City Department Participation in Communities of Opportunity

City department participation in Communities of Opportunity has been uneven and slow to develop. The 2006 Pilot Phase Business Plan (2006 Plan) never clearly defined how City departments were to work together to identify and develop programs as part of Communities of Opportunity.

In the Communities of Opportunity December 31, 2007 Year-End Report to the foundations, Communities of Opportunity proposed changes to its approach to strengthen City departments' involvement, including:

1. Appointing the Director of Communities of Opportunity as senior staff within the Mayor's Office;
2. Developing department work teams consisting of senior managers; and
3. Implementing the Interagency Council, as discussed in Section 1.

From FY 2006-2007 until FY 2008-2009 City departments have not included Communities of Opportunity programs in their budget, although the Department of Children, Youth, and their Families provided some funding to Communities of Opportunity programs through their regular grant-making process. According to the Director of Communities of Opportunity, City departments participated in some Communities of Opportunity programs within their existing department resources, as shown in Table 2.1 below.

Department of Children, Youth, and their Families

As shown in Table 2.1, the Department of Children, Youth, and their Families was the major City department participating in Communities of Opportunity programs in the first two years. Because Communities of Opportunity's focus is families, the Department of Children, Youth, and their Families helped plan or partially fund several programs through their established grant-making process, including

• $100,000 to the Heritage Camp, a summer day camp for youth living in the four Communities of Opportunity nodes that was first conducted in the summer of 2006.
• $350,000 for the Parent University, of which $300,000 was allocated to the Department's Family Ambassador Program to provide outreach and support in the Communities of Opportunity nodes. The Parent University began in January 2008.
• $100,000 for Academic Athletes providing year-round sports programs combined with academic tutoring.

Some existing Department of Children, Youth, and their Families grant programs intersect with the Communities of Opportunity nodes. In the 2007-2010 funding cycle, the Department of Children, Youth, and their Families granted $3.1 million to the Community Response Network for programs in high risk City neighborhoods that address youth gang violence, including in Communities of Opportunity nodes. The Department of Children, Youth, and their Families also supports youth employment and educational afterschool programs in Communities of Opportunity nodes as part of their Citywide funding allocation.

According to the December 31, 2007 Year-End Report, the Communities of Opportunity programs described in Table 2.1 were intended to be catalyze" change but not to be long-term solutions. The December 31, 2007 report states that Communities of Opportunity has begun discussions with the Department of Children, Youth, and their Families and other City departments to transition these programs into mainstream City programs.

Streamlining Programs in the 2008 Plan

Beginning in FY 2008-2009, Communities of Opportunity shifted from directly funding programs to working with City departments to design and fund on-ramp" services connecting Communities of Opportunity residents to City services. The 2008 Business Plan Update (2008 Plan) linked the on-ramp services to existing City initiatives, including:

• Hope SF in which the City will fund redevelopment of public housing;
• Workforce development; and
• SF Promise which guarantees college financial assistance to San Francisco students.

Table 2.2
The 2008 Plan's On-Ramp Programs

Source: 2008 Business Plan Update

On-Ramps to Services

The 2008 Plan more directly involves City departments than the 2006 Plan through on-ramp services. Of the six on-ramp services shown in Table 2.2, Communities of Opportunity participants point to the Rental Assistance Program as the main achievement to date.

The Rental Assistance Program

The San Francisco Housing Authority developed the Rental Assistance Program with assistance from the Deputy Director of Communities of Opportunity and the Mayor's Office of Housing. The Program has been implemented in Hunters View, the smallest of the Communities of Opportunity's four public housing sites and the first public housing site to be scheduled for redevelopment by Hope SF. In July 2008 the Housing Authority Commission adopted the pilot Rental Assistance Program's policies and procedures.

The Rental Assistance Program provides a payment plan for residents who are not current with their rent payments to become current, and provides incentives for residents to remain current with their rental payments. According to the Rental Assistance Program's policies and procedures, residents who make timely payments on their rent or payment plan can receive a $150 incentive provided by the Communities of Opportunity or Catholic Charities. This incentive plan is available for the first two years of the program. As of August 2008, 52 households were eligible for the $150 incentive.

Housing Authority policy, established by the federal department of Housing and Urban Development, requires eviction of residents for non-payment of rent. To be eligible for placement in new housing after the redevelopment of public housing sites by Hope SF, residents must be tenants in good standing, including current with rent payments.

According to the Director of Communities of Opportunity, since implementation of the Rental Assistance Program in March 2008, tenants current on their rent have increased from 39 percent to 86 percent, and tenants consistently paying their rent on time have increased from 15 percent to 46 percent. As of August 2008, 129 households out of 153 were participating in the program and were current with their rent payments or were participating in a payment plan.

Evaluation and Expansion of the Rental Assistance Program

Key components of Communities of Opportunity programs are:

1. The use of data to evaluate the program's effectiveness;
2. The ability to roll out pilot programs to other locations; and
3. The ability to sustain the program over time.

Communities of Opportunity is working with the Housing Authority and the Mayor's Office of Housing to evaluate the pilot Rental Assistance Program, and develop a plan to expand the program to the other three Communities of Opportunity housing sites, the first of which would be Alice Griffith. According to the Director of Communities of Opportunity, the Rental Assistance Program will not provide cash incentives to the other housing sites, which have a larger number of households than Hunters View, because of the high cost to provide these incentives.

The Parent University

The Parent University was implemented in August 2007 as a joint project of the First Five Commission, Department of Children, Youth, and their Families, and Communities of Opportunity. The Edgewood Center for Children and Families and Florence Crittenden Services were selected as the service providers through a competitive selection process, with the Edgewood Center serving as the lead agency.

The Parent University is intended to provide:

• Support for families with children under the age of five;
• Community leadership and involvement;
• Adult learning opportunities; and
• Programs to support children's success in school.

After the initial planning phase, the Parent University was to begin serving residents in December 2007. The Parent University uses a system of family ambassadors" to recruit families for the Parent University's programs. Under the initial work plan, two of the programs – support for families with children under the age of five, and support for children's success in school – have recruited solely from Hunters View during the first six months. The community leadership and adult learning programs have recruited among all four Communities of Opportunity locations.

As of June 12, 2008 the Parent University had begun offering eight-week workshops to train parents to be advocates for themselves and in their neighborhoods," and setting up Malcolm X Middle School as a community center. Implementation of the Parent University's program for children less than five years of age was behind schedule.

Implementation of the On-Ramp Programs

The on-ramp programs will be implemented in the Communities of Opportunity public housing sites marked for redevelopment under Hope SF. The 2006 Hope SF Task Force identified eight distressed public housing sites for redevelopment, including all four Communities of Opportunity sites.

The Housing Authority Commission selected Hunters View as the first site for redevelopment. In March 2008 the Housing Authority Commission added Sunnydale and two other public housing sites [1] to the list of Hope SF projects. Hunters Point and Alice Griffith are not currently scheduled for redevelopment under Hope SF.

The 2006 Plan linked improvement in housing to workforce development and other services. The 2008 Plan states that Communities of Opportunity has worked with the Mayor's Office of Housing and the Redevelopment Agency to plan services for residents as part of the redevelopment of the public housing sites.

Hope SF Pre-Development Services Plan

The Human Services Agency, Mayor's Office of Housing, Office of Workforce Development, and Communities of Opportunity jointly released a draft Pre-Development Resident Services Plan in August 2008. The intent is to coordinate City-funded services for public housing residents prior to development, during the construction and relocation phase, and once the development is complete and residents have moved into the new housing. The goal is to stabilize families economically and socially, providing a higher quality of life as well as improved housing.

The Pre-Development Services Plan primarily addresses services provided by City agencies prior to development of new public housing. Under Hope SF, the developer is expected to draft the service plan for the construction phase and once the development is complete. The Pre-Development Service Plan includes Communities of Opportunity and other programs, including:

• The Rental Assistance Program, which has been implemented at Hunters View, as discussed above;
• Workforce development, including job readiness and training;
• Coordinated case management
• Benefits screening;
• Individual development accounts; and
• Transportation.

The Hope SF executive oversight committee, consisting of department directors from the major agencies participating in Communities of Opportunity and Hope SF, coordinates services among the participating city agencies. The oversight committee meets on an ad hoc basis.

The Hope SF targeted services provided to the public housing residents under the Pre-Development Services Plan are the same as the on-ramp services described in Table 2.2. Transportation is provided through existing Municipal Transportation Agency services as well as the Communities of Opportunity's Village Van program.

Job Readiness and Workforce Development Programs in the Hope SF Pre-Development Services Plan

The Hope SF Task Force Report recommended connecting the Office of Workforce Development's [2] job training programs, including the existing City Build program,[3] to the redevelopment of the public housing sites. The City Build program is intended to ensure that public housing residents benefit from the construction of new housing as part of Hope SF.

Interdepartmental Memorandum of Understanding

The Department of Economic and Workforce Development has participated in drafting a Memorandum of Understanding with the Redevelopment Agency, Housing Authority, Mayor's Office of Housing, and the Mayor's Office of Community Investment, defining the responsibilities of each agency in preparing and placing residents into construction jobs for the construction of the new Hunters View development, which is the first of the Hope SF developments. The Memorandum of Understanding addresses both construction jobs and services jobs, including permanent retail jobs once the development is completed.

The Proposed Bridge to Success Job Readiness Training Program

The Pre-Development Services Plan outlines the Office of Workforce Development's job readiness training program, including:

• Outreach and recruitment using the Communities of Opportunity's peer coaches (see Section 5);
• Vocational needs assessment; and
• Access to support services needed during training, job search, and post placement, if necessary.

The job readiness training program is intended to assist Hope SF residents with benefits eligibility, obtaining driver's licenses and General Educational Development (GED) diplomas, and other requirements for job training and placement as preliminary steps in preparing residents for jobs. The job readiness training program will also include life skills (such as punctuality and conflict management) programs. The Office of Workforce Development expects the first group of participants to begin in January 2009.

Existing City Build Programs in the Southeast Neighborhoods

According to the Office of Workforce Development, the job readiness training strategies outlined in the draft Hope SF Pre-Development Services Plan are intended to augment existing programs currently offered by the Office of Workforce Development and other City departments through community-based organizations in the southeast neighborhoods. According to the City Build director, the Communities of Opportunity's' peer coaches are able to recruit public housing residents for City Build training programs that the community-based organizations have been unable to reach.

Opportunity Centers and Peer Coaches in the Pre-Development Service Plan

The draft Hope SF Pre-Development Service Plan relies on the Communities of Opportunity's Opportunity Centers and peer coach network to recruit and provide service referrals. Under the Pre-Development Service Plan, the Opportunity Centers and peer coaches would be extended to the other Hope SF development sites, depending on funding availability.

Communities of Opportunity's Proposed Changes to City Departments' Fundamental Processes

The 2008 Plan identifies two changes to City departments' infrastructure to improve processes, including:

1. Create a mechanism to better share data among City departments, discussed in Section 3 of this report;
2. Develop coordinated case management for families accessing multiple City systems, such as Juvenile and Adult Probation, Child Protective Services, and CalWorks, discussed below; and

Implementing Coordinated Case Management

The Communities of Opportunity is in the early stages of developing coordinated case management, including interdepartmental access to case data. Of the 2,600 families living in the four nodes, an estimated 650 are involved in multiple City systems. Coordinated case management will initially include an estimated 150 families living in the Hunters View and Hunters Point nodes.

The 2006 Plan listed multiple programs that were to be implemented within the first 24 months. Two of those programs included (1) integration of wrap-around programs for families in chronic crisis and (2) launching integrated wrap-around programs for youth in the juvenile justice system and other systems of care. According to the December 31, 2007 year-end report to the foundations, the Human Services Agency, through the Deputy Director for Children and Family Services, has taken the lead in implementing coordinated case management for families engaged in multiple systems. The goal of coordinated case management (called SF CAN DO) is to create a single plan for families with mandated case management in multiple agencies, such as Adult and Juvenile Probation, CalWORKS, Child Welfare, and Community Behavioral Health.

The Human Services Agency, through a grant from the Stuart Foundation, has hired a consultant from the Family Justice Initiative, which implemented a similar program in New York City. The consultant developed a draft work plan in July 2008, covering the first of three years of planning and implementation. Currently, the Human Services Agency, Adult Probation Department, and Department of Public Health are the lead departments planning for coordinated case management. Representatives from the, Juvenile Probation Department, Housing Authority, San Francisco Unified School District, and Department of Children, Youth, and their Families participate in workgroup meetings.

In the first year, the work plan calls for:

• Setting up interdepartmental work groups;
• Reviewing each department's case management forms and make recommendations for form revisions, developing standardized case management forms among the departments;
• Conducting focus groups in the Communities of Opportunity neighborhoods to identify how families experience the systems that provide services to children;
• Identifying case management reporting requirements to state and federal funding agencies and how information in these reports can be used to determine outcome measures for families involved in multiple systems; and
• Training work group members and department staff in coordinated case management.

The Human Services Agency hopes to implement trial coordinated case management by the Spring of 2009. Human Services Agency staff will need to learn the referral process, and attend interdisciplinary family meetings. The goal is to roll out this program with staff who are well-trained in coordinated case management.

Confidentiality Restrictions for Coordinated Case Management Information Sharing

City departments will need to obtain informed consents for release of information before client information can be shared among City departments. Federal and state requirements restrict access to information about recipients of benefits. The Human Services Agency can share some information under the State Welfare and Institution Code if information sharing is (a) in the best interest of the program, or (b) used for the prevention of child abuse. The Human Services Agency can discuss clients with other agencies for case planning to prevent child abuse. In these instances the common client must sign a release of information" and be included in the discussion.

City departments will need to obtain informed consent for release of information for each family involved in multiple systems to allow information sharing under coordinated case management. According to the Deputy Director of the Communities of Opportunity, the coordinated case management work groups are identifying what information needs to be shared for case planning and drafting informed consent forms for participating families. The second step is to determine what data is necessary to track and measure long term outcomes. This process is expected to parallel the coordinated case management process over the next nine to twelve months.

City Departments' Uneven Participation

The extent to which City departments have participated in Communities of Opportunity varies depending on the department's main functions or responsibilities. The Department of Children, Youth, and their Families and the Human Services Agency have been the two main departments participating in Communities of Opportunity. The Department of Children, Youth, and their Families funds Communities of Opportunity programs through their grant making process. The Human Services Agency, which is charged with providing services and benefits to low-income families, plans and coordinates with Communities of Opportunity programs.

Other City departments participate in the Communities of Opportunity to varying degrees:

• The Juvenile Probation Department has worked with the Communities of Opportunity to redesign the program to connect Juvenile Hall youth with service providers.
• The Adult Probation Department is working with the Human Services Agency to develop a coordinated case management program.
• The Mayor's Office of Housing and the Office of Workforce Development, within the Department of Economic and Workforce Development, are working with the Human Services Agency to plan services for residents as part of the Hope SF redevelopment of public housing. The San Francisco Housing Authority and Department of Children, Youth, and their Families are also participating.
• The Office of Workforce Development is also coordinating the existing City Build program to better reach residents of the Communities of Opportunity sites.

Other City departments are less directly involved. The Department of Public Health sends staff to the coordinated case management work group meetings and is working with the Communities of Opportunity to develop standard contract language requiring providers to offer services to individuals referred by the Communities of Opportunity. The Mayor's Office of Community Investment funds programs in the Bayview/Hunters Point/Visitacion Valley neighborhoods that intersect with the Communities of Opportunity as part of their regular grant-making process, and the Director of the Mayor's Office of Community Investment will serve as co-chair to the Interagency Council. The Mayor's Office on Criminal Justice, the Police Department, and the Redevelopment Agency are not active participants.

Because most of the residents within the four Communities of Opportunity locations live in public housing, the San Francisco Housing Authority works with the Communities of Opportunity through the Rental Assistance Program. The Housing Authority also provides family income data to the Communities of Opportunity for performance measurement.

The San Francisco Unified School District and the Community College District are participating in specific proposals. The Community College District along with the San Francisco Unified School District is preparing a joint proposal with the Communities of Opportunity to develop a drop-out recovery program. The Community College District is developing a program to certify community based organizations through the Southeast Community College campus.

Conclusion

City departments have been slow in implementing programs to support Communities of Opportunity. The 2006 Plan did not define the role of City departments in implementing Communities of Opportunity and the 2008 Plan, which shifted Communities of Opportunity's focus to providing on-ramps to City programs and services, was only completed in May 2008. Currently, only two Communities of Opportunity programs supported by City departments - the Rental Assistance Program and Parent University - are in early stages of implementation.

Because the major City department programs and initiatives under Communities of Opportunity - including coordinated case management and Hope SF pre-development services - are in the planning stage with departments unevenly engaged, the Director of the Communities of Opportunity will need to work with the Interagency Council to ensure follow-through on these programs and initiatives.

Communities of Opportunity also needs to carefully define its focus. Because the draft Hope SF Pre-Development Resident Services Plan considers expanding Communities of Opportunity on-ramp programs to other Hope SF public housing sites scheduled for redevelopment, the geographic focus could shift from the four Communities of Opportunity nodes.

The Communities of Opportunity on-ramp programs to be implemented through City departments - such as the Rental Assistance Program or Parent University - could meet specific program goals. However, Communities of Opportunity's current structure and process do not demonstrate how these programs will contribute to Communities of Opportunity's stated purpose of strengthening the southeast sector" as a whole.

Recommendations

The Director of Communities of Opportunity, in conjunction with the Interagency Council, should:

2.1 Develop a process ensuring follow through and completion of coordinated case management, and on-ramp programs, including the (a) Resident Assistance Program, (b) Individual Development Accounts, (c) Job Readiness Program, (d) Single Stop Benefits Screening, (e) Parent University, and (f) Gateway to College. This process should define each City department's roles, responsibilities, and accountability to the process.

2.2 Begin discussions within the Interagency Council on how (a) the programs implemented through the four Communities of Opportunity nodes relate to the programs implemented to the Hope SF public housing redevelopment sites; and (b) how specific program goals relate to the overall Communities of Opportunity goals, in order to revise and refine implementation plans.

2.3 Report to the Board of Supervisors prior to December 31, 2008 on the status of coordinated case management, including:

(a) The process to ensure follow through and completion of planning, as discussed in Recommendation 2.1;

(b) Each department's actual participation and accomplishments to date in comparison to the work plan, including the (1) Human Services Agency, (2) Adult Probation Department, (3) Juvenile Probation Department, and (4) Department of Public Health;

(c) The overall accomplishments of the coordinated case management process to date in comparison to the work plan; and

(d) Projected revisions to the respective departments' proposed FY 2009-2010 budgets due to implementation of coordinated case management, including the (1) Human Services Agency, (2) Adult Probation Department, (3) Juvenile Probation Department, and (4) Department of Public Health.

2.4 Report to the Board of Supervisors prior to December 31, 2008 on the status of Communities of Opportunity's on-ramp programs, including the (a) Resident Assistance Program, (b) Individual Development Accounts, (c) Job Readiness Program, (d) Single Stop Benefits Screening, (e) Parent University, and (f) Gateway to College. This report should include the:

(a) Status of planning or implementation for each on-ramp program;

(b) Program measures and resident participation;

(c) City department participation; and

(c) Projected on-ramp program costs proposed in respective City departments in FY 2009-2010.

Costs and Benefits

These recommendations should be implemented within the Community of Opportunity's existing process to plan and implement programs and initiatives. Implementing these recommendations should (a) develop the processes to ensure follow-through on the Communities of Opportunity's program planning and (b) maintain communication with the Board of Supervisors on the Communities of Opportunity.