. what does san francisco suicide prevention do? we have 24/7 hotline. we do some peer-led grief support groups and we also do a lot of outreach in the schools because of this sort of concerning trend, particularly in sfusc schools and we also do some education in the community as well. and with the police. so this is what we saw last year. we answered over 82,000 calls last year and that was a real spike from the previous year of 56,000 and we're not really sure what that was attributed to, other than what i think supervisor stefani kind of talks about just sort of this real negative environment that increases anxiety for many of the callers and increased depression. but you can see here we have

four different lines that we work with and h.i.v. 24-hour line actually, even though it's called the night line. it is the only one in the country. a drug relapse prevention line and then our crisis line. the other is an access after hours line that we work with department of public health to answer their off hours. and this is kind of the primary reason why a lot of people call in and just see and on the community education side, you know, we serve about 6,000 units and we were in 40 sites. and a lot of those sites do -- we do see a lot of young people calling in into the hotline once we do a one or two-hour presentation.

and this is sort of a referral -- the referrals we offer, how many people are trained but you see that we also do a lot of work with the police and 9-1-1 to make sure that we have a partnership and that police are also trained in deescalation techniques when they're out there. so, what have we been seeing once shelter in place got put in? i mean, what's interesting -- and this is sort of been a trend actually nationally. we're not unique around this. definitely in the bay area is that we actually saw a significant decline in call volumes. and we don't understand this trend but the -- kind of the general bay area has really experienced this, they're separate lines for each bay area county. so i think that's just kind of interesting for us to

understand why there is a reduction. but, on the other hand, we do see this increase acuity. in other words, people that are planning to have solid plans to harm themselves have gone up from one to three per month to one to three per week. what we do is we coordinate with emergency services, either the police or 9-1-1 and have to go in and do an intervention with the caller. like the caller sometimes are actively already engaged in harm, i.e.:taking a bottle of pills or, you know, standing -- calling and standing like on a highway entrance or bridge or something like that. two, within 24 hours they could actually act on their plans. so that's what that acuity

means. the good news -- so that is kind of the hard news that we've seen. the good news is that of -- even though we have reduced call volumes, we're seeing that 22% of new callers wasn'ter reports of mental health, anxiety and relationships are asking for some support and they're new callers because we do get a lot of repeat callers on our line, you know, just to be able to kind of make it through the day. or some of them call, you know, once a week or something like that. we've seen an increase in behavioral health referrals so people are seeking based on maybe new anxiety, old anxiety that has been triggered or even substance kind of struggles

that they're really asking for support. and i think that is really good news. the other bullet when i speak -- spoke with a physician that works over at cpmc who's on our board -- used to be on our board, he was saying that some of the challenges they are facing in their -- with folks that are -- have suicidal ideation is the medical supply chains have really been disrupted with covid-19 and so they're having access without supply chains to keep patients stabilize who have suicide ideations. so, just to wrap up, you know, like what are some considerations that we're seeing and sensing? i think in this rapid response period, while we're in shelter in place and for the last eight weeks and obviously we'll continue to monitor like how many people do talk about covid and don't. we are kind of recording that.

you know, i think it just requires this increased or sustained support that needs to stay in place, right? for san franciscan we merging health issues and who are the new vulnerable individuals, right? supervisor stefani talked about 11% being unemployed now in san francisco and really seeing even from the fire department recorded increased suicide attempts or success in district 2 and i think we're starting to see some emergence of new vulnerability. we might not have seen before. and i think during the recovery phase, like i am glad that the mayor has included in the recovery bond, you know, some health and mental health resources. but i do think that expanded services at every level, not just at our hotline level.

but obviously at difference stages, sort of entry to sustainability of people with chronic mental issues. you know, the system's already beyond capacity. so, and, you know, like i said in the slide, how are we going to be preparing for higher need and opportunity to intervene? and covid-19, we've been really lucky with great public health and leadership, all of your leadership to sustain, you know, kind of a minimal impact compared to, say, other cities across the country. but i do worry about as covid-19 does continue to have second and third waves, what is that impact going to be on people's mental health and grief-related. so i will stop there. thank you.

and here's our number. so, i think this is a very important number. you can call 24/7 if you feel like you need support of any level. thank you. >> hi. i just have a few questions if i could follow up, chair mandelman? >> yeah. absolutely. >> from the data that you presented, we can see that suicide doesn't impact all community equally and i'm wondering if you're aware of any risk factors that work well that identify potential suicide or suicide ideations in others and what are the most effective ways to reach those people before they goat their breaking point? >> mm-hmm. i mean, i think having a broad array -- i think to support mental health, you need that

broad array, multiapproach to -- like between hotlines, between on the ground programs, you know, that the community-based programs and then for acute, i think it is having -- making sure that there is enough hospital beds, you know, available. so it's a spectrum of intervention. i don't think there's just one thing that is going to solve this. housing is key. to support folks to organize around if they're homeless to organize around wellness and structure seings. so, i think we can't just look at this has a sort of one-stop solution that mental health over the years, you know, stress and anxiety builds and really if you look at it from an equity lens, a racial equity lens, a lot of these issues are

long-term that really start throughout the [inaudible] level. so it is a whole system solution. i believe. in terms of sort of differences across different age groups and race ethnicities, i think there are solutions that communities are trying to really foster just that there is help out there. 50 years ago when this hotline was started, you know, don't forget how ncaaing tiezed mental health is. so i think in different communities, the stigma of mental health still is real and i think the stigma of suicide is still very real in our society. there is a lot of shame around it and i really appreciate how you opened up the session to say that there isn't any shame around asking for help and that someone's always out there to

help. thank you. >> thank you for that. and you also mentioned social isolation can increase the risk and we know we're all doing a lot more isolating now and in the foreseeable future, we really don't know. another thing with isolation for anybody who knows anything about the disease of alcoholism and addiction is like people say your disease wants to get you isolated. your disease wants you to be alone, your does wants you to drink and take that drug. we've seen reports of the drinking -- you know, there's jokes that people are drinking their way through this and it has me concerned that isolation tendency for addicts anyway and then being forced to isolate. the compounding of that is creating a whole new sense or

threat for those who suffer from the disease of addiction and i'm wondering if you have any suggestions about new creative ways we as a city could reach out to those who are suffering during this period of increased isolation and especially those who are, you know, suffering around a disease that tells them to isolate anyway and in that isolation often does end up in relapse or in often times suicide. >> i think that is why these lines are so critical because part of our work is a drug relapse line to really kind of reduce that isolation and i think a lot of providers, like in the mental health and social services arena are really thinking creatively around how

to sustain their touch points through telephone and video calls to really keep that isolation down of people that they are in touch with. but i think we as a society are really trying to figure out how do we sustain that social touch in a way we never have. because i think social media can only go so far. it's -- the telephone or video calls seem to be more higher touch. and i know this is an issue really also for seniors, particularly as they really aren't super isolated to stay safe and i do -- i have heard of a lot of senior programs really doing concerted efforts around as they do somehow shift into food delivery. they do personalized notes or phone calls to those seniors to

try to really reduce the isolation. but i do believe this is a societal question that we all have to understand and figure out together. >> i appreciate you bringing up seniors, too. i created a virtual phone bank where we recruited 60 to 70 volunteers just to call about 7,000 to 8,000 seniors in district 2 to say here's someone to talk to you. do you need someone to help you with your medication and your groceries. but, you know they really appreciated just even having someone to talk to. i think that is something that we could explore in the future, too. and just one last question around the economic stress that so many are under and i'm just wondering what kind of interventions have you seen that help -- or that can help those experiencing that kind of economic distress and if you think there is anything that we can focus on in that category.

>> i mean, i think the recovery pieces, the sustained support around any kind of economic intervention to offset the unemployment stress is going to be really important. along with supporting folks' safety. right? like i think there is -- i do know several people that have been unemployed and they are balancing sort of that need to be safe. they have young children, too. so they're concerned about their own safety and how do they get back into employment. that won't put them at risk. i think those are some considerations but i think the city is going to have to really think about in the recovery plan how do we make sure that the already vulnerable don't

fall into more vulnerability and i think the new vulnerable. how do they -- you know, how do we support their day-to-day. the physician that sees the psychiatric service there, he was saying he was expecting when shelter in place and as covid does kind of cycle in second, third, fourth whatever waves that we are going to see more covid-related kind of emergencies. right now he doesn't really feel he's seen that flow of patience. and the rfrn i spoke on cpmc,

partly because they get a lot of the folks that attempt jumping on the golden gate bridge and they haven't really actually seen any change in their wards yet. but he said generally when we have these crises, we've seen an uptick. just like later. not immediately. so i think it is going to be -- i think we're going need this [inaudible] and never have been in this level of isolation before. >> right. thank you, colleagues. do you have any questions? >> i believe supervisor walton does. >> thank you so much, supervisor mandelman, supervisor stefani. i think supervisor stefani really touched on most of what i wanted to ask in terms of risk factors but also what do you think members of. board of supervisors and policymakers can do to help with the prevention side, particularly during the crisis and even as we cold out of

covid, knowing that they're going to be larger impacts on people that are going to add to the stressors in their lives. >> yeah. good question. i believe that definitely really thinking about your own district and sort of some of the needs that you're seeing to really make sure that our number is widely available and accessible. and i think kind of in the -- that's sort of more of a short term kind of opportunity but i think long-term, you know, we're going to need to have an expanded strategy because there is kind of new types of anxiety emerging. and i think there is also some resilience also emerging. i don't want to say it's all negative. right?

maybe for some there's less social isolation because everybody is at home. that's what we kind of wonder about with the reduced call volume. maybe with the reduced call volume also on the flipside, maybe people don't have the luxury of being able to call because there is not as much space to call. you know? i think what we need to worry about in the city, at the city level, i feel, is to make sure that we do not gut the mental health system as budget cuts come down the pike. and social services, right? i think it's all related to housing, food, survival is what we kind of saw in this immediate social isolation phase and then how do we support and sustain, you know, the mental health wellness,

like that physical wellness will be equally important. but figuring out how to expand the budgets. and really support, like i said, the existing vulnerable already and then the new vulnerable. >> thank you. because i know also just from information from homeless advocates, for example, we see increase of how deaths right now during this time period -- >> that's right. >> versus last year. we don't know all of the reasons behind that. i just want to do what we can to try to decrease obviously any tragedy that we can so thank you so much. >> thank you. >> vice chair stefani? >> great, thank you. and with that, i'd like to have beverley upton from the san francisco domestic violence consortium present.

>> good morning, supervisors. can you hear me ok? yeah? very good. thank you. i'm joined by my colleague, emberly cross from the kao*i. restraining order clinic that i thought could help me with some of the legal questions that might come up today and some of the questions that have come up in the past about domestic violence and the courts and how cases are moving forward. so i want to take this opportunity to thank em bherly cross for joining me. i also want to thank the public safety subcommittee for bringing this hearing and certainly supervisor stefani and the wonderful andy and sam for helping us get where we need to be with the new tools that we all have. thank you so much. and andy, my heart is with you. thank you so much. we also want to thank supervisor stefani and the unanimous vote of the board of supervisors on the resolution, reaffirming the board support

of direct services, not only domestic violence but sexual assault and stalking and trafficking. that was a great way to help us move forward in the new reality of covid-19. we want to thank you. i'll just do a quick overview, kind of precovid and how the community is set up, some grounds, some background. we'll do a lick on the individual services. we'll talk a little bit about the criminal justice system and then we'll just touch on some work that the family violence council is doing. and, again, sam bennett is our representative for the board of supervisors at the family violence council and i'm honored to be a co-chair there. so it was great to meet remotely for our first time last week and to have sam on that call. so, most of you know me. i'll try to be as brief as i can. my name is beverley upton. i'm the executive director of a

17-member domestic violence consortium. the san francisco domestic violence consortium. i'm so happy to be in my 19th year. the members of the domestic violence consortium have domestic violence programming at their core. in addition to the 17 agencies, we probably have another 30 or 40 brother and sister agencies that do domestic violence work, certainly worthy, but of the consortium, our members are primarily domestic violence agencies. when we look at who's doing domestic violence work in san francisco, again this is who we see as the front line. of course, as supervisor stefani has mentioned, just like suicide issues and other issues, they pop up everywhere. right? so of course people in other areas see domestic violence as well, in youth programs, family

shelters, homeless shelters. lots and lots of social services. it affects every community, every community holds the seeds that hold domestic violence in place and they also hold the seeds of liberation. and we are honored to be a part of this. that said, i want to say that our community is really broad and deep. emberly and i could never represent the 60 languages and the breadth and depth and diversity of the folks that are doing this work 24/7 in san francisco. so let's start. i will share -- this is my first time doing this. so bear with me. if not, if it doesn't work, i'm walk you right through it. our main home for this work is the department and the commission on the status of women. so the first thing i plan on

sharing is the cofb report from last fiscal year oking? here we go. well i don't see it at all. [laughter] oh. let me try it one more time. but i will not waste your time because i can walk you through this and you all have the doc. but i'm going try it one more time. john was so patient with me. i'm sure we can do this. there we go. let's try. nope. how is that? >> we are seeing a tile that has b.u. for your initials at this time. it did work in our -- in our -- >> it did work. >> wait a minute. something did just pop up. >> it briefly worked. >> ok. we'll track it one more time and again i won't waste the

committee's time. we'll just keep moving. >> this a powerpoint presentation? >> try it one more time. >> what are you seing? >> you'll want to use the floating menu to select a share option. >> you got it. >> very good. >> and just so you know, i can't see it anja see any of you. so i'm just going to move forward. ok? anja see you. but of course i have my copy. so, the community is made up of two crisis lines. now other agencies do have crisis lines. but the city contract with women inc. for the domestic violence crisis line will be here with their initial post covid numbers in a few minutes and san francisco women against rape for sexual assault crisis line. there are three domestic

violence shelters in san francisco. they are comfortial. -- they are confidential and they are life saving services and we'll talk more about them. i'll just say that they have done a fantastic job in keeping the services up and running and keeping survivors and their families safe. they never stopped sheltering people. i also think this is a great time to say that much like my colleague at suicide prevention department of public health, dr. lee kimberg is our liaison. she started meeting with the shelters, the transitional housing programs and the departments on the status of women and the domestic violence consortium every week to help make sure that they were trained and ready of whatever covid demanded of them and so far it has been successful. thank you so much. i mentioned transitional housing. there are four transitional

housing programs in the city and then there are about 25, 26 programs in the city that are advocacy, training and i call them the beloved community. those may not be traditional violence agencies. they might be community united against violence. those may be cameron house. those may be lyric. but they are the beloved community and the communitis that they serve and the neighborhoods that they're in trust them literally with their lives and domestic violence is part of their overall work. and certainly worthy of our support always. then we have five legal programs and i'll count them off, although i'm so glad emberly is here. i'll start with hers. the consume k*if restraining order clinic, the justice

adiversity center of the san francisco bar association, bay area legal aid and asian pacific islander legal outreach and then legal services at work. and that kind of makes up the community. those agencies, as you can see by this report, are all funded by the departments on the status of women. i'm going to try to -- ok. hop out of there. yes? ok. all right. so, if we look at -- you can see their numbers before. one of the things i will say is that san francisco turns to its community-based service providers first. for many reasons. you can imagine that the immigrant community may feel much safer where they're not concerned about any immigration issues, that speaks their language and understands any of their cultural issues. the lgbtq community may feel

more comfortable speaking with somebody who understands their issues as well. and then certainly san francisco mostly through asian women's shelter but certainly other agencies as well speak over 50 languages and so really that's where the community turns for support. when we look at the family violence council numbers, you'll see that they're asking for support from the community before reaching out to 9-1-1 and law enforcement. if we look at the post covid numbers -- i'm going to do this again -- can you see these? >> it's like it is updating. we can see it, but it looks to have a very peculiar zoom. it's only letting us see a small quarter of the upper left hand corner. >> why don't i let us out of that and i'll just walk you

through it. i'll be brief. >> for members of public who may be watching this meeting, i will have copies of all these presentations attached in a legislative research center so you can refer to them in the future. >> thank you so much. so, these are some of the freshest numbers that we have. and when the media calls, when the chronicle calls, when atlantic magazine calls and wants to know how things are in the post covid domestic violence atmosphere, we really look first to our [inaudible] line calls. and so i think we're seeing and my agencies have -- and my member agencies have been helping me think about this because the first couple of weeks, we saw women inc.'s numbers alone go up. 130%. so that was, you know, quite alarming. but they were able to handle

the demand and they've just done a great job in counseling people, setting up support groups. they had support groups before, but nofk shelter in place, we had to figure out how to work remotely and then working with survive, you even have more of a challenge because you have confidentiality and safety as the corner stone of your work. and so that is, you know, even more challenging. so if we look a their crisis line numbers, for march, 885 calls. april it went down to 738. and in may, just a few -- first few week, down to 220. >> earlier than usual. >> am i -- ok here? ok. which kind of mirror what is our colleagues from suicide prevention said and my agency have been really helpful in helping me think about these. so the first two weeks it looks

like people panicked. they did not feel safe, they weren't used to being kind of locked down with somebody that may have abused them in the past or that they were afraid of. and so they reached out in record numbers. those first few weeks we're looking at for women inc. a 130% increase. huge. huge. the next few weeks, people realized that the services were going to be there for them. that they could reach the crisis line 24 hours a day. that those who had no other options other than shelter could still find some safety. now the shelters -- and i don't mean to speak for them -- that is a service area worthy of its own hearings. but they really had to respond to covid by doing social distancing, more single rooms for single adults.

certainly keeping families together. and so they were still able to stay open in the covid era. but i think the community also benefited by the now apartments that became available through the d.a.'s office and the mayor's office in veritas. later, in the last few weeks, the d.a.'s office has helped find a few hotel rooms that additional survivors and their children mostly could be in to ensure their safety. so, right now we're not totally at capacity. but the need is there and, of course, we're all worried and want to be ready for post covid. i think this might be a good time for me to ask emberly if she had anything she wanted to share about any of the legal programs.

i also want to thank emberly and her team over at restraining order clinic two have never stopped meeting and serving clients since day one. thoughts? >> i believe that your mic is muted. and it will be up to you to unmute your own mic. so if you bring your cursor near the center of your screen, you'll have a floating menu that pops up and one of options you have besides turn camera off is unmute. >> there. am i unmuted? >> yes, you are. >> thank heavens. thank you. good morning, everybody. i'll add really quickly what the legal services organizations and the court -- the courts have been doing during this time. the legal services organization in san francisco have continued to assist domestic violence survivors, of course,

throughout the shelter in place period. it is obviously more difficult to do this work when the survivor is sheltering in place or quarantining. it's even more difficult when they are sheltering in place with the person who's harming them, what that has meant is we, you know, scheduled 10, 15-minute phone calls when the survivor is able to talk. we do a lot of it over text, when that is safe and when the person who's harming them does not have access to their phone. it means everything takes a little bit longer. primarily we've been doing our work with survivors through zoom or over the phone. but there are archaic rules and it has to have either an original signature or a faxed signature on it. i think one of our clients during this time has had access

to a printer and a fax machine which means we had to get original signatures. we can't used scanned and e-mailed signatures so we meet with clients either outside our building where my office is in the women's building and the mission or we meet with the survivor outside her home and do close to a social distanning as we can as we hand over pleadings and a pen that we have a survivor use to sign the forms and then we have the survivor keep the pen. the court -- each county's courts have responded to this emergency in their own way. san francisco courts, you know, have stayed open with reduced services but they have continued to handle restraining orders every single day. the court has been reviewing restraining order requests every day during this process. they have also continued to

have hearings on restraining orders live in person hearings, prioritizing cases where the parties have children together to attorneys at court every wednesday throughout this period to staff the domestic violence restraining orders through wednesday morning and to be there with their clients. certainly folks have the option to appear by phone. the court prefers that. but a lot of people just aren't able to do that or are really nervous about doing thatful they want to be in the courtroom and see that they are being seen and see that they are heard by the judge. and they have physical evidence that they want the judge to look at. so we've been in charge of maintaining social distancing in the hallways outside the courtroom. we bring one case at a time into the courtroom to be heard by the judge. the attorneys have sanitized the tables and the chairs and

the microphones after each case. we worked very closely with the court. i would really like to give a shout-out to the presiding judge of family court in san francisco. judge monaco wily. she has been in contact with us from the beginning expressing her concerns that domestic violence survivors need to know that the court is open and is having these hearings and is there during this period and they have been there for them. unless folks have questions that's really all that i had prepared. but i'm happy to answer any questions, of course. >> chair, i have a few follow-up questions, thank you, both to beverley and emer by already if the incredible work you are doing. you answered my question about being able to still get restraining orders so i'm glad that we're geting this information out there and, like i said, thank you for going out there and doing that work. we'll have to change those archaic rules somehow. so, we'll be looking into that.

i know that's probably a state thing, but still [inaudible]. so beverley, i saw the materials that we reviewed be ever this, that only 14% of reported cases that were reported actually to the police department were presented to the district attorney and i'm wondering if you can discuss why such a small percentage make it to the d.a.'s office. >> certainliful actually, this might be a good segue just to run through those numbers a little bit. those are the family violence council numbers. i won't struggle with sharing them. you have them and they're available to the public. i will also say that they're a draft. some joined us from your office, supervisor, last wednesday. and the family violence council wants to take one more month and look over our numbers. so, what you have is now a draft. i thought it was going to pass. but it didn't. and for good reason. so, one of things that we really want -- that we see again echoed is how many calls

are coming in to the community. last year, reported to the family violence council 8647. only about 7,000 to 9-1-1. but supervisor, i think your point about how many calls actually get through the district attorney's office is one of the issues that we want to meet with them further about. but it is always possible in a 9-1-1 call, especially that more than one person is calling about a call. and there is kind of a process, as you all know, from public safety for how domestic violence cases get ultimately to the d.a.'s office and sometimes it can be quite a long journey. right? so they may start by calling 9-1-1. 9-1-1 will probably send out a police car. but of those 7,000 calls, they're not all 7,000 separate cases. right? so then you have a responding officer in certain areas right

now. there's a pilot project where that officer even has an advocate on call to speak with a survivor when they roll up to the scene of the crime. so -- or the domestic violence perhaps incident. so then it goes from the responding officers and again this is worthy of its own hearing. this is not my area of expertise other than my experience. then it goes to the special victims unit as do child abuse, elder abuse, stalking, trafficking, financial crimes and internet crimes against children. so, it is quite a busy unit, special victims unit. those cases go there and then they're investigated. that takes some time and then they're presented to the d.a.'s office and then the d.a.'s

office decide what is their course of action is going to be. and there are many factors and, again, not my area, but worthy of its own conversation, i think. but you are seeing what the domestic violence community nationally sees which is the pyramid. i'm holding my hands like this, right, is it really starts in the community and then it builds and that can be the seriousness of the domestic violence. it can also be more third-party involvement. schools, neighbors. then you see the most serious cases being presented and then the decision in the district attorney's office how to take them forward and i'll just say, you know, the domestic violence consortium and i would say nationally the domestic violence community does not see

mass incarceration as a solution to domestic violence. that said, certainly there are individual cases that present public safety risks so those are cases that you would want to know more about and how the community and the criminal justice system is responding to those cases. i would also say one good criminal justice response that we have seen is really fast tracking the text program for 9-1-1. so for survivors that did not feel safe in calling and verbally talking about what their issue was, to be able to text, has been a big step forward. we have a couple of model cities, l.a. and here in the bay area, richmond that we know of and there could be more. it's just getting off the ground, it is not perfect. it only recognizes english right now and no character

languages other than the roman -- or the alphabet. there's clearly more work to be done. we're also honored to sit at the language access work group with the police department and the department of police accountability and move through the this pandemic. we certainly want to have equity for all of these services. but that said, it is still a huge step in the right direction. >> thank you for that answer. i will definitely be following up with you on all of that. especially we need to make sure that it's not just in english, the text so i want to follow up on that for sure. and everything you said about s.v.u., i think that there is some more digging we can do there. i also had in the materials -- you know how i am about gun violence and especially for being a woman in the united states given the fact that we're awash in guns and seems

like there was a 44% increase in armed assailants and which is very dangerous for women, not just women, but typically it's usually women. and i'm wondering if you have any insight into what caused that increase. i know we've seen a lot of panic buying of weapons. if you can touch on that a little bit. >> i would be happy to. i have to say that i've really been relying on our colleagues at the giffords foundation for their breadth of knowledge around domestic violence and gun safety. we are seing is panicked gun buying, especially just like the crisis line, right? up 130%. so, gun violence -- gun buying and panic ammunition buying from current gun owners just skyrocketed and this is anecdotetal, but i was on a webinar the other day and a gentleman, retired a.c.f. agent said that the first few days

after the shelter in place nationally were the highest gun buying days since 9/11. so, whatever that means, that's -- you can interpret that 100 different ways but i think it is significant. another thing he brought up was how many people are first-time gun owners. buying guns for the first time. some people certainly are using it to intimidate their partners and their families. some people have a misguided idea that somebody will come for their toilet paper someday and want to be able to defend themselves. but it is very serious. we're in an unprecedented time of seeing untrained gun owners locked in their homes with their partners and their children. that is concerning and i know supervisor stefani shares our concern.

now certainly our colleagues at the sheriff's department and probation are going out and trying to retrieve guns from partis that have restraining orders against them. but, of course, it's -- you know, it is quite concerning and we have lots of people who are brand-new gun owners who just went out in the first few weeks after covid and applied and if they didn't have any criminal background, they might be able to buy their gun fairly early and what we learned from this retired a.t.f. officer is because shelter in place, most people have not received any training. >> you have people out there with brand-new guns, lots of ammunition, lots of stress, possible past abuse lots of tension in sheltering in place with their families. very disturbing. >> thank you. and before i turn it over to my colleagues, i just wanted to follow up. i know emberly we talked about

the restraining orders, the domestic violence restraining orders. but there are several types and beverley brought up something that i've been working on. as we pass legislation on to create a restraining order program. for those people who have guns and may not have had a domestic violence incident yet, a gun violence restraining order is something that people can still get at this time. that is restraining order that if you believe that somebody is a danger to themselves or others and has guns -- has weapons that need to be taken out of home you can petition the court and reach out for what's called a gun violence restraining order. if you can touch on that really quick. >> yeah. the judge who issues the gun violence restraining orders has continued reviewing those restraining orders. i don't have information on any petitions of those that have been filed during this time. that same judge is reviewing every day the petitions for what we call civil harassment

restraining orders. that is a similar type of restraining order to the domestic violence in that it can order the restrained party to have no contact with the protected party and to stay away from the protected party. civil harassment orders are used in situations where the party did not have a relationship that would make it a domestic violence restraining order. croc, for example, assists survivors of sexual assault and stalking who are outside the context of a relationship. in getting those civil harassment orders. the judge has been issuing temporary restraining orders but there have not been hearings happening in those cases, temporary restraining orders have stayed in effect but the hearing dates keep getting what we call continued or postponed until it's going to be safe for everyone in the courtroom. the court is planning to re-open services on monday. on june 1 with safety

precautions in place for social distancing and limited number of people in the elevator. so it will take longer practically speaking to get into your courtroom for your hearings. just because you go upstairs in the elevator and they have limited number. but the court is re-opening and i expect we'll see those hearings happening soon. >> thank you very much. if there's anybody that would like to ask any additional questions? >> i have a couple. domestic violence and relationship to homeless and i know it is a big, huge giant topic and particularly [inaudible] with their partners because they are afraid of losing their housing and then what happens when they do go seek hem and then add on the overlay of the pandemic and the sort of challenge -- my

understanding is the increased challenge of finding any kind of shelter anywhere that is letting people in. and there are people on the street and i'm thinking of a particular woman in my district who was actually -- i think she had even got and restraining order. but if you are on the street and live one block down from your domestic violence abuser, this is very complicated. and so -- and dangerous, actually. and so i with wondering if you could talk a little bit about the way these things are overlaying, domestic violence, housing insecurity and then covid on top of that and what's available for women who are currently housed but fear the loss of that housing if they

separate from their abusive partner and what is available if you are ton streets attached to someone who is abusive. if anything. >> it is a complicated and complete response. i'll start by saying that studies show us that domestic violence is one of the leading causes of homelessness for women and children. that people will leave their homes to try to keep their children safe. and parents in general end up homeless due to domestic violence. certainly we do work with the family shelters. i'm thinking of hamilton house and a few others to try to support families who may have been facing homelessness and may have domestic violence and

may be trying to stay together. right? and then i think we have a more complex and effective solution which is trying to work with folks that may already be unsheltered. [please stand by] providers right now are stretched. they were already stretched beyond the breaking point. now there is even less

available. i don't know if -- with the family shelter, i don't know if it's the same kind of imperatives around thinning out, because family shelters have their own bathrooms. i have concerns. >> of course, you do. >> [laughter]. as well you should. but i do think, you know, the community is broad, deep and diverse. so we are able to pull in communities, especially folks working with unsheltered women. as i mentioned like safe house and the glenda hope center over in the tenderloin. certainly glide has been helpful. but i think your instincts are right, supervisor mandelman. this is going it be very, very difficult. >> supervisor stefani: can i add, from the legal side, if someone decides they want to request a restraining order, one of the forms of release is a

resident exclusion or move-out order. so someone can go in and get them ordered out of the home. but that gets complex because we're working with so many survivors, they don't want to become homeless themselves. and they also don't want their partner to become homeless. so they decide not to file for a restraining order. we see the same thing with police, because so many survivors don't want -- in general -- to have this person arrested or put in jail, but especially don't want it to because they're afraid the person might either get exposeed to covid -- although i'm glad to hear we're not having this in san francisco -- or the person might not be held at all after arrested and might be much angrier the police were called

at all. we have heard that the person just cut off the ankle monitor and left it on their mailbox or texted a photo to them. >> supervisor mandelman: that raises my second bucket of questions, which i know is not the primary topic of this hearing, but it kind of goes up to it. which is also covid-related and what is happening with the imperative around sending out to jail which is from a public health perspective correct. but i have also heard these stories. i don't have a sense of whether it's anecdotal or systemic. you know, situations where abuser is taken in but is essential out immediately. you know and in part i'm understanding because of the imperatives of the change policy around covid and not holding people. and that the most likely place for that person to go after

being released, you know, if the abused party is willing -- is willing to have them back is for them to go right back to that home. which is challenging. or they can just, as you're describing, if you're threatening and taking a picture of the broken ankle monitor and then eventually communicating, i could come for you any time i want to. it raises, again -- again, i don't want to say this is more than anecdote. but if it's happening in a systemic way, we are going to have horrible stories. we're going to be, you know, vexed in thinking we could have done something differently for having created an untenable

situation where we're pushing abusers and abused back into each other's worlds. i don't know if you have anything to say about what is happening with the jail protocols. and the way these crimes are getting left right now. but i was curious about your perspective? >> i'll jump in on this. that we've been really leaning on our sheriffs department. on our partners in the sheriffs department. deputy sheriff kathy gorewood and michele fisher has been so sensitive to this issue. they started doing victim notification early on when it looked like early releases were going to start happening. so they've been doing this for quite some time, but they really raised the bar. they're watching very closely. and then contacting the survivor, the victim in the case, if they can, to let he or

she know their partner, their abusive partner has been released. so it's certainly not perfect. it's certainly not bulletproof, but it is a step in the right direction. and we just find ourselves in this very unique and very complex time i think in the criminal justice system. especially married with the covid. >> that adds a whole additional layer to all of these problems. which is why it's a good thing that supervisor stefani called for this hearing. >> yes. yes. i forgot something. i just wanted while we're all here, say food security from our agency to the folks that they're working with, it's not in the numbers i don't believe, but i remember speaking the first week or two, and they let us know their board had appropriated

$2400 for them to give to clients. those are survivors of domestic violence who were worried about how they were going to put food on their table for their kids mostly. and that we're seeing in every aspect, every layer of the services. the beloved community that i talked about, cameron house, glide, they're giving out groceries at record numbers. families are afraid of not being able to take care of their kids and put food on the table. also sometimes it's also one of the factors in the abuse. if you leave, you can't come back. or if you don't leave -- so -- but anyway, survivors of domestic violence are doing really a lot of extra work to try to, you know, secure food for their kids and their families. and so this is an area where the domestic violence community has really stepped up.

and you know, i'll also just share much as my colleague from suicide prevention did, we, too, are up for serious budget cuts for direct services. as you know, i don't do direct service but i work with those who do on a daily, daily, minute by minute basis. the commission on status of women met last night. they don't see any other way around an r.f.p. that would reallocate $500,000 and mayor is looking at another $500,000+ cut. that is a million dollars out of direct services. so that is very, you know -- that is worrisome because we're all worried about what happens when things start to loosen up. are we going to be overrun? are we going to be able to meet the need? so instead of hiring this staff, the agencies might be looking at reducing staff. we don't want to find ourselves

there if we can help it. >> very alarming. well, unless vice chair stefani has more or supervisor walton has comments or questions -- >> i didn't even tell you guys. i'm concerned -- >> you got something going on. >> no comments or questions on my end, sorry about that. >> got it. okay. thank you, supervisor walton. so, mr. clerk, any public comments? >> thank you, mr. chair. operations will check to see if there are callers in the queue. let us know if there are callers ready. for those already connected, press star and then 9 to be added to the queue. for those already on hold in the queue, continue to wait until you're prompted at the beep. for those watching our meeting on channel 26, sfgovtv, if you

wish to speak in, please call in by following the instructions on your screen. (415) 665-0001. enter the access code, 9261 926116335. >> mr. chair, there are no callers wishing to speak. >> thank you. we will then close public comment. vice chair stefani, any concluding remarks? >> yes. thank you. i just want to thank linea, beverly, for coming and presenting today. you are three incredible women that i admire greatly. thank you for the work that you do. and thank you for the work that your organizations do. it's absolutely critical to

keeping our residents safe. i want to thank our partners that beverly mentioned. those running the shelters and the legal agencies. as you mentioned, beverly, our beloved community who helped guide all this work. and really saves lives. and also want to thank again my staff andy and sam. sam is representing me on the family virus council. andy for helping put this hearing together. i'm very lucky to have those two working with me on this. the final thing i want to say. for whoever is watching or might be scrolling later on when this is replaying on sfgovtv. and who is struggling. again, i cannot emphasize enough. the strongest thing you can do is ask for help. there is no shame in needing it. the stigma around anxiety, depression and suicidal thoughts and recovery and addiction and all of that, has to go. there are so many people that

are in your same circumstances that you might not think are. and you're not alone. so, please, have that courage to pick up the phone and call someone. and in doing so, you really create a pathway forward for so many other people who are struggling as well. so, i just want to say, please, there is no shame, reach out, we are here for you, we will make sure the resources are always there. and finally, given what we're seeing going on. we all alluded to it in terms of what we're going through with covid-19 and this time year under and the angst and the anxiety and how people are treating one another. we see it from the top down, how ugly it can really be. i was thinking about the one quote that people say. be kind. because you don't know what other people might be going through. and i used to tell my staff when i was county clerk that they might think they're just helping

someone with a marriage license. or they might think they might be helping someone get a birth certificate. but in that interaction with another human being, you smile at them, ask them how they're doing, compliment them. you have the power, really, to turn someone's day around. so just be kind. and i know we're all going through difficult times. again, that's okay. but i want to thank my colleagues and thank everybody that presented today. i think this is a topic that is so incredibly important to me for many different reasons. and again i can't thank you all enough for this. with that, supervisor mandelman, i would like to make a motion to file the hearing. >> supervisor mandelman: all right. we will vote on that motion. mr. clerk? >> on the motion offered by vice chair stefani that the matter be heard in file. stefani aye.

walton. walton aye. mandelman aye. mr. chair, there are three ayes. >> supervisor mandelman: motion passes. mr. clerk? thank you. vice chair, stefani. thank you to all of our speakers. >> it was an honor to be here. >> thank you so much. >> thank you. >> supervisor mandelman: mr. clerk, any other items today? >> there is no further business. >> supervisor mandelman: then we are adjourned. thank you, thanks, everybody. have a good rest of your day. >> thank you, you, too. >> thank you.

>> announcer: you're watching coping with covid-19. >> hi. i'm chris manus and you're watching "coping with covid-19." today my guest is anastasia klaste and we're going talk about how the pandemic has affected our school community. welcome to the show. >> hi! thank you. >> i understand that our students and teachers have adopted video conference as distance learning tools to be able to continue studying remotely and this is clearly new for everyone. do you have some suggestions to students and perhaps their parents that could help them manage this new approach? >> i think the best advice i can give students and parents is to really be gentle on yourselves during this time. the thing we don't really want

to do is increase stress and anxiety amongst our students because they know it is a scary, uncertain time aside from the work. so, we are engaging in distance learning and providing work for students to engage in. the mental health of students and their well-being and safety is really at the forefront of our minds and so we're asking parents to keep an eye on their kids and also asking kids to speak up and let us know if they're having trouble f they need to talk to someone, if they need to take a break or they need more time to do work. because that is really what's most important for us. >> right. and what would you say to teachers having a hard time adjusting as well? >> i think our faculty is really lucky in that we were already utilizing google classroom in all of our classes. so the switch from in-person to online is not as extreme as it may have been to some other

faculties in other schools. that said, most of us had never engaged in video conferencing or done any sort of daily online lesson planning. so, i think the same thing i say to parents and students i say to teachers is to just be gentle and give yourself space and know it's ok to make mistakes and it's ok if you're not perfect and we're all sort of learning and doing at the same time. so, that can also be anxiety provoking and that can be hard for taoefers that are used to being really good at what they do and knowing what exactly to say and how to do it every day are grappling with new technology and they're finding that students [inaudible] what they do in person. >> are there concerns about college admissions for high school seniors and juniors? >> i think at first there was a lot of sort of confusion and anxiety for juniors and seniors about colleges.

and now that the system has come out with some guidance and we understand that, you know, the s.a.t. and a.c.t. tests won't be required for the next year, we know that universities have only agreed to accept credit or no credit or pass-no pass grades and looking at students across the country knowing that we're in unprecedented situation now that we've got guidance of clarity around that. students are feeling a lot more comfort. -- comfortable. for our current seniors, most of them got their college acceptances in february and march so those things shouldn't be changing that much. for juniors, you know, now that they know that they have to step it up for the next year because the grades that they're getting this semester may not be letter grades, it might be a pass-no pass, credit-no credit. but it seems from everything that i read or hear, they're

working really closely with school districts to make sure that no student is, you know, adversely affected by the pandemic because of this sort of universal experience for all students. >> indeed. i heard that some kids are worried that they may have to make up the work or retake the whole year? how likely are those scenarios and how will grades be assigned for this semester? >> well, san francisco unified has made a decision through the board of ed that there will be a signing. credit-no credit for 6 through 12th graders and that means that basically they will either full credit for the glass or won't receive credit for class, based on the work that they do and that goes into a gaap of neutral so it shouldn't raise or lower any specific student's g.p.a., but just give them credit toward graduation. from what i can tell, california has been pretty clear that no student will have to retake this year.

as educators, we do acknowledge that thereby a little bit of catchup happening in the fall. >> right. have your students had a variety of different experiences during this pandemic? >> yes. i would say definitely. our school serves a big at-risk group of kids. we have students from every zip code and city, basically. and students from all sorts of backgrounds and socioeconomic statuses so on one hand they have their high speed wi-fi and it's no problem for them to hop on a zoom call or get their google docs turned in and then we have a lot of situations where they may not have wi-fi so they're delivering hotspots or they have a device but it is shared among several siblings or the parents are using it during the day and the kids

have only a certain amount of time that they can engage. so, you know, something that the teachers have talked about being mindful of and i'm definitely being mindful, as a principal, is that our students are in various situations and we can't assume anything about their access in their ability to [inaudible] right now. for some of them, they're caring for siblings or grandma, living at home. many of them have family members affected by covid and so they're in a space where they're really just trying to take care of those around them. and academics are sort of on the backburner and for right now that's ok. you know, we sort of support them in whatever way they need. >> i understand. have you been able to provide any technical assistance to your students or faculty? >> yes. the school district had

hotspots so i personally delivered about 50 chrome books to students and now we're getting hotspots, which are wi-fi devices that utilize cell phone coverage in an area so homes that don't have wi-fi or homes that have spotty wi-fi can use these hotspots and the kids are saying that they work really well and now the district just got a bunch of them so we're able to list them. so any family that needs them right now, which is really great. now all of our faculties have access to high speed wi-fi and technology at home. we are providing them with the technology that they need to be engaged in this. >> i see. and finally s there any news about summer school? >> there is. sort of. it's happening. in some way, shape or form. but we don't really know how or where. i'm assuming it will be online

and, as usual, seniors or kids about to graduate will be prioritized so there'll definitely be some summer school, i'm just not sure where or what at this point. but they're going to share information about that pretty soon. unfortunately all the fun summer programs and jobs, the arts programs and language programs, the acceleration programs are probably not happening. but there will be some sort of credit recovery option for kids who need it. >> right. well, thank you for coming ton show. i really appreciate the time you've given us today. >> yeah. great talking with you. thank you so much for having me. >> that is it for this episode. we'll be back with more covid-19 related information shortly. you've been watching "coping with covid-19." i'm chris manus. thank you for watching.