Recent court and legislative decisions threaten to eliminate the fragile safety net for California’s most vulnerable older adults – frail elders who depend on Medi-Cal to cover the costs of medically necessary, 24/7 skilled nursing care. In December 2012, courts gave California the go-ahead to implement Assembly Bill (AB) 97, a new law that will slash Medi-Cal reimbursements to hospital-based, distinct part skilled nursing facilities such as the Jewish Home. Under AB 97, the Jewish Home, which relies on Medi-Cal to care for 96 percent of its frail residents, will see its reimbursement rates reduced by approximately 30 percent, resulting in an approximate $12 million incremental cash deficit to the Home. But AB 97 will not just reduce future income; the cuts are retroactive to June 1, 2011, requiring the Home to repay approximately $19 million to Medi-Cal as of June 2013. The Jewish Home of San Francisco is a historic, nonprofit facility – rated five stars for excellence by the U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services – that counts on and receives generous community philanthropy to carry out its 142-year mission. However, the Home and its supporting community do not have the wherewithal to bridge the enormous funding gap AB 97 will create. Anticipating the profound financial impacts of AB 97, the Home has already implemented significant staffing and program changes. Even before AB 97, though, the Jewish Home recognized the need for change and launched significant efforts to diversify its revenue stream and advance a plan for the future that reflects healthcare reform. The Jewish Home has broadened its short-stay rehabilitation program (STARS), expanded admission to its acute geriatric psychiatry program (one of the only programs of its kind in the Bay Area), and has a strategy to address the changing needs of older adults by delivering a continuum of age-in-place services and programs, including community-based services and new independent and assisted living apartments. This plan would be good for residents, good for the community, and good for California as it could save the state millions of dollars. But because of the impacts of AB 97, these plans have now been put on hold. The Jewish Home is not the only institution affected by AB 97. Impacts will be felt across the entire distinct part nursing home industry, including Laguna Honda Hospital in San Francisco. Since AB 97 was introduced, the Jewish Home has spoken out about its devastating impacts, both independently and by playing a lead role in a variety of coalitions – industry-focused, faith-based, in the city and county of San Francisco, with urban and rural partners. The Home has been an active voice in the California Hospital Association’s efforts to fight AB 97 and continues to support CHA in navigating the appropriate legal channels, including en banc proceedings and a possible U.S. Supreme Court case. The Jewish Home is also advancing its own advocacy efforts, including a letter-writing campaign addressed to key California decision makers that engages the broader community in speaking out for the Home. To download an electronic version of the Home’s action letter, or to learn more about AB 97 and the Jewish Home’s intensive efforts to secure relief, visit its website dedicated to this important issue. Click here to visit the website. Ninety-six percent of the Jewish Home’s residents – a population that includes octogenarians, centenarians, Holocaust survivors, refugees from the former Soviet Union, and other Californians who contributed to our state’s prosperity in the 20th century – depend on Medi-Cal to cover the costs of their skilled nursing care.
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City Attorney's Code Enforcement Team developed innovative app to empower neighborhood groups, individuals and merchants SAN FRANCISCO (April 1, 2013) -- City Attorney Dennis Herrera today launched a new smartphone app that offers San Francisco residents an easy way to report and track non-emergency code enforcement and nuisance issues. Herrera's Code Enforcement Team has long maintained a code enforcement telephone hotline to enable neighborhood residents to report violations of housing, building, police and other local and state health and safety codes, but with the popularity of smartphones, the new mobile app leverages the latest in communication technology to improve government responsiveness and transparency.
Over a year ago, Herrera initiated a move to explore more innovative, user-friendly ways for the community to report and track municipal code and state law violations utilizing smartphone technology. The result is theUP2CODE smartphone app and web widget (web page) that is now available to residents via iPhone, Android and any browser with an internet connection. "UP2CODE is an easy way for San Franciscans to report and track code enforcement issues to my office," said Herrera. "It encourages residents to be proactive by using the on-the-go smartphone app to combine efforts to improve neighborhoods and protect health and safety. Thank you to the community groups who helped test the app last year and provided feedback which refined the app. It's one tool we can all use to make San Francisco a safer and beautiful place to call home." The UP2CODE app was developed to interact with SF311, San Francisco's citywide call and information center. The app utilizes mobile phone camera and global positioning system, or GPS, technology to streamline and coordinate code violation reporting with corresponding city departments. SeeClickFix, the New Haven, Conn.-based mobile application developer, worked in partnership with City Attorney staff to customize the app for San Francisco's codes and neighborhoods. Data collected is used to better build code violation lawsuits, collect evidence and speed up remedies of nuisance code violations. It will help other city leaders, department heads and agencies better identify and prioritize code enforcement issues. In an effort to strive for transparency in City government, much of the data collected is accessible to app users in near-real-time. Reported violations are viewable on interactive maps, as is the status of each individual report. Users can even use advance features to set up "watch areas" -- from a single block to an entire neighborhood -- to monitor all reports within a specific geographic area. For more information (including important safety tips), social media plug-ins, and to use the web widget, visit: http://www.UP2CODE.org. To download the UP2CODE app on your mobile device visit: • The App Store for iPhones, or • Google Play for Android The Office of the City Attorney's Code Enforcement Team coordinates the efforts of the Building, Health, Planning, Public Works, Fire and Police Departments to identify and respond effectively to health and safety and other public nuisance issues in San Francisco's neighborhoods. When a code violation is reported, the Code Enforcement Team responds by coordinating the investigation and abatement process by the relevant city agencies and, when necessary, pursuing additional remedies against violators through civil court action. The City Attorney's Community Relations Division is available to make UP2CODE presentations and conduct group trainings on how to use the app and its numerous functions. Contact Jen Drake, Deputy Director, Community Relations at jen.drake@sfgov.org or (415) 554-4695. Are you between 14-17 years old and looking for an activity this summer? Check out the summer 2013 course listings at the Geneva Car Barn & Powerhouse, including Urban Eco Sculpture, Community Newswriting, and Community Visual Storytelling.
Want to save money and make your business or home more sustainable? If your building uses a lot of hot water, then solar water heating could be right for you. How solar water heating works A solar water heating system is a simple and reliable energy source for your home or business. Sized to fit the location’s needs, solar collectors are mounted on a sloped south facing roof or flat roof. Fluid flows through the panels and is heated by the sun. It then runs to a solar storage tank connected to your existing hot water heater. Your water heater only turns on if the solar-heated water still needs a temperature boost. Hot water flows out of your taps just like it always has, but your hot water heating bill could be cut 60-80%. You will also reduce greenhouse gas and other air polluting emissions from your home or business! Incentives are available Fortunately, California Solar Initiative rebates now cover about 30% of the cost of a solar water heating system. In addition, 30% of the cost can be claimed as a federal tax credit. Together these financial incentives dramatically cut the cost of adding solar to your building. Next steps To help get a sense of how solar water heating would pencil out for your home or business, use the SF Dept. of the Environment’s solar water heating calculator. In addition, you can find out more about solar water heating with these resources: · SF Dept. of the Environment’s webpage (including information about financial incentives and contractors) · SF Dept. of the Environment’s solar water heating fact sheets for commercial buildings, multifamily residential buildings, and single-family homes. · PG&E’s solar water heating webpage · PG&E’s solar water heating booklet If you are interested in a solar photovoltaic system (to produce electricity), the department has information on that too. Contact Jason Barbose, SF Dept. of the Environment Renewable Energy Project Manager, with any questions at 415-355-3790 or jason.barbose@sfgov.org. Local Economic Development Organization Spearheads Pedestrian Level Lighting Program (San Francisco – February 21, 2013) On Saturday, February 16, 2013, the Excelsior Action Group (EAG) executed a grassroots safety program with the help of over a dozen local youth in San Francisco’s Excelsior neighborhood. Shine a Bright Light on Excelsior is a pedestrian level lighting campaign that enlists youth as safety liaisons to distribute free energy efficient lighting to small businesses to brighten their storefront windows at night. Generously funded by PG&E, the program addresses the neighborhood’s dire need for pedestrian level lighting to increase safety and foot traffic on Mission Street after dark. Shine a Bright Light on Excelsior was developed in response to a call from merchants and residents alike for better lighting and improved safety along the Excelsior’s commercial corridor. In EAG’s recent community needs assessment, merchants shared common anecdotes of increased break-ins and defacement of their storefronts during the night. Residents living, working, and shopping on the corridor cited that their sense of security on Mission Street dramatically decreases after dark. EAG’s Public Safety Planning Group took these findings as a call to action, working with PG&E to develop the Shine a Bright Light on Excelsior program. Fifteen neighborhood youth from Balboa High School and San Francisco State University volunteered with EAG staff to distribute energy efficient light bulbs to 193 small businesses along Mission Street. Their message was simple: leave a light on at night to improve pedestrian safety after dark. When asked why the program was important, SFSU student Rosson Pan remarked, “Increased lighting will encourage more people to feel safe and to shop on Mission Street after dark, which will increase safety even further. It’s a cycle that will help to improve the local economy!” Small business owners were warmly receptive to the program and pleased to see local youth volunteering in the community. “We recognize that a free light bulb is only a temporary solution,” explained Commercial Corridor Manager Nicole Agbayani, “But it also sparks a neighborhood-wide conversation about a much needed project to permanently install pedestrian level lighting here in the Excelsior. Merchants recognize the positive impact more lighting has on their businesses. Youth recognize that more lighting engenders a safer community, and that they can be the impetus for that transformation.” Bernardo Cortes, Customer Relationship Manager at PG&E, the program’s primary funder, said, “PG&E is proud to work with the Excelsior Action Group to promote safety along the Excelsior commercial corridor. We will continue to collaborate with EAG to provide local businesses with energy-efficient measures to help them save money and improve public safety.” EAG is grateful for all of the support it received in bringing this program to fruition, particularly from PG&E, Whole Foods, Balboa High School’s PULSE program, and SFSU Professor Brigitte Davila. 2/19/2013 MAYOR LEE ANNOUNCES ONLINE TOOL TO HELP ENTREPRENEURS & BUSINESSES START, STAY & GROW IN SAN FRANCISCORead NowLicense 123 Streamlines Permits & Licenses & Creates Better Government Efficiencies Through Technology San Francisco, CA--Mayor Edwin M. Lee today launched an online tool to help new businesses navigate the City’s permitting and licensing requirements. License 123 is an easy-to-use tool that allows entrepreneurs and small business owners to access permits and licenses at one convenient site, instead of contacting several City agencies, as they open a new business in San Francisco.
“Small businesses are the heart and soul of our economy and a significant job creator,” said Mayor Lee. “This new tool is a great example of how we are using technology and innovation to make government more responsive and efficient to help our businesses grow and succeed in our City.” Created in partnership with the Office of Small Business, Office of Economic and Workforce Development and the Department of Technology, License 123 allows users to apply for the City’s permits and licenses online easily. Users begin by selecting the industry and specific type of business they would like to operate. Based on their selections, they are able to see all permits, licenses and estimated costs associated with their business type. Users are then able to download the forms and are referred to the Departments responsible for accepting their applications. “Traditionally, new business owners who did not visit the Office of Small Business would have to approach many departments to pick up or download the forms they need to start their business,” said Office of Small Business Director Regina Dick-Endrizzi. “License 123 provides a single place where forms are easily accessible and downloadable at any time of the day with only a few clicks.” In addition to City and County of San Francisco forms, there are 204 State of California forms and 100 Federal forms related to various business types. License 123 currently offers information on 258 unique types of businesses across 19 industries. “Knowing that the permitting process was not an easy one, I greatly appreciated that License 123 was able to gather all the information I needed in one place,” said License 123 beta user Steve Fox, a small business owner targeting the opening of Urban Putt, a restaurant and bar with an 18-hole indoor miniature golf course in San Francisco’s Mission District in Fall 2013. “Navigation was simple and I was able to get to every form I needed with no more than two clicks.” Through License 123, users are also referred to the Office of Small Business for additional guidance. The Office of Small Business provides one-on-one customized business assistance in English, Spanish, Mandarin, and Cantonese and all forms are offered in Spanish and Chinese. The launch of License 123 is a continuation of Mayor Lee’s concentrated effort to make it easier for small businesses to start, stay, and grow in San Francisco while using technology to improve access to information and government services. In November, the Mayor also announced the Enterprise Zone Web App, a tool to help businesses access Hiring Tax Credits online. License 123 is a product of DocStoc, a company that hosts a selection of professional documents and resources for small businesses. To access the new License 123 online tool, go to: http://sf.license123.com The Excelsior Action Group is working to install the Excelsior's first sculpture at the corner of Geneva Avenue and Mission Street. To learn more about the project, click here. Entitled Ever Upward, this has truly been a community-driven effort. The mosaic column whose designs are pictured to the left will be produced entirely by community volunteers. EAG is seeking in-kind donations of supplies & tool lending from community members who would like to support the production of Ever Upward's mosaic. The following is a list of supplies & tools we need for this project. Please contact (415) 585-0110 or email nagbayani@eagsf.org if you would like to donate or lend any of the following! Thank you! TOOLS:
Compound Nipper for Hard Tile (2) Mosaic Tile Nipper (6) Ceramic Combo Tool (2) Chipping Hammer with Coil Handle (1) 7" Tweezers (6) Dental Picks (4) Dual Grit Rubbing Stone (1) Margin Trowel (4) SUPPLIES: Colored tiles (no smaller than 1 square inch) Grout Mosaic Tile Mesh Mosaic Glue Old paint brushes Rubber gloves Masks Buckets Stirrer sticks Shoe boxes |
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