at far southeast family strengthening collaborative, we're here as a family and we treat you as a family when you come in. if your heart is there, you're willing to help the families, i think we can make a great impact in the ward 8 community. erica, talk a little bit about what you do and how families can access your services. so what i do is i am a family support specialist and what my program does is we provide peer engagement workers. we're all in recovery ourselves and we go out to the family and we talk with the mother and we really-we get on her level and we assess her needs and what the family needs and what we can do to help them continue in their recovery and we really work on making sure that they have access to all of the resources in the community. and on top of that, we do our best to coordinate care with all their other services like you were talking about with collaborating. you know, i think it's really important for our families, most of them have involvement with the department of children and families, and you know, so we stay in close contact with the department, wit

my family lives in an sro unit. [speaking foreign language] i am here to call for your help on the situation homeless families are facing. we now have over 2,000 students in public schools that are homeless kids. i have>> i have a son who is ind grade now. when he comes home, he has. it is even hard for him to move around in the room. >> [speaking foreign language. ] >> it is difficult to find opportunities, even for affordable housing. >> [speaking foreign language. ] >> i hope that the city will provide better housing for our children. >> [speaking foreign language] >> we are concerned about families on the street that are homeless. we ask for your help. thank you. supervisor avalos: thank you. >> [speaking foreign language] >> supervisors, i am one of the worker organizers for the foundation. i did collaborative. >> [speaking foreign language] >> i'd like to share with you what the families are telling me. because i do home visits all the time, they tell me that there are [unintelligible] on the rental subsidies.

family. rachel l. swams's book is a compelling story that stirs deep emotions. it is also a story that would break them here and with that, let's welcome rachel l. swams. [applause] >> thank you. thank you. >> thank you for coming. in the years leading up to the presidential election, the focus seems to be on barack obama's roots and his family and the fact that he wrote his own biography. now in your book "american tapestry," you put the focus on michele obama. tell us about how you got started doing that and what inspired you. >> i was writing about the first lady and the first family for the new york times which was something of an unusual assignment. typically the first family is covered by the white house reporters who chased the president around on air force one and in the briefing room and write about the first lady or first family when they have time that there was a sense in 2008 at the new york times and other newspapers too that we might want to do things differently and this first

>supervisor avalos: that is for family? >> per family. supervisor avalos: our rental housing program has legislated -- >> up to five years, correct. looking at these existing programs, the bulk of the families to find permanent and subsidize hounding, that housing is between 18 and 21. that is sort of the average, the bulk, but their families, of course, that need more time. we have the flexibility, given your legislation, to give them more time. we envision, although we have not really thought about the past two years, but we would envision a similar design. so the families were targeting on the waiting list, families who have kids in san francisco schools who are on the waiting list, if they cannot find permanent housing after two years and they are complying with the program and what we expect of them to be in the program, then we will likely extend them, similar to what we do now. the third, staffing. the rental subsidies, and of course, whether their security deposits, first month rent, looking at if they need furniture, that sort of

that assuring the well being of family corner stone for all families and responsive to families needs and lynn questic and identity. that helps support parent resiliency, social connections, knowledge of parenting and child development, concrete support in times of need, and supporting their social emotional growth of their children. we believe that violence prevention starts very early when children are born and families are young and is accomplished by having these protective factors. the family resource center is one of 25 centers located in the city supported by the human services agency and first five. each resource center provides eight essential services so workshops and classes for parents and their children, parent's support, groups, peer support groups, curriculum based parent education classes, parent leadership, and community building, promoting activities that promote school readiness so children are ready for kindergarten and school success so children are graduating from high school. we provide family additional support in navigating the resources and coordinating suppo

the family. joining us in our panel today are frances harding, director, center for substance abuse prevention, substance abuse and mental health services administration, u.s. department of health and human services, rockville, maryland. dr. nancy young, executive director, children and family futures, irvine, california. erica asselin, family support specialist and medication-assisted treatment advocate, fresh start, square one, holyoke, massachusetts. dr. kim sumner-mayer, senior advisor, phoenix house center on addiction and the family new york, new york. fran, what is the definition of family within our society currently? that's a very good question. family has changed, the definition. we used to think of family as two parents living in a house with two children and probably a pet or two. now, we have a wide variety of families. we have families that are one parent, single parent, being raised by friends, being raised by grandparents, relatives of all sorts. the good thing about that is it br

we also start to look at family outmigration that mirrors a national trend where large numbers of families are leaving major cities and metropolitan areas, moving to the suburbs. i am a third-generation chinese- american, and all of my family have moved out of the city for some reason. lee asked that a lot. in this issue was also a topic of discussion at the conference of mayors in 2009. it was seen as one of the most pressing issues. we will analyze a number of studies and put them off together. look at reports that have already been typically conducted by the department, children, youth, families. trying to look at common factors in key reasons why this might be happening in san francisco. you can call this a baseline study or analysis of issues are around retaining and attracting families. hopefully you can use this as a framework for this deeper discussion of how we are calling to make san francisco a better place for our families. first of all, went and looked at -- can lease with that over? this is what san francisco looks like today. our population over the last 10 years is now over

and try to sustain some normality of family life; we see behavioral issues going on within the families. so, there's a host of issues that are happening for these individuals. and, dr. karlin, exactly what types of symptoms are associated with some of these disorders? let's take ptsd, for example. so with ptsd, post-traumatic stress disorder, there are certain clusters of symptoms that we typically see, including what we first call avoidance symptoms. so, individuals with post-traumatic stress disorder may avoid places or circumstances that may remind them of the traumatic event that they experienced during war time or other situations that might have been the precursor, if you will, to the post-traumatic stress disorder. individuals with ptsd also often experience numbing symptoms, if you will, to block the pain associated with the post-traumatic stress disorder and so, sometimes individuals will engage in certain behaviors to block that numbing. they'll not confront the emotional experiences that they may have, try to stuff it down. sometimes alcohol or substance use is a way to try t

families. we have become friends, we support each other and i support this merger. this would allow our daughters to have a place to play and a place to convene. i myself live next to my mother so i know how important is to have a network and a support system. this merger would allow for the grandparents and the three generational home. it is important to be raised by grandparents and therefore i support this merger. as a young family. i hope with this merger the young community can come together and gather and allowed child straight to become what the name describes. thank you. president miguel: is there additional speakers? -- are there additional speakers? ? >> my name is jim miller. i would like to see you approve this permit for this young family and for their extended family. i think that is all i have to say. thank you. >> good evening. i was born in italy but was raised in telegraph hill. i am taking care of my mother in her 90's. that can be very difficult thing. having one structure b

the family. you could have children. you could have an extended family operation. you could also be living in a community that the person that you consider to be part of your family, even though there is no blood connection, could also be impacting the family. so it's a variety, unlike many other diseases and chronic conditions that we have. erica, how can family members begin to recognize that there's either a substance use or a mental health issues of concern within the family? i think that most importantly that you notice behavior changes. maybe their routine has changed or the people that they are spending time with is different. start noticing that, you know, things aren't the same as they were. maybe as a parent, they are not getting up with their children in the morning and making breakfast and getting them ready for school and putting them on the bus like they used to. and, you know, when things start to look different, that's when that could be a red flag. and fran, how important is it t

so, um, our family or definition of family has really expanded. and traditionally, we thought of even the wife, the husband, the children, and now it really it goes, it's more complex than that for the immediate family of, of the military service member. correct? oh, definitely, because we have partners: those that are together, um, no, not necessary in marriage but are living together. and 'course, now, with the passage of don't ask and don't tell, we have that particular partner going on as well. and so, they are also embraced as far as being part of the, uh, the family as well. and even the veterans administration, i think, is looking very carefully at their definition of family even now, and trying to determine what is the best way to capture those individuals who are, are in a person's life who have an emotional attachment and who are so important for their support. and, i think, the unique circumstances of the past decade at war, in terms of the nature of the conflicts, has also sort of, really pushed that, that issue to the forefront with r

it includes families were living with family and friends throughout the bay area, family staying in one of our current overnight shelters, families who, within a few months, will be reaching the time limit in our full-service shelter system. families living in residential hotels in the city and around the bay area. and families staying in cars and on the streets but there are currently 79 families in the city's full service system, and that is a long-term shelter where people have a room. there's food and service there. not the overnight shelter. in addition, there are 253 families on the waiting list waiting for shelter, an all-time high in san francisco. in 16 years, whenever see numbers that high. when we look to the national data with respect to homeless families, there is a few things we know. we know that they do not have higher levels of mental illness, substance abuse, or engagement what the child protective system when compared to other poor families. they simply have a housing problem. in its san francisco, the problem is related to a dearth of affordable housing, often couple

as i told you on the side, i am very concerned that many families are applying for the families in transition program through the school district, but it does not seem they know about our system of care. many of those families live with relatives. but it's an ok situation for them. if i reach out and connected to them, they may say i am fine. i want to know that front and center. i also want to say we talked about the idea of not needing to open a shelter. we heard from the families that are not talking about the need for increases in shelter. what they were saying is they needed us stable place to live. -- need a stable place to live that allows for the families to get to school on time. they get their benefits in child care. it is the base of support that we all need in order to thrive. that is what we want to put in place for the families and not waste any of their time. we want to help them get housing right away. i will ask them to quickly summarize for your request that program, and then we can wrap up from there. >> i appreciate the comments come and hope to hear about a follow-up, but

place my family lived is 75 miles from dublin.7 and i'm sitting in the tibrare studies department in the library in require land looking for books and reading the microfilm of every county tibrare daily nurl from january first 1847 through december 31st 1849. i'm looking for family history and in particular one ancestor who disapeered between 1848 and 1849. james lacy. from what i read in these local newspapers is looks like the people's history of require land during the great hunger, my people's history, was never record indeed books. nor barely mentioned in any newspapers. you will only find mention of the local people if something unusual happened. the librarian tells me. i read the newspaper so i know that unusual is the polite word for murdered or murderer. why else would a poor person's name apeer in the news? why do i think the newspapers then report differently from today's news? i'm here in ireland reading every paper just in case. i will move ahead. the lacies lived in cottage and palace. in 1848 dozens of families left

i don't have the total number of families involved, but 96% of the families say that their child enjoys going to school. a 93% say that they are going to a nurturing environment. 91% would recommend the schools to other parents, at 90% says that the child says that they love the school. what they want to talk about -- lastly, what i want to talk about is a model city district partnership. and this is what -- this is one of the most exciting aspects of having us here today. the city takes an active role in its students. even though we have a low population of students and a lower than average concentration in public schools, the city cares about the public school students. the kindergarten to college program by cisneros. to provide accoutnnts for students to be able to save for college. the rainy day fund. the education richmond fund. a host of other programs have been critical. the mission promised in neighborhood grant, but the district was a huge part of that. we have seen huge differences in the bay view and mission neighborhoods. it was launched earlier from the leningrad and has no

when you award one family the honor of being selected as the family of the year. tell us about this family. >> you are going to learn more about them directly in a second. it's a wonderful family. another example that we try to demonstrate with the la familia award. this is the 23rd time we have recognized a family in silicon valley, a latino family that is doing wonderful things in the community. we like to say that we see the la familia award as a way to acknowledge ordinary people doing extraordinary things. i think the family is very much like that. the program they set up in the section of san jose, you know the history of that community. for many, many years, it was neglected and forgotten. it went through tremendous flooding issue several years ago. they came right in, right after that and began to provide services for that community and bring love and joy around the holiday season. this is where it started. it evolved to its own foundation. these are people who created their own foundation, they are getting on scholarships from our community to go on and p

for families who have now extended family here. they played a key role in bridging that gap and supporting families to be healthy and strong. the second point to mention in terms of what the support network is doing is our policy platform on promoting family economic success. all this can be found at our website at sfsfsn.org the policy platform focuses on this key area of promoting family economics assess. as we -- family economic success. there was a gap in ones focused on the economic success. that is where our network came up with this policy platform which looks that supporting families economically through unit family support, two generations strategy. we're talking about supporting the parents to obtain the education and skills they need for jobs that provide living wages to support themselves and their families as well as we're talking about supporting the children to be well prepared for future of learning and learning. that is what -- why our policy platform is very broad, including school readiness to supporting the impr

supporting the family. we see adoptive parents that need to be front and center as the parent. we are in the background to help them do that. with the family anywhere 12-18 months before the adoption is finalized. then we make a lifelong commitment to families and kids. so they can check in and get a lot of phone calls when the kids hit adolescents and they are being challenged. we have community resources. we have a couple events every year where we encourage families come back and check in and see how they are doing. >> cheryl: does it matter if the family has money or not, whether you are rich or poor? >> no, there is no income requirement. folks need to have some income, raising kids is not inexpensive and shoes and jean and hair not to mention groceries. there is no income requirement. we have families meager meanings and live in an apartment. but beyond that you don't have to own your own home or ranch. we are looking for families that can step up the challenges and meet their needs. >> cheryl: stay w

i had 165-year-old man who is alone, no family -- a 65-year- old man who is alone, no family here, but he does not have any papers to get that social security that he has contributed to for 30 years. he will be homeless after working for many years. i faced this situation with my clients a lot. i help low income people. sometimes it is very difficult. sometimes i think about how small the world is a and i see how immigration laws are changing. immigration rates started about 40 years ago and i started to see my client to come to me. my husband has been here 10 years and all of a sudden, his employer is asking for a work permit. we have two children. we just bought a home. what are we going to do? i could not provide a work permit, so i said, just hope that your boss looks to the other side. in the 1990's, i did not see people coming to ask, what are we going to do? then i started to think about what immigrants bring to the economy, and it is true. a lot of them were buying homes together. five siblings buying a 5-bedroom home. in those days, 90% of my clients were buying homes because

when i was working as a director of parent org nieging i referred many families to support for family and thank you very much and congratulations and on to another 30 years of service. thanks. >> superintendent carranza. >>i would like to add my congratulations of the board and juneau thank you so much on behalf of the thousands of children you have helped and the families you have helped. we have tremendous work ahead of us but we know we can accomplish it because we have wonderful partners like you so thank you very much. >> so i guess i get the last word. juno, it's incredible what you have done. i am so proud of you and the organization. for the odd densz that don't know this i was in the sister organization at the birth of this organization was formed and it was just her and her and her, and look at what it's now, the impact it's had. it's great for me personally to see the growth and what you have done for our families so congratulations. what do i do now? voting. w÷w÷ >> thank you commissioner. ( roll call). >> you have six aye's. [applause] >> i honestly didn't expect that but

for the family. for example, when the body will be released, who is the homicide investigator. just, what is the process, so that we can do the planning? after the incident, the next day, crt will report a summary to the administration appeared whenever they were contacted, what happened, whether they responded, so we get a summary. i also reviewed -- sfpd puts out a recap of city incidents. i will go out to any injuries and coordinate. then i will send out an e-mail notification so that people understand that this occurred in their area. also to dispel any rumors. a lot of the gossip was made very difficult. i will turn it over now to stefani who will be dealing with the crisis center. supervisor avalos: it looks like we lost some media here. we are still on. we are back on. >> [inaudible] quick overview of the crisis services in general and then i will go into with the crisis response service provides. the ordeal of crisis services, our goal is to provide you, families, communities with acute menta

our family has always been like every american family, and i am so proud of jay and the twins.the boys attended catholic schools through sixth grade. they excelled in glasses inclasses and have been at the top of their class. i've volunteered at the school when they need someone to pitch in. i am always the first one to call. jay was a member of the school board at the catholic school. i am a eucharist the minister at the good shepherd church where jay and i sing in the choir. our family is fortunate because we have never fell discriminated against in our community. our friends, mostly heterosexual couples cost a model family. they even call us and their role models. we try to mirror the best family values in spite of the fact that our children are so well adjusted to the love that we parents have been able to provide their classmates to know that they have two moms and it has never been an issue. i can say without any doubt, our lives were almost perfect until the morning of january 8, 2009. that morning at 6:30 a.m. ice agents showed up at my door. they were looking for a mex