Transcripts For SFGTV Mayors Disability Council 102116 20161205

Wheelchairs and other assistive mobility devices. Wheelchair access is provided at the grove van ness and mcallister streets via ramps. Wheelchair access is polk street carton b goodlet entrance proded wheelchair list. Assistive listening deviceerize available and meeting is open captioned and sign language interpreted. Agendas are available in large print and braille. Please ask staff for additional assistance. To prevent electronic interference with this rooms sound system and respect everyones ability to focus on the presentations, please silence all mobile phones and pdas. Your cooperation is much appreciated. We welcome the publics participation during Public Comment. You may complete a speaker card available in the front of the room or call our bridge line at 1, 4155549632 where a staff person will handle request to speak at the promet appropriate time. The mayors disuct Council Meeting are generally held the third friday of the month. The next meeting is held friday november 18, 2016 from 1 to 4 p. M. In city hall at room 400. Please call accommodation at 1415or email mod sfgov. Org eare minder to all the guests to speak slowly into the micro phone to assist the captioners and interpreters. Cochair supanich, here mpt sin senhaux, here. Cus tanian. Item 1, roll call. Action 2, reading and approval of the agenda. Agenda item number 3 recollect Public Comment. Items not on todays agenda but within jurgz dix of mdc. Each speaker is limited to 3 minutes. 4, information item. Cochair report. Agenda item number 5, information item. Supplemental analysis of San Francisco recreation and Park Department ada Program Accessibility of recreation elements included in the 2012 ada stanards. Review. Presentation by pauline arakea and tim gilbert principle consultant for ada accessibility analysis. Public comment is welcome. Agenda item number 6, information item. Elections accessibility. The department of elections will provide a overview how all voters can repair, plan and participates in the nrfb 8, 2016 election. Highlights include accessibility at polling place and ballot measuref special interest of seniors and voters with disability. Presentation by jill fox, manager Voter Outreach Department of elections. Public comment is welcome. The council will take a 15 minute break. Ajendsa item 7, information item. Employment Services Program positive resourcesenter. The employment Services Program provides locational rehabilitation and job Serve Service for hiv aids or Mental Health disability. They assist clients considering temporary work, permitinant part time or full time work or training and educational opportunities. Presentation by joe ramirez forcier, managering director employment sunchs program pause tb Resource Center. Public comment is welcome. Agenda item 8, informationite item. No barriers. The changing landscape for the blind and visually impaired mptd blindness is no longer a barrier for ement employment. Adaptive technology evened the playing field. Presentation by Kate Williams manljure for employment immersion program. Agenda item 9, information item. Report from the interim director of mayor Office Office of disability. Item 10, Public Comment. Items not on todays agenda but within the jurisdiction of mdc. Each speaker is limited to 3 minutes. Item 11, information item. Correspondence. Agenda item number 12, discussion item. Council members comments and announcements. Agenda item 13, adjournment. Thank you very much. Well move to pub luck comment now for items not on todays ajunds agenda. I have one speaker card for mr. Brown. Good afternoon folks. I want to address two items on the muni, i hope the people with mayor afs office of disability are working on this. They want to eliminate inbound bus stop at the library and reroute from 7th to mcallister street. Many in the senior and Disable Community use the library and appreciate the pickup to the wharf. Second comment, i think the brand new buserize spending [inaudible] are really working vale well. They are very disable friendly and i think they are the best transportation we ever had in San Francisco. Thank you, folks. Thank you. Any other Public Comment today . We will move to cochair report. Thank you, cochair supanich. What i like to do monthly is showcase different organizations in the community, so right now i have some information on Upcoming Events student share with you from different organizations. First of all, there is going to be different showcases of the test train for the new bart fleet coming up during the month of october they already had different presentations on the train, but the last two in the east bay will be held on saturday october 29th at the dublin pleasanten station from 11 a. M. To 4 p. M. And sunday october 30th at el norte station from 11 to 4. You will be able to view the trains. What they are asking is if you want more information to go to www. bartgov. News article twnt 16 and you will access information on the trains, what they look like. It will give a update on new schedules for reviewing those trains. The next i like to share something from independent living Resource Center. Information people going through thaprocess of purchasing a wheelchair and how complex that process is going through their Insurance Company. They put together fact sheets on mobility and assist chb technology, the resource project and on the website they talk you through the process of the paperwork you need to fill out and the information that your doctor needs to provide. That is part the nick felden devicelanding library at ilrc and it will tell specific fact sheets for medicare, medicaid and private Insurance Company and the process to go through and you can droketly to the ilrc site at with ww rks. Illrcss. Org access resources. It will populate just click on resource page and that will give you the information about the process. The next information i like to provide from the activities calendar for the lighthouse for the blind and visually impaired in rarts to super fest coming up. It will be held saturday october 22 and sunday october 23 super Fest International disability film festival. It will be held at the [inaudible] Jewish Museum in berkeley and or San Francisco. It is celebrating 30 years and it will have wide raisk range of International Groups of film ranging from short fictional films to long documentary. More information go to superfest film,. Com. I think every one knows elections are coming up and of course we will have a presentation from the department of elections, bullet i want to give information from the dignity fund just reminder that november 8 to vote on proposition i, which is the dignity fund and that takes two percent of the property tax and puts that back into to the Community Service for seniors rks people with disabilities and veterans. For new updated Voter Registration auctd 24 is absolute deadline so that is just reminder to vote. If you want to know about all the program and service the Community Living campaign provides they can be reached at info act sf Community Living. Org. Thank you so much. We will move to the first presentation on financial access. I have Paulina Araica and tim gilbert. Good afternoon commissioners and staff andpublic. Im pauliney with [inaudible] and i am also the ada coordinator for physical access along with [inaudible] who is the ada coordinator for programming. We actually look into the issues and the programs for ada in the capital plan. I am pleased to pronet present to you analysis of the supplemental analysis of the status of rec and park, ada programming for recreation included in the 2010 ada standards. As part of the recreation and Park Department, ada transition plan we embark on the project to be able to make a statement [inaudible] get the recommendation to our programs to be provided in facilities and sites that are generally meeting 10 of the 1991 ada guidelines or the 2010 ada standards. And also to fiend out if they are barriers that need to be addressed in order to meet the Program Accessibility. As you know, Program Accessibility can be accomplished in different ways by removal of a structural barrier and other [inaudible] like providing alternative sites, using aids or different ways to be able to provide accessibility to people of all abilities. With this analysis, we were able to look first of all at our ifficiencies being able to provide Program Accessibility, but also were able to see if the accessibility in our department would view in its entirety if it is meet thg requirements for ada. So, im pleased to say that as part of the analysis we look in its entirety. The rec and Park Department has accomplished 65 percent of compliance with all the recreation elements that are in the 2010 ada standard, but of course there is 35 percent that we still need to work on and with the presentation by till gilbert, you bill be able to get little more detail on the recreation elements. I know that we are very tight with the presentation at this time, but later on the council would like to get more specific details we will be happy to provide it at a later date. With that, i will present tim gilbert that will do the presentation mpt. Thank you. Thank you for inviting us to the presentation, we are very excited about this work and as park planners and accessibility consultant we understand the importance of recreation to our world and families and individuals so this is important. Mrs. Araica did a good job describing the goaloffs the proctand goal thofz ada which is provide service tooz the public in Accessible Facilities and this project specifically focuses on those recreation elements that were include in the new ada standard established in 2010, but going into effect 2012. The work that was initated in the dedevelopment of the project included workshops and interviews with rpd staff. We looked at bond measure jz accomplishment of the bond measure jz rpd material squz rec and park website, very good information there. We developed programmatic factors work wg staff and pub lb and will talk about that in a second to help with the analysis not just looking at the physical condition of the Recreation Development but the context the activities take place within our community. We analyze the Financial Condition physical condition of the recreation elements i and put that information into extensive and detailed database with mapping that allows staff ongoing to review, analyze, sort and straty removing barriers. We also connected a very successful Public Focus Group with the independent living resource sent r of San Francisco where we had members the community helped us determining the program factors and sharing with us their experiences in recreation and Park Department. The project tool squz resources coming owl of this project specifically are substantial analysis report, which will contain the data, the details on the program factors on the recreational elements themselves in addition to the interactive map system in gis, something that the department and the city has developed over the time, but now this data will be integrated into that system, so the staff can assist the department in making strategic decisions, looking alresults, tracking improvements and ability to give a good picture where we stand any given time. And also presentations to you, to recreation and parks Operation Staff which we did last month successful meeting with them and will meet with park s and Recreation Commission as welt. The recreation elements we looked at include all of those things that are in the new 2010 ada. Amusic, roids, exercise equipment, field sports like basket ball and tennis, fishing piers, golf facilities, play areas, Recreational Boating facilities, boat docks, shooting facilities like archery ranges and so forth. Sports courts which are thereare many of. Sorry, field sports are soccer, softball and baseball. The sports courts are the baseicateball tennis and other hard surface and swimming pools. We looked at all the feature squzs and sates available to the public available in the rpd inven tone but boating and recreation facilities, some sites are managed by the port of San Francisco and other entities manage some the rec facilities. An analysis was done but are able to be sorted interms of the action San Francisco would want to take. This data has been as i mentioned put into a database and mapped. The numbers are substantial in some cases. Amusement riseds there are only 4. The care sl at golden gate park. Exercise equipment include the Outdoor Recreational elements found along ong path ways. 116 Field Support fields. 3 fishing piers, i think two of those are not rpd managed. 16 golf facilities ranging from golf courses to putting green or driving activity like in moscone park there is a small golf facility there. Play areas, lots of them, 217 located in many parks. Recreational boating, shooting facilities, sports courts, 305 sports court and 9 swimming pools. It is a substantial resource. The analysis that was done on this inventory of facilities categorized the recreation element and the associated support facilities including parking, path of travel and club housing into two categories of good physical access including the path of travel, parking and restroom, recreation and club housing when they were accessible and usable by people with disabilities, or poor physical access in which it is determined that they do have significant barriers to access. In addition to the physical evaluation of these elements, we determined a set of what we are calling programmatic factors which is important because this is the context in which these recreation elements exist. For instance, if there is a unique or specialized facility, there isnt much choice about moving the location of that activity to the other element if there isnt another element so we felt we needed to look at the specialized or unique component of a rec element. We also want to look at the scale of the areas serve said. For instance, playgrounds are inherently a neighborhood facility, but golf courses are inherently a city wide facility, so that make as difference how to achieve the programmatic access so we did a careful sorting and that was something we are very much advised by the community in the focus group. We also looked at access to public transst recognizing people use Public Transit to get to these places. And that is a walking distance often. And proximity to schools and libraries because of the senurgy of programs particularly maybe for youth so wanted to add those to the mix of factors not just the physical environment. Those are all included in the eval uation. We looked can i get the control room to zoom on the map to the right of the interpreter during the slide . Thank you. We have a map here both in the powerpoint and in the room. The map probably will not be very helpful to people because it is very small scale but just to verbally describe the fact we have 12 supervisor districts and many many many, more than 690 elements within the area, the inventory of facilities so this was just a example of the complexity of the project. But to move from the complexity to the summary in a sense, we through our analysis were able to establish priorities. We determined that the number one priority for making these elements accessible when viewed in entirety is look at the recreation elements with high program scores so lots of people use them, access to transit, maybe unique, maybe close to a school or facility and it may be city wide program. The high program factors and they have poor physical access, so that constitutes high priority. There are areas that have a lower programmatic score, but still have poor physical access, so that would be the second priority. Well, the best scenario were the recreation elements that have high program scores, lots of people use them, close to transit and schools and libraries and have good physical access so that is the best scenario. Then the next best is where we have a low program score, but we still have good physical access. Really the action to be taken are in the first two priorities. I like to present thank you control room. Can you go back to the slide . I like to just very briefly go through some of the physicalsome of the analysis of these elements just to summarize it. The detail is contained in the analysis report and database but want to give a flavor where we stands on the recreation elements. Field sports like softball, baseball, soccer, lacrosse, other field sports, 54 percent of those facilities have high program factors, or good physical access, so only 17 percent would be in that category of highlyhigh program factors but poor access. That was a finding. Here we have a number of facility, so this is a substantial work plan for the city. 23 of the facility we looked at have a high program factor and poor physical access. Now, on the other hand on Amusement Rides there are only 4 Amusement Rides so insame chart may be exaggerated but all 4 of those have good physical access. Three of them have high program factors and one does not have a high program factor. Amusement rides are in pretty good shape. Exercise equipment, things like park course or other exercise equipment. We have a image on the screen of the exercise equipment at marina green for example. 50 percent of those facilities have good physical access and either high or low program factors. 50 percent, 5, in fact have poor physical access. Fishing piers it looks like it is all poor physical access, but the fablth is there is only one that is managed by rpd so that is indicated as a area to work on. That fishing pier. In the world of golf and not just golf courses but golf facilities, 30 percent of the facilities that were evaluated have good physical access and either high or law program factors, but that means 70 percent the golf facilities have work to be done. 41 percent would be considered high program factors, but poor physical access so we can see golf all all r not that many total, but as a program, that is a area that needs some work. In play areas i think this is a area where we are veer pleased to see 143 of the facilities have good physical access. Actually, more than that, more than 158 actually have good physical access and that is largely result of the bond measures that happened over the past years. We do have just one play area that was listed in the high program factor and poor physical access, so i would say that department and the city is to be complimented on the work done in play areas, which of course are so much of the access to recreation for our communities. In Recreational Boating, we mentioned that much of the rec boating facilities are non rpd functions and there are 6 total that are in that high program factor but poor physical access area so boating is a area for work to be done. And shooting, we just have three facilities so again, one physical access is good and high program factors and two rin low program factors not many people use those, but poor physical access. Sports courts, 180 of the facilities actually all most 190 of the facilities have good physical access and that shows much of the work done through bond measures and good work of rpd through the bonds. But, 35 percent are still in the category in sports courts for needing some work. Maybe the best news in this analysis the status of swimming pools. 1 hundred percent the swimming pools are in the category of good physical access and i think thats again a factor of the successful bond measures and the renovation or new construction, which of course requires any of these elements to be built in the compliance with the currents standards. So, in summary, the analysis summary chart here as mrs. Araica mentioned is looking like good news from the standpoint of 65 percent of the facilities are in the good physical access category. Only 8 percent or 53 of them, all most 700 facility are in that priority one category of poor physical access, but high program factors, so this again is a summary report. We have the detail of each and every facility that is analyzed and elements there, so thatd that is maybe more detail that you hoped for but hope that is helpful and ask if there are question or comments. Thank you so much. That was a very informative and just the right amount of information for today. Does my cochair have comments or questions for the presenters . No. Ookay. I have a couple. Bear with me. You explained the process for determining priorities. A couple questions about that, what were the elements you looked at for determining if a facility had good or poor access . Yes, we looked at the actual recreation element itself and there specific standsards for each one of the things but also looked at path of travel to and from that facility. From the public right of way or from the recreation if there was a club house or Recreation Center we looked at path of travel. We look adthat restrooms that support that recreation elements and if there was parking associated with that recreation element we looked at that as well. Thank you. And thenlet me see. I also want to commend the city on the wuck of playground. We had people here before giving presentations. You may or may not know the answer to the question but there was a surface on the playground that is supposed to be low injury for impact. Is that all the playground that are done do they have that surface . That is a good question and this is a issue over time that playground surfacing has evolved. You know from the past sand was a atin waiting surface but not a accessible surface so there was a history putting the rubberize surface to the playground surface from the transfer from the chair to the end the slide. That was the state of the art am many years until we recognized that we need better access to play equipment and as standard evolved that changed so the department is now using a much more comprehensive approach to surfacing. It has to be fall atin waiting and safe, but it also needs to be accessible so the newer playgrounds are fully accessible. There may be a sand play area, but the surfacing evolved and new standards are more fully surfaced. Thank you. Two more brief questions, sorry. Um, rerespect to golden guilty gate park, there is a lot of hill jz not always paved pathways to sports fields in some facilities, how are we doing there . Well, that is a good question and recreation of course is something where challenge is a important part of recreation but we want to make sure we have accessible recreation. Topography is a challenging issue. Locating elements within a area of high topography often means making decisions where you can locate something. Im thinking of the frizz be golf in golden gate park. That is rugged terrain. The nature of that sport is turf and natural environment, so that is a bit of a tough one that really in order for that to be its sport and in the nature of the activity it is a challenging element so that is maybe something that could get looked at. Thank you and one final question. You mentioned non rpd facilities like boating and fishing piers, yes, sir are they still covered by the ada and are they required to be become fully accessible . Yes, they are. Public and private sector entities title 2 and title 3 entities are required to comply with these standards. We just wanted to make sure we reviewed them but didnt put them on the rpd plate for taking action. Did you give your recommendations and evaluation . That hasants bun done yet but can be part of the next steps. Thank you. Any questions or comments from staff . I have a cup comments and question. Paulina, thank you for apologize for mispronouncing and tim thanks. I have a question about swimming pools. The Office Sometimes gets calls from the public saying i went to such and such pool and didvent a wheelchair lift. When you say swimming pools are 100 percent accessible can you splay what that means . They are two swimming pools that are right now during design. [inaudible] garfield and balboa. [inaudible] 61 conceptualthe one more lesswith that we will be able to complete 100 percent and this study looked into the projects that are in the pipeline, so with that, we know that it is going to happen. But, with the funding from the Mayors Office of disability, we were able to get the lift for the pool to be compliant with the 2010 ada standards. Im very pleased that bob [inaudible] our manager for recreation portion of the rec and park is here with us. Maybe he isnt here now. Bob actually i like him to be able to come here for the first part of the presentation because our missionafter we get this study, not only it will help to plan the future bonds or the future Capital Improvement projects, but also [inaudible] in our operations to staff to be able to nob nab facility that is accessible to be able to maintain the accessibility because the question mentions that they might be accessible but if they something in the path of travel, if something is not at the restroom, if they are not really compliant with these and everything that is set out then it wont be accessible. Thank you. Did i answer . You did. Thank you. Any other comments or questions from staff . Is there Public Comment on this item . Yes, come on up, mr. Brown. This may be out of line but several parks i think dolores is one and there is a park off franklin street that they have stairwells but no hand rails, can they look putting hands rails in the future. You are correct we dont generally answer questions in Public Comment but if you like to meet with before they leave and have your question answered, that is great. Thank you. Any other Public Comment . No. Okay. Well move on. Thank you again for your presentation, both of you. Next we have the presentation about elections accessibility and we will hear from jill fox. No problem. Hi, thank you. And thank you for inviting us technology. My name is jill fox, from the San Francisco department of elections. We have been bring free Fair Elections to San Francisco since 1878. Free, fair functional. Today i will talk about election accessibility, but in the context of voting for everyone. We have a very inclusive system and we can help everyone prepare, plan and participate on november 8th. I have with me today and we have in our office large print fliers in english, spanish, chinese, and filipino. Sorry. And we canthey provide all of the dates urls and other Key Information that you need to participate on november 8th. We try to be inclusive department, so if you are a san franciscan you can be a voter. And those are real San Francisco voters who volunteered to be in the television commercialsfelt to vote in San Francisco, 18 years old, United States citizen, resident of San Francisco and registered to vote. The last day to register is this coming monday, we have cards downstairs sore you can rej stl to vote. Ca. Gov. I will be standing in front of city hall from 5 to 8 p. M. Monday night and the office is open 8 to 5 regular Business Hours today and monday. We also encourage everyone to check their registration. You need to update if you move, change name or want to change Political Party preference but Political Party does not mat frr the general election in november. Just for fun, how many voters does everyone think we have in San Francisco . 589 thousand and this is highest registration of all time. So, how the department of elections prepares for accessibility is a year round coordination and communication effort. We have a Voting Accessibility advisory committee, we have openings if anyone is interested. They advise us all of the time. We have meetings prior to every election and we welcome participation. We work with 41 local organizations that have self identified as severing people with disabilities in San Francisco. If you add in organizations that work with seniors, we have another about 80 and work with them regularly and provide information to them and we gather feedback from them year round. We work with the disability rights California Organization that comes and trains our full time staff to make sure we are serving people with disabilities in a free, fair and functional way. Our website sfelections. Org is fully accessible. And we have att y phone line. So, that is how we and voters can prepare to vote in november. Now voters need to plan how they will vote. The november 8 election is in a word, huge and many ways, huge. If you live in San Francisco in districts 1, 3, 5, 7, 9 or 11, you are electing a member of the board of supervisors so will get 5 ballot cards. Here is a tip, make sure you look on both sides of the ballot card. If you live in district 2, 4, 6, 8 or 10 you will get 4 ballot cards. We are voting for representation in washington dc, sacramento, city hall as well as board of Education Community college board, the bart board, and superior court judge. We are also voting on 17 state propositions, district proposition for bart counties and 24 local propositions. I was asked to talk specifically about measures and contests that are important to seniors and voters with disabilities, but i cant do that because i represent the non partisan department of elections. It is up to you as a voter to decide what is important to you. We hope that you will vote on everything, but we will tell you that you dont have to vote on everything. I was at San Francisco state this morning and as they said, this is not the sat, we do not grade on a curve. You can vote on whatio you know about, what to learn about or care about. You can leave contests blank and your other votes will counts. But, if you do want to learn about the candidates and measures, the state guide has come out. You should have received it in the mail, if not we have extra copies at room 48 in city hall. And the voter guide from us, the voter information pamplet is there, however, it is little more than a pamplet this time. The state guide is over 200 pages long, ours is 318 pages long. Wow. Lot of homework, everyone. Um, to make it easier especially for voters with disabilities we have other formats. We have a large print voter information pamplet that is available on the request and after we are done with the presentation i can show you one. We have one here. It is available on english, spanish, chinese, and filipino on request. We have a online voter information pamplet. Again, our website is accessible and have a lot of information there. This is not just pdf of 318 pages, it is a interactive website that you can go to specifically that mimics the voter information pamplet so you can search a particular candidate or particular contest or measure that you want to look up. We have a audio voter information pamplet that is available in mp 3 on our website and is alsosent out in usb format through the department by request. We have a list of people who have regularly requested that. We also work with the lighthouse fl the blind, the San Francisco Public Library and the arc among oreth organizations that send out the usb this year. And those should bethey have gone out already, so if you want to receive one and havent rsh please contact our office. All of this information is covered in our elections accessibility brochure that is also Available Online and in our office. So, that is how we plan and we hope voters will plan on how they will vote. So, to participate and this is true for everyone, you can vote at city hall, all San Francisco voters we are open now through november 8 and welcome you of course city hall is a accessible building. You can vote by mail. Many people call this absentee. You dont have to be absent to vote by mail. Encourage you to vote by mail now. Anyone can do that please request your ballot my november 1. But the sooner the better. You can also vote at your neighborhood polling place on election day. Many polling places have changed even since june and we encourage you to make sure you are voting at the one that is your assigned neighborhood polls polling place. So, how will you do it . Of course you can be a voter at city hall. Pretty building is lit up all day for elections. We are open as i said, now through november 8th with special weekend hours, halloween weekend and weekend before election and open all day election day. Vote by mail, please get your request in by november 1 and get it mailed in postmarked before or on november 8th. If you want thatoh, so how many vote by mails voter percentpage wise you wonder . 285, 740 voters which is about 60 percent of people in San Francisco now vote by mail. To help with accessibility for voting by mail, you can request a large print ballot. I will step away for a second. Inside here is a full ballot produced in large print version. You can have this on request. We will deliver it to you and this is a postage paid envelope to return the same as the standard vote by mail envelope is postage paid. Go back to the screen. Um, again, that one also needs to be postmarked before or on november 8th. And then we have stations outside. If you are vote by mail voter but you want the you delivered it feeling, we are open to drop opyour ballot at city hall, all the hours we are open, or the last weekend before the election. So, this year it will be november 5, 6, 7, 8. We are outside city hall in front of the grove street door and goodlet door. These are fully accessible. You can drive up and drop off your ballot, you do not have to get out of the car and of course you get the sticker. We know people want the sticker. That is how you can get the sticker. No need to park. Of course you can drop off your ballot any polling place on election day. At a polling place, and any guesses on how many polling places in San Francisco . Very good. 576 polling places in San Francisco. They are open from 7 a. M. To 8 p. M. Election day. This is how you find your polling place. Yf recognize some the voters in that video. Polling place accessibility, i am very very pleased and proud to say that 1 hundred percent of the polling places is accessible. It isnt a easy feet in a old city with hills but we made it and are very proud of that. You can find your polling place and accessibility in terms of slope and things like that on the back cover of your voter information pamplet. On our website you can search for your polling place or give us a call and we can help you. On election day, priority for our poll workers is to set up threshold ramps and special signage. Also throughout the day we have Field Support team that will go around to all of our polling places to make sure that the acquired compliance is in place and nothing is blocked a path of travel, or something has been adjusted during the course of the day. Here is one that is quite interesting, we did get a complaint about our portable toilets that have to go into some polling place frz the poll workers to use. They were blocking the path of travel outside the polling place and solved the problem. We are work wg department of public work squz uses the parking places out in front of the polling places, we pulled permits and the portable toilets will go in the parking place for the poll workers to use that day so that we do not block the path of travel. We do our best to serve all needs. Free, fair, functional. For in person voting as a voter, inside both at city hall and our polling places we have accessible polling booth, our edge machine we used a number of years, with a touch screen bal td in english, spanish, chinese and filipino and audio in english, spanx, spanish, cant neez, mandarin and filipino. We have large instruction jz magnifier squz other equipment needed. You cananyone can have up to two assistants go into the polling booth with them. If you cannot use the polling location, you can stay in your vehicle, ask for help and a poll worker will bring the ballot out to your vehicle for curb side voting. And, of course we have helpful poll workers. So, on poll workers and accessibility, i just wanted to mention the poll worker hiring is inclusive. We are still looking for people if anyone is interested. The poll worker mission includes accessibility goals to protect voter right accord toog the american with disabilities act and help america vote act. We serve voters with respect, all poll workers get the lesson we learned from disability rights california. Poll worker training is inclusive to make sure they understand when and how people might request to use an accessible machine or have other issues at the polling places. You can learn more on our voter information pamplet at sfelections. Org. Please give us a call, we have a phone bank that can serve people in many many languages. And of course we are on social media, you can follow at facebook and on twitter. Thank you very much for inviting us. Thanks for being a voter and thanks for voting november 8th any questions . First i like it thank you for coming, that was a very comprehensive presentation. All most answered all my questions and i want to just acknowledge that Council Member tania kostanian joined us and lets start with Council Member comments or questions. Cochair senhaux i dont have a question, just comments because you answered most of my concerns in your presentation. First, i want to thank you as cochair supanich stated a well detailed thought out and entertaining, i like the background cht as you said t is no easy feet to make the polling places accessible so from material i appreciate the work making it accessible for everyone. Someone with a visual impairment i appreciate the accessibility around large print voting materials that makes it easier for me to vote where i no longer need assistance in that process and come into city hall and actually do my voting so i feel a part of the process and not so much a barrier anymore. So, i want to thank you for that and for the hard work you and your staff do and for coming here today. Thank you for that. I just need to say that im the spokesperson but there are about 30 of us who work full time and presinth Service Position had a passion to get that 100 percent accessible voting polling place s and should be cuminded for how hard they work and will pass your thajs to them. Can i sneak in a question . In the past there have stories of polling about accessible Voting Machines having technical difficulties so if that happens a at a polling place how is that addressed . Is the person taking to the next accessible location or is there staff to work on malfunctions . We hope it doesnt come up, if it does what we suggest and the voters should talk to the poll workering right away and the poll worker can t call the Election Center and they will call our Field Support staff so there are people all stationed in vans around the city with extra machines and they can get out to the polling place. We will be able to be in communication to say does it make more sense to wait where you are or is there another polling place close enough to get to in the amount of time it will take the Field Support team to get to the polling place. A lot of times we can talk these through over the phone too. The poll worker may have just forgotten the simplest thing. For example, if you usedyou have to put in the card and those cards only stay live for a hour and sometimes the poll workers will activate the card and then a hour passed and they need to reactivate it for the voter. Simple things we can solve over the phone so what we suggest is the voter as soon as they face a issue to please contact the poll worker and ask them to call for help and well get help out there as quickly as possible. Thank you. Any other questions from Council Members . Alright. I have a few. I seem to be full of them today. Um, we should be able answer these rather quickly i think. You mentioned poll works and you still need them. Yes can you repeat where people can call and what amount of training it takes . Sure, to be a poll worker now because we are so close to the deadline we are scg people to apply in person. There is information over the telephone and call the main line 415554, 4375 and ask for help about be agpoll worker. Now we are open today and we are open tuesday, thuz day and friday next week at city hall through the grove street entrance. To be a poll worker you do take training. First time is about a 3 hour class and you are assigned a polling place to work on election day. All poll workers work throughout the day with a few exceptions. You work from about 6 in had morning to about 9 oclock at night depending and you are assigned at a place that is aseeies as possible for you to get to. We work very closely with the individual poll workers to make sure they rusigned properly. It is quite a fulfillinga t is a long day, but many of the poll workers come back year after year, so we guess it is fairly satisfying effort. There is a stipend paid that doesnt go against disability or unemployment or retirement, it is dependenting on your job between 145 and 195 stipened for the day. Thank you. You mention ed that materialerize mostly available in 4 languages. Is thatthe city requires those 4 . Yep you have plans to expand to include maybe russian and some of the other languages that are relatively common . The Language Access ordinance we fall under those, so that is why we do english, spanish, chinese and filipino. The state of california requested a slight expansion, so at all our polling places you will have facsimile ballot s in korean, japanese and vietnamese based on state law or state election code, but we dont make the language rules, the city and the state make them and we just follow the rules. You mentioned over 500 thousand register voters, what percentage of eligible voters, do you bow . No, i dont. It is high though . Yes, we think we are doing well and hoping more registrations will come in over the weekend and monday. You mentioned thett y line, but didnt gichb the number, could we have that, please . I apologize, i dont know it off the top of my head and dont have it here. Would you please give it to staff and they can call the Mayors Office on disability and that that information. There is something video remote access. Has that been impmented in your office . I know some city departments are using are or have plans to. Like the Language Line that is a video . Yeah. We dont have that at this time. Okay. I think that is all my questions. Lets move to staff. Any questions or comment snz just want to say thanks jill for coming. Glad you are here and also to give your aufs a plug about accessibility. I live in twin peaks which can be difcult to be accessible and the polling place in june was fantastic. Great, i hope it is at the same one. One of the reasons that many of our polling places changed is accessibility but that isnt the only reason. Construction and different things, so we do hope that everyone will check their polling place because many have changed. Thank you for that wonderful presentation. I had a follow up question regarding the departments accessibility goals pertaining to the hiring of polling workers. Does the department maintain any stats on how many persons with disabilities are hired as poming worker snz not that i know of. Again y can contact your office. I dont think that we track it actually and 19 days from election we are still looking for poll worker so we are so busy hiring we dont have a specific goal, we encourage everyone who is available and interested to be a poll worker. Thank you. Okay. Well move to Public Comment. Anyone like to come up . Nope. Thanks again, mrs. Fox, that was excellent. Thanks very much and ill leave the large print fly fliers here and can pick them up from your office if you have extras. Thank you. The council will take a 10 to 15 minute break. Thank you. Okay, we will begin this part of the meeting with agenda item number 7. Given about Employment Service program at positive Resource Center and have joe ramirez forcier. Hi, thanks for inviting me. This will be a presentation on Employment Service program for People Living with hiv and disabilitieswe have other programs but i wont wont be specking about those today. A couple thing tooz note is prc is carf accredit facilities so accreditation of Rehabilitation Services and gelt accredited every 3 years to serve people with disabilities. Also, we are Community Partner with California Department of rehabilitation. We are also partwork with the office of Economic Workforce Development as a Specialized Network Access Center sunchs serving the workforce community. Mayor s office of housing and california pacific medicalsenter as part the health hiring program as well to serve people with disabilities and we also have a special contract with department of Public Health for hiv Health Services in getting to zero in terms of wrap around support service and Case Management and support service for those living with hiv. A little about the history and assume i have to move my own slides, right . Due to medical breakthrough the life center which is general aids Services Provider apruched Community Members to create Employment Service for People Living with hiv and aids. The layoffsenter founded positive resources a group of resources for people who needed cash to get by. Ssi still wasnt listed as a disability with ssissdi and Social Security administration for benefits so income support is important during this time as it took time to win cases. In 1996 aids benefits counselors disability to get Social Security disability benefits merged with positive resourcesenter so we actually have ssi and ssdi representation and on the flip side if people want to return to work or consider work if they are not eligible for ssissdi they can access Employment Service program. I will interrupt you for a moment while we try to get the powerpoint on the screen. There we are. Thank you. Thank you. Okay, great. So, in general what is really important to talk about is Program Structure and our method of what makes us special. We are very Client Centered so the client is at the center of how we serve people and use informed consent and individual Service Planning so dont focus on exact career path ways we work to identify abilities in the workplace and be flexibility and proactive. Proactive is think ahead. Do you need a interpret or call the California Department of rehabilitation. Is english the first language. Can you meet with them afterwards. Can we work in a Team Approach and pull more people in. Then to be flexible knowing that the life skills and challenges that people areing have geet to the door is great. Transportation isnt on time they are in poverty so there are a lot of barriers. Maybe they havent eaten for the day. Whos eligible for services at prc . Adults over 18. If you are hiv positive. If you have a Mental Health diagnosis or disability. In the individuals that fall under this are youth, adults, seniors, veterans, formally incarcerated, lgbtq. We work with transgender women and men. Also we see a lot of people with visual and hearing disabilities and also learning disabilities. Our service area because we are partner with california with department of rehabilitation, means we serve people in San Francisco but also serve people out of county as well within the state of california. Access to services and this is the mostimportant because people will have questions often and this is the best place to get all your individual questions answered. Dm to orientation, it is Public Meeting and dont have to make a reservation and come to positive Resource Center for Employment Service and we have our orunionientations wednesday at two at 785 Market Street and closed for christmas and news years but otherwise always open. After that we schedule someone if you have continuing interest with a one on one assessment and intake to guide through your options with informed choices working and partnering with California Department of rehabilitation to provide all the additional wrap around service and supports. So, intake sf minutes hol cystic. It is San Francisco rent issues. Maybe the jga will fall off and state Unemployment Insurance has two weeks, so what we say is what is primary. I need to get a job but in the mean time there is stop gap measures we need to work on so do referral linkage and support including access to health care in health insurance. Then fldsing the barriers other that are getting in the way and develop a service plan and then we do ongoing follow up and support. Skill building is a cornerstone of our program as we work with older adults and Microsoft Office changes every couple years and vg been through a couple changes the buttons are not in the same place and named the same way and im familiar with the old way. It is important to update and refresh skills so we have computer training from intermediate beginning and advanced and then we also wrap that around administrative skills training so everything in the office like scanning, eeben the postage machine is a computer, right . How doo you do that stuff so it is a integrated approach to get people General Office skills to be able to front desk, a clerk position, so that wegretting people past the minimum wage trying to get a wage over 15 a hour. And then oft of course help them prepare and find employers and search and apply for jobs and retention support. I will go to Employment Service. What is Employment Service . This is all in a vocational rehabilitation aspect of because health is constantly fluid for people so not constant. Focus on resume, cover letter, job search strategies in rowilation to will they hire someone my age or hire someone who hasnt worked for 20 years. I have mobility and can dexterity issues, the most common issue i run across the last month is confidence and so you may have the Work Experience, you may have the ability, but holding back because you dont have the confidence. We really increased the efforts on the job training internship and Work Experience because edd in california has shown that for people with disabilities, the Work Experience is the best predictor of full employment for someone on ssi ssdi so weant want to spend more time not just training but get thg Work Experience and references. And again, what we dowe have workshops and one on one but do primarily one on one intensive and anything in a group can be done individually and we can also provide that electronically. So, there is no way that you can miss any part of the program if you dont want to and you ask for it. Then we have employers come on site so this week we had hyatt on site and he took the time to speak to everyone that came to the workshop individually and he is one of the best contacts we had. He replays to the clients emails we serve with. What do we see . People end windup a plan, so understandingsay you want to work and you havent made a plan so what do you do after meeting with prc you have have a idea of the steps and how long it will take. You may legalize maybe employment isnt the right option. Maybeiohave to work on my income benefits. Maybe i need to work on my housing. Maybe i need to work on both. Maybe i need to get to talk to my doctor first. All these important things. Also, attend workshops. We have return to work workshops. Make sure you understand the decision you are makejug the complexity and make sure it is the right time pr you. Also, volunteering internship and on the job train toog get the confidence and Work Experience so you can make a informed decision and also have trust in your health and have good conversations with your doctor or Mental Health provider. A lot of people go to school. Only 40 percent the people we see go straight to look for work. That means 60 percent are removing barriers or considering a certificate of Degree Program so we work a lot with ccsfp city college of San Francisco disability Student Service and usually meet clients in one week. They get a life person and get an appointment and can talk about accommodation and testing time and having recorder. It is great to understand how you learn, process and demonstrate it so love city college as a vocrehabilitation support for people with disability. Vocational planning with dor. We go to meetings with them where we have dedicated staff and schedule people quickly with dedicated support preparing people with for work. Sometimes what peep want is get a cover letter or a resume and then our placement rate is over 50 percent in the first year. Income usually improves over 150 to 200 percent. For example, last year our average placement wage was 18. 84 and that is good because most with disabilities barely meet the state minimum wage so happy to say we do competitive employment and focus on part time and full time employment and served 5088 clients. Our main number is 4157770333. Our main contact is montrel dorsey and he is to me. If you want to call him directly he is Program Assistant and 4159720832 or email at montrell positive resource. Org and can go to the website at positiveresource. Org. Thank you so much for coming today. I have a history with positive resource, i use today volunteer there in the 90s brf before themerge and had no idea how much expansion occurred so thank you for coming today. Questions from Council Members or comments . Cochair senhaux thank you for your detailed presentation mpt when you were going over some of the measurable outcomes and Employment Service can you give a idea how many people with disabilities entering the workforce and how many stay in entry level position squz and percentage that move to higher income and higher paying jobs at that point . Is there more movement inthality area . All the money is about getting people into part time or full time employment and the money drops off. What we are able to work with people over their life time and so what we do have data and what we track are people who want to a career ladder but we dont code it in a way i can tell you statistically but know we have large cohorts of people who come back for their next job. I was talking to someone today who went from on call to full time or per deem to full time or want a promotion or they can handle more stress tolerance in a faster pace or need tamove to lower pace, less stress. Sometimes for individuals they want to actually havethey may want to go thup career ladder and sometimes people with disabilities in the workplace if they find out the lim itations are increasing they want to accommodate to their goal squz health needs. That is a great question and unfortunately that isnt tracked in the current sitsm. We are moving through wioa, where they will track employment for 6 months but really the goal for people with disabilities is have you got themare able to live independently full time at a above minimum wage to support themselves and actually on a national level, the standards were rewritten because a lot of people were getting a training wage of 75 percent of minimum wage. We have morethe community in general has more to do. Glad to say we focus on hire wages but we dont focus on minimum wage jobs so would say less than 10 percent the jobs we place pr minimum wage. We believe people deserve more and our goal is get in the workplace with 2 or 3 dollars above minimum wage because it needs it to be worth it to that person to make that decision. So, it is a tactic. There are some people happy to do minimum wage so work in that regard as well, but we are advocates. We come from a advocate position and say i want more for you you if you want more and we ask how mitch they need for rent and bills and stuff like that. So, we go into lot of Financial Planning to motivate people to get paid what they are worth. Thank you. Any other Council Member questions or comments . I do have a few. First of all, you mentioned confidence building and skill building for people with disabilities and do you work withlet me rephrase that. How much do you work with them in the confidence Building Department and also with people with learning disabilities or cognitive functioning issues and other minuteal health issues, there can be other aspects that are more challenging as far as abilities and with Mental Health some people go on and off their meds and so do you work with them about those issues and do you work with Mental Health professionals or agencies to kind of help them become more functional and dependent and able to learn and work . So, luckily we have a partner rehabilitation and they insure through collaboration with the clinical and medical support for that individual as well as outside assessment support to make sure the thij things that allow this person to be successful. What are their limitation squz the areas they best process information with. We get a very detailed report as to those supports and so we are non Clinical Program and we allow that person to be in charge of their Health Information and what works for them. We work in collaboration and we try to find solutions that meet their needs because legally they have the right to choose how they want to work regardless and they do not need to be in treatment or care to receive services in our program as we are non Clinical Program and meet people where they are at. If it becomes a barrier to employment we have them go back to and figure to self manage a symptom or talk to a doctor or professional to find a sthrugz overcome the barrier, but we go strength based and we take you at your word and you give you a opportunity to succeed. Knowing that many simtles are minimized and this is in many studies, once you are working all the symptoms you have are less minimized do to amount of concentration and confidence and anxiety relation to work so work with can help with symptoms at times. Um, so with respect to the folks on disability i think there are two issues that are on peoples minds. Perhaps the skillset being obsolete, there is the fear going off disability and losing i guess in time you lose medicare, which may be vital to your health to have that insurance. You may not get the benefits that equal what you get. What happens if my disability gets worse . Say you have a life threatening disease or Mental Health that could get worse . Mobility issues can get worse. They cr concerned can i get back on disability and have to go through the whole process again . What is the thoughts around that and how do youi understand you do a Client Center approach, but how often do you see that or hear about that . I would say over 30 percent are really concerned about ssi in the return to work roles. Probably everyone is but im talking it become as barrier to work. Just knowing there are rules and hearing them over and overwe had people go through to 3 or 6 sessions and talk to a benefits counselor and it is just no matter how you slice it bet become as no go decision. Then we have a conversation about meaningful activity in the community. Maybe it is not income that person wants but are here for something and want to do something and want to improve their life and show up and do something and also you can build skills and do meaningful activity in any year so in future years you actually have a cache of skills and confidence you use in the future year. Also as retirement approaches for a individual on ssi ssdi and go on Retirement Benefits many individuals are held harmless for earned income so what i found especially in the hiv aids community and especially sen yoors in the Mental Health knhunty we see people their late 60 s ready to go to work because there isnt the fear of what happens to your Social Security or health benefits. Now, people who have done internships or volunteers i say start in your late or early 50s because you will be at a great bridge if you want to earn income in your later years and there are a lut of seniors that participate in the workforce so know your time, know your decision and i always say it is your life and you are in charge of that and what meaningful thing do you want to do this year and that takes time. We are very patient and will see people over and over again until they are ready, but i know everyones process is different and also they have family members, individuals are married, there can be tax implication, so there is a lot of things to think of and it can effect housing so if you are section 8. There are a lot of things people need to check and good to go slow track or moderated pace so you are not feeling rushed and so you can also change your mind any time and that is a benefit for the program. Someone will go at a moderated pace 9 month jz someone offers them a job and they are like it is the best opportunity and im ready to work. It is like, wow sometimes people will look in the job market and say, you know what, i need to slow down, this is not healthy for me. The idea jz thoughts and stress of looking for work are effecting my health, so being able to allow people the dignity to make choices every year and tell people to come back every year is one of the things i like about the model of our program. Your approach is very progressive and want to commend you on it. It sound like aside from all of the skill build{referral said that you want to help people feel engaged and useful and contributing something and that is great. Thank you so much. We always want to remind ourselves how we came to being. We are a bunch of people trying to help people in the community and so we try to keep a low power dynamic with the individuals we serve and andour peers professionally so try to maintain that power level in assisting them and they are in the driver seat. Thank you. Well move to staff comments and questions. I have a comment and question. So, joe and montrel and renee thank you for being here. Joe, one of the barriericize confidence, do you find folks have gone through the program come back and maybe mentor other people to give them a sense of this is how it was for me and this is why experience. Is in do you have a mentorship peer to peer program through positive Resource Center . It is great to see the Community Come together in groups, so our computer Training Workshop we have people at different spectrums so help each other in class. They lean over and if someone is further ahead they make frnds and they dont have friends. We just a open house a month ago and we had ambassadors so we had 4 people who had a lot of learn knowledge and experience in their process, some working and some who were not and they were willing to speak to other people coming in. Usually on a panel of speakers if we bring in an employer we have a employer and someone who got the job, someone looking for the job so you cani think it is good to laer from the language of the person what it took for them to overcome their confidence, their fears and then creating roll models, social modeling in a way that that person did it two years ago, so maybe i can do it and he spoke in a way that touched my heart that i actually think maybe perhaps ill have a chance. It is creating the openings for people. Thank you. Any other staff questions or comments . Any Public Comment on this agenda item . Im sorry. Sure. Hi jill, nice to see you again. Thank you for the presentation. Joe, you and i have known each other in different sort of settings and you have been sitting on the advocacy table talking about the bad news with disability employment and the numbers and rate of par pis 25igz for the workforce, so here is a all encompassing question, what do you see a major barrier to employment where fr people with disabilities or People Living with a chronic illness or Mental Health disability . San francisco is a internationally competitive job market. Thats the number one barrier, you compete with the world. Everyone want said to live and work here. As we know through many studies, through facebook and twitter that people tend to hire people similar to themselves. We cant get past the gender barrier and that is the easier example. And so creating systems and it is really finding the influence and decision makers. We actually find the best advocates when we place clients and move into a hiring manager role or director role. They say send me your people. Give me your 3 best resumes. That is when all the barriers go away. So, the most important part for anybody applying for a job is persistence. The stress tolerance of that persistent is so importance to have someone sit with you over and over again tomake sure you dont give up. You can have the initial confidence but midway you can lose it. Having someone moderate that and list toon the tear squz hopelessness and all of a sudden you get 4 job offers are my best days. They run around shrilling like 4 people called me and no one called in a year and a half so they broke a barrier. But the problem is we dont know when that will happen so we are preparing people for a journey and know not everyone get full employment. We want to make sure people are on the journey doing meaningful activity because it is so important i think we leave them betterthen what we started with if we can. Because we want to do something while we spend time with them and we know people come back after a failed job sunch and go back to school and said im work wg you because you sat through me thick and thin i said i dont want to work with anyone else. Meeting peepual they are and get that level och trust you are more efficacious serving the peern because that is the first thing you do is lets trust each other to go on a journey that is a very intimate and personal and Health Information is glamorous and Mental Health and hiv are not very glamsis glamorous so need the quinet conversations low to approach this and is this a good time for you and thereat is where i see special moments happen that change peoples lives. Any other questions from staff . Any Public Comment on this item . Thank you so much for coming today. Thank you. Well move to item 8 which is presentation by Kate Williams by leeul lite lite house of the blind and visually impaired. You may come up. Yes, i have. Hello. Am i speaking to you . Thank you. My name is Kate Williams im pleased to be standing in front of you and telling you about what we do at the lighthouse for employment for people who are visually impaired and blind. It wasnt that long ago we were about a half block from you. We were at 214 van ness and in june of this year, right from these steps we proudly marched with our band to our new full sayty at 1155 market. We are still part thof city and count aof San Francisco because the rest of our building is filled with your staff so feel we are part of the family. We have proud to be at 1155 and have 3 floors dedicate today the service supporting blind and individually impaired individuals. We dont just work with employment, it is big part of our program but we have full services for people who need them. Instance we have a orientation and Mobility Department where people learn how to use canes or dog guides in order to be mobile and go out into the community. We have Technical Training available. We have live skills training available, but all of those services that we provide at the lighthouse are leading up to one thing, most of all they are leading up to the ability for someone to secure employment. Today i could be balking to you about those dismal figures you may have heard about our particular community, only 65 to 75 percent of our population are not working. Our Unemployment Rate is extremely high and until about 20 years ago i would imagine most of you would think of people with visual impairment or blindness had very few chances of finding employment. In fact, 20 years ago most of the people who were employed were found in sheltered work environments where they were manufacturing things where they were work wg only blind people. It was unusual to find a blind person in a professional position. It wasnt unheard of but it was uncommon. But i want to deliver good news today instead of talking about the past and what our Unemployment Rate is and talk what we are doing at the lighthouse and services around the United States are doing. Our lives have changed. I make fun but i have to have a light heart because i tell our students if you are blind this is a good time to be blind. It is a good time to to be blind because we had something phenomenal take place in our Community Called Assistive Technology. Sometimes it is known by Adaptive Technology or accessible technology, but it has changed our lives. I want to tell you about that. So, a person that cannot see and with so many Jobs Computers are part of what we do. We all most all interface with a computer in one way or 50rg9 if we are working. Until the Sister Technology cake about that was impossible for a blind or visually impaired person to do successfully. With the Assistive Technology we have now ability to have what we call magnification. That magnifys the print that one sees on their computer. We also have something called, screen readers. Screen readers for those who can nolt see magnifyed print it reads it to us. We dont use a mouse and only the keyboard and the different key strokes enable to access a computer beautifully. In fact recollect i could probably point to people on our staff that are faster on their computer with people with vision could imagine fwauz they are not using a mouse. They dont have to look at everything, everything is all on the keyboard and able to wiz through any program whether that be something on Microsoft Office with word or excel, they can do this so quickly and so accurately and efficiently. We also have other kind of Adaptive Technology we have been able to use that helped us up our ability to work successfully. We have small i guess low tech types of things. We have hand held magnifiers today that enable people to access print. We have closed Circuit Television where we put print on a board and magnify to 36 font if we want to. We also have god bless apple, that is all i can say because i live with my i phone. I know we have competitors out there, but my i phone is my friend. There is nothing i cant do with my i phone. I can search the internet i can do a search of like anyone else. I can call the friend or text a friend. I can do anything on my i phone and perhaps even more than my sighted friends and dont see a thing on the screen. Everything i do is audible chblt. You see with advancement what we have seen in technology how this is going to open doors for individuals in our community. In 2010, with the obama stimulus grand grant we were able to start employment emersion program at the lighthouse for the blind. What a gift that was because there wasnt anything in the bay area that served individuals to help them obtain employment. We have been actively involved in presenting workshops and continued support for individuals seeking employment in the communities since 2011. Very active. We had 163 people go through our program and this last week im proud to say we hit the figure of 2, 531 thousand in salaries we helped people obtain. People prance born blind. People that had robust and full career and suddenly lost their vision and thought their lives were over. All of a sudden they are able to find employment. Is not easy. It is a little i will say maybe sometimes more difficult for people who have visual impairment or blindness to obtain employment. Why . Because there is misunderstanding from our companies and organizations that hire. I dont think they know what we are capable doing. That is our biggest challenge is spreading the word. Our bigs challenge is letting oergzs and Companies Know we are capable. Studies have shown that those individuals in our community are probably one of the most reliable best hires that a company can make. We have so happy to get a job that we will show up early, we will stay late, we will make sure everything is perfect. We want to be employed and dont want to be part of the 65 to 70 percent figure. We want to be working. That is a great empitous for those coming into had program. We try to emphasize that we dont want them to just have a job, we want them to change their life so emphasize that. Do what you want to do. Get the training you need and the skills that you need to do what you want to do. Most of our placements are not at entry level wage. In fact, i would say most of the Community Many times they cant do entry level jobs so it puts us in a different category because some of the entry levels jobs may require vision and our people done have that so we retrain people. People are known as the most highly educated under employed communities in the field of disabilities because many student with department of rehabilitation enter into school to extend their education to prepare them for work more in the professional arena. We serve a lot of people with multiple disabilities as well, but i want to tell a couple stories if i can because i think stories say everything. We have a company in the east bay, Customer Service company, and they hired recently a whole codry of our individuals they hired 8 of our people at one time and trained them and that company has seen some pretty rough times. They had to let the majority of kaf staff go and had about 300 people working in the call center. Now they are down to 20. That is a pretty big dip to take in your employment and workforce. Those 8 people that they hired from us are still therement they are part of the 20. You know why . Thauz because they said these people show up every day. If they are late they call. If they are not here they call. They rely on our core team to keep that Company Going through very tough times. We are so proud of that and think that does exempify the type of work ethic a lot of people in our community display. About the kind of jobs we place, one of the most interesting we placed in the last year is individual wloo is blind deaf blind. Totally deaf and totally plined and working at bling air craft in seattle making air craft parts. When you consider someone with the type of disabilities he was facing and the kind of job he is doing now, his life has changed forever. That is the goal in meeting every one of the students we have come through our program is saying what do you want to do. What do you want to do with your life and we want to support you in getting there. So, we provide 5 weeks workshops and meet with individuals and give them all thethis zoe talked about, the resume and cover letter, job Search Capabilities showing how to do that. How to disclose their disability to a perspective employer. How to ask for accommodations. We weak thome through the interview process with a lot of role play. I am asking for volunteers if anyone wants to do role play with candidates we love to have you do that because we dont interview like everyone else. We cant make eye contact with everyone we meet. We need skills so we train them to look at the voice for instance. Sometimes it is a challenge for someone to find their way from the door to sit in the chair. If they are in a Panel Interview they have to learn how to go from person to person if they cant see them so our challenges may be different but we are a Strong Community that believe with every single issue with every problem we want to find a solution. So, im proud to be standing in front of you and i hope that i have not gibbon you such a glowing picture that you dont think we need help because we do. We need to get employers to take a look at our people. I am so proud that we have a wonderful relationship with your own Human Resources department. The addition of having someone at the recruiter in the Disability Community is marvelous and kudos for supporting that, it made such a difference to our population so thank you for that. And so i think the city is on board work wg people from our community, but look at all that we have around us, all these companies aroun us, we need to be out there. That is our challenge is getting out and making them aware what we can accomplish. Do you have any questions . Thank you so much for coming today. Do we have questions from Council Members . Cochair senhaux high kate. How are you today . Fine i dont have a question, just want to make comments. First, you should add motivational speaker to your skillset, that was fantastic. Thank you. I appreciate you focus on the positive for the blind and visually impaired community. What we can do, how we can grow through assistive and or Adaptive Technology. The wide range of services that your Program Provides and positive outlook what we can bring to the employer in the workplace and what a contribution and it ties into the first presentation about confidence, feeling we belong and quee can contribute and think those are very important component of course going through the program, the skillset, the interview, cover letter. We always heard great things about you and the program and i thank you for all you can do and look forward in the future going through the program and going through the process. Thank you for making us feel we can contribute and be a part the process. I thank you for coming here today. Thank you so much and so proud to represent the lighthouse. It really is a honor and i really am sincere when i thank the city and county of San Francisco for all the support you have done and been to our organization. So very appreciated. Thank you. Any other Council Member question or comments . I have a couple comments. You quoted a very high Unemployment Rate for people with visual impairment or blindness, much higher than i heard fwr the Disability Community in general, but when you add people that have given up looking or people who are under employed i imagine the figure is quie higher. This is National Disability awareness month. I think one of the most important things you touched on is changing employers and public impression of what people with disabilities are capable of doing, what they want to do and how much of a benefit it can be to hire someone with a disability. You mentioned hard workers and dedicated employees. Are you aware of a Public Service campaign or a program that is reaching out to say large employers to help change those perceptions . I think in particular the Tech Industry is a little more challenging for people with disabilities to get jobs . Here is the exciting news with the Tech Industry, blind individuals can program. Blaind individuals can design web systems. It is amazingit is not just thelet me put it this way, Braille Technology changed also. No longer is someone just using a slate and stylist to record notes. No longer is someone able to read a book by braille. It is transferred into technology where individuals can work with any Program Using braille as part of their Assistive Technology. Do most high tech Companies Know that . No. So, usually when a High Tech Company is working with us they look for us to provide someone to help with their accessible technology. That is a big thing today. It really is because most companies are getting a lot of pressure to have equal access to the websites and some have beenthere is a lot of litigation around that. This is hot thing for companies, but our Community Wants to be involved in every part of high tech so that is another one where we do well in the area of accessibility and placing people in that arena, but for some reason we have a difficult time bakebreaking down the barrier and persepgds perception we may not be able to do the other engineer on the team may be able to accomplish. That is a big challenge as well. And as far as the kind of jobs that we are able towe want the sky to be the limit. We dont want to just have jobs, we want careers so thank you for acknowledging that. I think for any person what you do have fr a living and your job is a big part of self identify and so self esteem and so on. One last thing, could you please civ y give Contact Information . The lighthouse im a very small staff. Im a staff of 1 and a half. We are in the process. One of the challenges have been not having a staff. We are now expanding the staff and looking for a job developer if anyone can help us with that challenge we love to hear from you. I have a feeling you may know people you could refer. We lover that. We are expanding the staff by two and that is going to enable to get out in the Community Work with company squz getting them to listen to our story. We are Just One Agency in the whole United States but if we can start by bringing that figure of unemployment down we want to do that. I should let you know wie are very successful is qu run between 32 and 40 percent placement rate for individuals that come to the program and that is well above the National Average so very proud of that as well and love to have your par tist pate any level any time. We need individuals who can be mentors. We are establishing the Mentorship Program at the time. The ideal meantser someone working as a blind or visually impaired individual but that is smoims difficult to make a match with careers and jobs people are looking for so will accept any mentor if any of you wish to work with blind or visually impaired person to keep their motivated or confidence. My email is kwilliams lighthousesf. Org. My telephone number is 4156947324. We love to have you visit our website, lighthouse sf. Org and we have all our programs are listed there so weemployment is one of the services we provide for the community. Any staff questions or comments . Quick comment kate. Thank you for being here. You have such great energy and just want to know if i ever need bad news given to me can i hire you to do that . [laughter] i think you can tell i believeon a personal note, i didnt lose my vision until i was late in life and i had a career and i thought my life was over when i lost my vision. Having a opportunity to work for individuals whether they are born bleend oreb lost it later in life, i know awhat that feels like to feel i wont be able tomy life is over and know what that feels like. The reason i think i can be so excited about what i do is because i have the best job in the whole world being able to get people out of that place and bring them to a area i they feel they have a future and contribute. I thank you very much for that and take that very personally. Thank you very much. Any other questions from staff . Actually [inaudible] joannea. Thank you for charming and lovely presentation as usual. I [inaudible] to know about your own background. I know you took the word out of my mouth when you talk btd having a career and becoming blind later in life, but can you tell people what you were doing before you became blind and got this fabulous job at the lighthouse . I dont want this to be Self Services or about me. I was in medical sales men ayears and worked for a large medical Company Based in berkeley, cutter lab tores. Some who are old enough would remember that and i called on hospital said for many years. When my companies was purchased by western journalany i was tapped by a Pharmaceutical Company asking if im interested helping recruit the sales force. [inaudible] is in certain california and worked with them 13 years traveling the country helping them add field sales force to their field sales force and then i went into Human Resources with that same company and with them many years. It is odd because allergan is a Pharmaceutical Company and while i was there started losing my vision. I came to the San Francisco bay area when i could go longer drive because i diwant my life to be over and ibut ithe only thing i couldnt doot the time is drive. I could still work and so insed of working for a Pharmaceutical Company because i moved to the city, what a great city for transs portation i didnt tocatch a bus to catch a bart and shuttle. I decided to go to executive recruitjug i came in 1997 and began my career as a executive recruiter so i have been fortunate enough to work in the city with many of the large corporations for many years. That is why i think that im the luckiest person in the world because it was just serendipitous that my life was able to do continue doing what i was doing before but serving the community i became a part of. Thank you joannea. Sorry . That is quhie i wanted to you to tell your sorry because through that wealth of experience and being able to reshape it and service to the community is what is really important and you know, earlier you asked for mentors and role models for your class and students, but i think that alone the story you just shared will be a great example of mentorship and roll modeling thank you. It isnt about me but about the people we work with but thank you for the compliment. I want to ask if there are further staff comments . Public comment. I want to thank you very much, this is very enjoyable and informative. Thank you. Neck next up report from the interim direct orphthe Mayors Office of disability. Thank you. This afternoon i have a short prort for you on the next phase of the evacuation chair installation in city facilities so wanted to give the chair and council a brief update. The primary objective of this effort is procure and install a minimum level of evacuation chairs in city owned and leased facilities that are more than 3 stories high. For the upcoming phase, mod put in request for 16 evacuation chairs and cabinets at seven different buildings housing programs offered by various city and county agencies including Human Services agency , health service, department of environment, transportation, chileds support services and Public Health. In addition to the lease spaces we also propose evacuation chairs at the war memorial, the sempany and Public Safety building, these devices will be located on every other floor beginning with the top floor. Mod is cordicated with [inaudible] and San Francisco public works on procurement and installation phase. We are also coordinate would the building engine oars and private landlords as the case may be. Property managers to insure the egress path and door swing squz mew nuv rbing clearance isnt effected. We hope to have this work completed by the middle of next year. Shortly after the installations are complete, mod staff will schedule training for the employees and folks within those buildings. These trainings include hand on demonstration of the unit and we also plan offering refresher courses for those facilities where evacuation chairs were previously installed. With that, happy to address follow up questions. I do have details on the project and didnt want to get into those details s unless you like me to. I just have a quick question. With addition of the 16 chairs, what would the total be and what the goalwhat number do you think is sufficient for city needs . Thats a excellent question and i believe we have a master list that was created by my predecessor where we developed a city and county wide list across the different agencies and offices. Some of those have been installed by departments and through various other projects that may have gone in over the years, but i dont believe and joannea correct me if im wrong, i dont believe we have opidated list of every evacuation chair in city facilities but that is something that probably should be coordinated and collated. [inaudible] would you happen to know the total number . I think the total number [unable to hear speaker] the goal is 180 andabout 180 and we are about at 150 after we put the 16 in . That is progress. Thank you. Anyone else have a question or comment . No. Thank you. We have Public Comment here any item not on todays agenda