§ 5.19

(a) Establishment. A Family Violence Council for the City and County of San Francisco (referred to in this Article XIX as “Council”) is hereby established as an advisory body to the Board of Supervisors.

(b) Purpose. The Council is established to advise and submit recommendations to the Board of Supervisors that address the problems of family violence. Family violence includes child abuse, domestic violence, and elder/dependent adult abuse. The Council may also advise the courts of the City and County and the Mayor by submitting recommendations to improve the response by departments to family violence and abuse. The general purposes of the Council shall be the following:

(1) Increase the awareness and understanding of family violence, its disproportionate impact on people of color, and its consequences by establishing a series of roundtables, forums, meetings, or summits that identify, highlight, and discuss critical issues pertaining to family violence so as to broaden understanding of family violence and its causes and consequences among the public, governmental agencies, courts, and community organizations.

(2) Recommend programs and policies that promote communication and coordination of City and community-based organizations’ services relating to child abuse, domestic violence, and elder/dependent adult abuse.

(3) Recommend programs, policies, and coordination of City services to the Board of Supervisors and Mayor that may reduce the incidence of family violence in San Francisco, and its disproportionate impact on people of color.

(Added as Sec. 5.190 by Ord. 217-07, File No. 070884, App. 9/21/2007; amended by Ord. 48-15, File No. 150083, App. 4/24/2015, Eff. 5/24/2015; redesignated by Ord. 100-18, File No. 180216, App. 5/4/2018, Eff. 6/4/2018; amended by Ord. 50-21, File No. 210142, App. 4/16/2021, Eff. 5/17/2021, Retro. 5/1/2021)

The duties of the Council shall be the following:

(a) Recommend effective strategies through which public and private agencies that serve victims of domestic or family violence can identify the existence of family violence;

(b) Recommend methods of providing public education about family violence and abuse;

(c) Facilitate communication between public and private agencies that provide programs for victims of family violence and programs of family violence intervention;

(d) Recommend procedures to improve the cooperation and coordination of public and private agencies with all participants in the justice system who deal with family violence, including procedures for reviewing fatalities resulting from family violence;

(e) Recommend a comprehensive and coordinated plan to collect data about family violence in a manner that protects the identity of victims of family violence, and that would make the data available to the courts, prosecutors, law enforcement officers, and health care practitioners;

(f) Recommend ways of responding in a coordinated manner to family violence by City departments, boards, commissions, and agencies, and the courts that would improve responsiveness by the City and prevent family violence;

(g) Collect, compile, and analyze public information regarding arrest and restraining order enforcement policies; screening and prosecution of cases; issuances of protective orders; identifying family violence in other legal proceedings; and monitoring offenders after judgment; and other relevant data as needed; and to the extent possible, analyze and present such data disaggregated by race, ethnicity, sex, gender identity, age, sexual orientation, and other relevant traits;

(h) Collect, compile, and analyze public information relating to programs for victims of family violence and services provided for abusers on probation; and to the extent possible, analyze and present such public information disaggregated by race, ethnicity, sex, gender identity, age, sexual orientation, and other relevant traits;

(i) Establish a process to solicit and gather feedback and recommendations from the communities most impacted by family violence on policies, services, and programs intended to assist such communities;

(j) Analyze current and projected revenue and funding sources and recommend other prospective revenue sources for response to family violence; and

(k) Respond to inquiries of the Board of Supervisors made consistent with the duties imposed by this Article XIX.

(Added as Sec. 5.190-1 by Ord. 217-07, File No. 070884, App. 9/21/2007; amended by Ord. 48-15, File No. 150083, App. 4/24/2015, Eff. 5/24/2015; redesignated by Ord. 100-18, File No. 180216, App. 5/4/2018, Eff. 6/4/2018; amended by Ord. 50-21, File No. 210142, App. 4/16/2021, Eff. 5/17/2021, Retro. 5/1/2021)

(a) Composition of Steering Committee. The Council members serving in seats 10, 12, and 13 shall serve as the members of the Steering Committee and co-chairs of the Council.

(b) Meetings. The Steering Committee shall meet regularly at such times and places as the members of the Committee shall determine.

(c) Rules and Regulations. The Steering Committee may adopt reasonable rules and regulations not inconsistent with the Charter or this Article XIX for the conduct of its affairs and for the performance of its business.

(Added as Sec. 5.190-2 by Ord. 217-07, File No. 070884, App. 9/21/2007; amended by Ord. 48-15, File No. 150083, App. 4/24/2015, Eff. 5/24/2015; redesignated by Ord. 100-18, File No. 180216, App. 5/4/2018, Eff. 6/4/2018)

The Steering Committee shall serve as the policy setting body of the Council. Duties of the Steering Committee shall include the establishment of the organization and structure of the Council, creation of working groups when necessary to implement the objectives of the Council, and oversight of the operations of the Council.

(Added as Sec. 5.190-3 by Ord. 217-07, File No. 070884, App. 9/21/2007; amended by Ord. 48-15, File No. 150083, App. 4/24/2015, Eff. 5/24/2015; redesignated by Ord. 100-18, File No. 180216, App. 5/4/2018, Eff. 6/4/2018)

(a) Composition. The composition of the Council shall broadly represent the ethnic, racial, sex, gender identity, age, and sexual orientation diversity of the communities most impacted by family violence. The Council shall consist of the following individuals or their respective designees:

(1) Presiding Judge of the Superior Court;

(2) Mayor;

(3) President of the Board of Supervisors;

(4) District Attorney;

(5) Chief of Police;

(6) Sheriff;

(7) President of the Commission on the Status of Women;

(8) Chief of Adult Probation;

(9) Executive Director of Department of Emergency Management;

(10) Executive Director of the Domestic Violence Consortium;

(11) Executive Director of Human Services Agency;

(12) Executive Director of the Consortium for Elder Abuse Prevention;

(13) Executive Director of Safe & Sound, which operates the San Francisco Child Abuse Prevention Council;

(14) Director of the Department of Public Health;

(15) Executive Director of the Department of Disability and Aging Services;

(16) Executive Director of the Department of Children, Youth & Their Families;

(17) Medical Examiner;

(18) Director of the Department of Child Support Services;

(19) Chief of Juvenile Probation;

(20) Public Defender;

(21) Director of the Department of Animal Care and Control;

(22) Superintendent of San Francisco Unified School District;

(23) Human Resources Director;

(24) Chief of the Fire Department;

(25) Director of the Department of Homelessness and Supportive Housing; and

(26) Director of the Department of Early Childhood;

(27) Director of the Department of Police Accountability; and

(28) Executive Director of the Human Rights Commission.

If at any time an agency responsible for designating a member to Seat 1, 10, 12, 13, or 22 declines to designate a member and leaves the seat vacant for 60 days or longer, the Board of Supervisors may appoint a member of the public to fill the seat until such time as the agency designates a member.

The Steering Committee shall have the authority to appoint up to six additional members to the Council. Each such member shall have professional and/or lived experience in issues of family violence prevention or intervention, and shall represent the diversity of the communities most impacted by family violence. Each of these members shall serve for a term of one year at the pleasure of the Steering Committee.

(b) Limitations on Service in Community-Based Organization Seats. No individual may serve as a Council member in seat 10, 12, or 13, either as a named member or as a designee, for more than six years out of any nine-year period. For the purpose of calculating the number of years of service, any service prior to May 1, 2015, shall not count.

(c) Assistance of the City Attorney. The Council may request the City Attorney’s Office to provide advice and legal counsel to the Council.

(d) Meetings. The Council shall meet at least once a quarter at such times and places as the Council shall designate.

(Added as Sec. 5.190-4 by Ord. 217-07, File No. 070884, App. 9/21/2007; amended by Ord. 48-15, File No. 150083, App. 4/24/2015, Eff. 5/24/2015; redesignated and amended by Ord. 100-18, File No. 180216, App. 5/4/2018, Eff. 6/4/2018; amended by Ord. 50-21, File No. 210142, App. 4/16/2021, Eff. 5/17/2021, Retro. 5/1/2021; Ord. 189-22, File No. 220808, App. 9/8/2022, Eff. 10/9/2022; Ord. 109-24, File No. 240281, App. 6/6/2024, Eff. 7/7/2024)

(a) Removal of Council Members. If a member of the Council appointed by the Steering Committee misses three regularly scheduled meetings of the Council in any 12-month period without the express approval of the Council, the Steering Committee may appoint a new member to fill that seat on the Council. If a member in seats 1 through 28 on the Council who has been designated by the named member to fill the seat misses three regularly scheduled meetings of the Council in any 12-month period without the express approval of the Council, the Steering Committee may ask the named member to designate another individual to occupy that seat.

(b) Compensation. Members of the Council shall not be compensated, nor shall they be reimbursed for expenses.

(c) Annual Report. The Council shall submit an annual report of its recommendations to the Board of Supervisors, and may present that report at a hearing at the Board’s request. The Council also may submit recommendations to the courts and the Mayor.

(Added as Sec. 5.190-5 by Ord. 217-07, File No. 070884, App. 9/21/2007; amended by Ord. 48-15, File No. 150083, App. 4/24/2015, Eff. 5/24/2015; redesignated by Ord. 100-18, File No. 180216, App. 5/4/2018, Eff. 6/4/2018; amended by Ord. 108-24, File No. 240302, App. 5/24/2024, Eff. 6/24/2024, Retro. 5/1/2024)

(a) The Mayor shall designate a City department [1 ] provide support to the Council and the Steering Committee in scheduling meetings, developing meeting agendas, and performing such other functions as are necessary to promote the work of the Council.

(b) All City departments, commissions, boards and agencies shall cooperate with the Council in conducting its business.

(Added as Sec. 5.190-6 by Ord. 48-15, File No. 150083, App. 4/24/2015, Eff. 5/24/2015; redesignated by Ord. 100-18, File No. 180216, App. 5/4/2018, Eff. 6/4/2018; amended by Ord. 108-24, File No. 240302, App. 5/24/2024, Eff. 6/24/2024, Retro. 5/1/2024)

CODIFICATION NOTE

1. So in Ord. 108-24.

Unless the Board of Supervisors by ordinance extends the term of the Family Violence Council, this Article XIX shall expire by operation of law, and the Council shall terminate, on May 1, 2027. After that date, the City Attorney is authorized to cause this Article to be removed from the Administrative Code.

(Added as Sec. 5.190-7 by Ord. 48-15, File No. 150083, App. 4/24/2015, Eff. 5/24/2015; redesignated and amended by Ord. 100-18, File No. 180216, App. 5/4/2018, Eff. 6/4/2018; amended by Ord. 50-21, File No. 210142, App. 4/16/2021, Eff. 5/17/2021, Retro. 5/1/2021; amended by Ord. 108-24, File No. 240302, App. 5/24/2024, Eff. 6/24/2024, Retro. 5/1/2024)