Minutes from Sunshine Meeting on 10/27/2005

Agenda

1. Supply Drive for Winter items
2. CARE position
3. Peer Assessment Policy
4. Peer Assessment Forms

I. Supply Drive

Had talked about doing a drive for blankets, sleeping bags, and toys for Youth and Women’s clinic at retreat – just wanted to start talking and thinking about it

Ideas and options:

1. There is the supply drive group led by Melissa – they are going to emphasize these needed items on their flyers when they go out next time
2. Natalie has friends from the city who just gathered a bunch of clothes! Will try to pick them up sometime soon
3. Supply drive committee – Birdie and Terry will head it
4. In terms of sleeping bags, Shawn passed on some info to Jake that there are a bunch coming in – Jake has more info

II. CARE position

(Background: this position was discussed at retreat, Kara had a written description to vote on – basically it works to fulfill the spot of a social worker – kind of a social COCA.. Health ed is too busy to deal with referrals as well, so may be more productive to have a position that just takes care of referrals other than med which the COCA’s cover

The position models the COCA model in terms of coordinating with providers, but Legal and Social Workers when present instead of Medical. It is designed to simplify many of the complicated referral models clients currently deal with and improve clinic’s ability to adequately use the Big Blue Book.)
Will be start a trial semester at General Clinic and then a similar position will be created at Women’s and Youth. Not enough people to vote on – will vote at PC since it is the 2nd Super PC.
Feedback
Seems like a lot of work for one person
Women’s and youth don’t think CARE position is needed at their respective clinics

III. Peer Assessment Policy
Handout: Accountability and Assessment Protocol
Detour: suggestion by Gato to do some role playing in regards to sexual harassment – covered the various types of harassment as well as ways to react to it
Peer assessment is always hard, and the policy created is not aimed at officers, but rather all involved within clinic, from volunteers to service providers. We have to realize that gossip isn’t productive, but rather if there is a process to deal with constructive criticism we can be better at what we do and help clinic run to its fullest potential. Sometimes we may do something without realizing it, and it’d be nice to know and learn from it. The goal of having a set protocol is to limit personal offense and be able to deal with assessment in a constructive and confidential manner. In creating this we’ve tried to create a non-threatening process to help clinic run as smooth as possible. What we’ve written takes what we have now and then just adds a component to further the discussion and make sure that some sort of resolution and goal towards change is reached. Also in the past, Dr. Steinbach has talked of the importance of keeping records, so we will start a confidential log book – to be kept in University Hall.

Went over the two handouts, the first being Position Conduct Assessment

2nd – Personal Conduct or Violations Assessment (in cases of sexual harassment, theft, or violence)

Class UGSI’s from youth and women’s will act as volunteer coordinators and serve as PCVA committee

IV. Peer Assessment Forms

Same forms that Cory created for Suitcase last semester
Anonymous
Will be used as constructive criticism (not under same boundaries as assessment policy outlined before)

Calendar of Upcoming Events

Tuesday November 1st – 2nd Super PC

Wednesday November 2nd – Referrals Training – 4PM –

Tuesday November 15th – Dinner at General

Thursday November 17th – 2nd Sunshine

Tuesday November 29th – Dinner at General

Wednesday November 20th – Open meeting regarding class

Thursday December 8th – Elections

Client Advocate for Resources and Employment (CARE)

*This job description is specific to General

Position Requirements:

• Suitcase Clinic member and active volunteer for at least one semester
• Elected by active Suitcase Clinic volunteers
• Willingness to recruit and train new coordinator(s) upon leaving position
• Commitment to stay in position for three full semesters
• Three officers per semester

General Responsibilities:

• Get to know new volunteers and staff
• Attendance at Planning Committee, Sunshine and Executive Committee meetings
• Fulfilling duty-specific responsibilities
• Casework/ Train new volunteers
• Help train and recruit new caseworkers, volunteers and staff members including going to class when needed.
• Support Suitcase Clinic Community and Public Relations Activities
• Help with any Suitcase Clinic project that requires participation

Position Specific Responsibilities

• Coordinate with social worker if present at clinic.
• Organize informational seminars and speakers for clients on subjects such as housing (ex. Eden I&R presentation), employment and interview strategies and skills, or any other relevant topics.
• Offer current job listings (Oakland Chronicle, Criagslist, Caljobs, etc), current housing listings (Craigslist, etc.), current listings on sources of free meals, and advertise free community and entertainment events when informed.
• Provide a personal reference for housing and employment applications:

Name Of officer
570 University Hall
Berkeley, CA 94704
(510) 643-6786

• Help clients compose resumes using stock models, and complete job and housing applications (including grammatical editing and content suggestions), providing hard copies of current UCB Career Center tips for clients.
• Coordinate supply drives to obtain business appropriate clothing for clients or include request in other clinic drives.
• Contact government agencies to offer application programs for food stamps, subsidized transportation, subsidized housing, and initial social security forms.
• Coordinate with E.B.C.L.C. for special social-security-help slots at H.A.C.
• Offer informed referrals for all non-health related needs—including housing, shelter, food, employment, job training, showers, etc.— from current Big Blue Book (re-order at the end of every Fall semester for at least one clinic).
• Maintain a binder of current community referrals or organizing lists to supplement the Big Blue Book.

Accountability and Assessment Protocol

*All steps are to be taken with confidentiality, sensitivity, and compassion as top priorities; however, if any part of the process is not cooperated with, persons in contempt will be asked to take a leave from clinic until the problem is resolved.

I. Position Conduct Assessment

(applies to all violations of the policy book by any volunteers acting as agents of the Suitcase Clinic, ie. excessive absences, poor attitude, inappropriate comments, failure to fulfill assigned role, etc.)

A. For Volunteers and Providers (any action while volunteering of providing service)

Step 1) Anyone—client, officer, student, provider, or volunteer—should notify Clinic Coordinators of complaint. Any officer informed of a complaint (by any of the above) must relay it to a Clinic Coordinator, making it clear it is not their personal complaint.

Step 2) Clinic Coordinators must address the complaint and take appropriate action to resolve it, including removal from clinic if necessary. Coordinators must then email a brief record of the complaint and resolution to an Administrative Coordinator, who must then print and place the record in a confidential log to be held in Dr. Steinbach’s office.

B. For Officers (any action while acting as an officer)

Step 1) Anyone—client, officer, student, provider, or volunteer—should confront officer in question directly or notify a Clinic Coordinator of their complaint. Any officer informed of a complaint (by any of the above) must relay it to a Clinic Coordinator, making it clear it is not their personal complaint.

Step 2) The Clinic Coordinator must inform the officer in question of the complaint and email a brief record of the complaint to an Administrative Coordinator, who must then print and place the record in a confidential log to be held in Dr. Steinbach’s office. In the event it is a Clinic Coordinator in question, Coordinators can elect to have a meeting among Coordinators or involve Administrative Coordinators. A resolution must be reached.

If a resolution is not reached, the officer does not abide by the resolution, or new complaints occur:

Step 3) The Administrative Coordinators must organize a meeting with Dr. Steinbach, the Division Head of the officers in question’s division, and one Administrative Coordinator to be selected by the Admin. Resolution must be reached.

In the case the officer in question refuses the assessment or does not abide by the resolution:

Step 4) The officer’s position will be free in the next election or another action will be taken under the discretion of Dr. Steinbach, including leave or permanent removal from clinic if necessary.

II. Personal Conduct or Violations Assessment

(applies to boundaries among all suitcase volunteers, officers, providers, clients, and students as individuals, especially sexual harassment, theft, and violence)

The P.C.V.A. (Personal Conduct or Violations Assessment) Committee must be comprised of Dr. Steinbach, the Clinic Coordinators of the involved Clinic, and the Administrative Coordinator division head, excluding any persons involved or accused of violations.

Step 1) Any involved party should notify the police immediately with a full report. Committee members present on-site of the incident will question any others present and write a confidential record.

Step 2) Any involved party must notify the P.C.V.A. Committee, naming all participants and giving a complete report. The report must be typed and put in Dr. Steinbach’s log. All information is strictly confidential among Committee members.

Step 3) The Committee Administrative Coordinator must notify all clinic volunteers of the event in non-specific terms (no names or revealing details of any kind) of the instance, reminding them of the protocol.

Step 4) The Committee must carry out and document an investigation, questioning any member of clinic in a confidential interview if necessary, particularly utilizing the volunteer coordinators, division heads, and UGSIs and reach a conclusion. At this point the may present a change in clinic policy to address the issue and/or remove any individual sufficiently proved to be guilty of misconduct from clinic permanently.