Children’s council of san francisco
Annual Report 2013
Service Highlights Year ended June 30, 2013
Provided
12,395 referrals to child care and other community resources
Helped
5,000 families connect to child care financial assistance
Helped
79 families locate inclusive child care for a child with special needs
2,021 participants in child care provider trainings Conducted
4,569 hours of mental health consultations at 13 child care sites
206 participants in parenting workshops 2,700
1.2 million
More than children were served nutritious meals by child care providers in our Food Program
Board of directors President
Elena Schmid Vice President
Yolanda L. Jenkins, Ph.D. Secretary
Renita Sinn Treasurer
Catriona Fallon
Our MISSION
Albert Archangel Victoria Fong Taara Hoffman Jennifer Holderness Jordan Trent Jones James A. Kirk Marissa Levinson Ephraim Luft Fran Maier John Nadzam
Children’s Council of San Francisco connects families to child care that meets their needs and works with parents, providers and community partners to make quality child care and early education a reality for all children in our city.
A message from the president and executive director Finding the right child care can be daunting for families. There are questions of cost, schedule, location, program philosophy and more. How does a family determine the right balance? How do they find affordable care or get financial assistance to help pay for care? With every parent who walks through our doors, our counselors listen, help the parent understand their options, and help them connect to programs that meet their needs. Here at Children’s Council, everything we do is geared toward our vision that all families in San Francisco have access to quality child care and early education, because our city is stronger when children are well cared for, parents can work, and families can succeed. In this report you will read the stories of Antoinette Forte, Malorie Brewster, and Angela Siharath, personal stories that offer a deeper understanding of the direct impact of our work in the community. These stories, and the thousands like them, inspire us in our work. The past year has been one of innovation and progress for Children’s Council. With the goals of expanding resources for families and elevating the quality of child care in our city, we launched several new programs—new parenting groups, the Family Child Care Quality Network, and the Healthy Apple Award promoting nutrition and physical activity in child care settings. All of our programs together reach 20,000 people per year. We do our work in partnership with so many people. We are grateful for the child care professionals and community partners who share our commitment to making quality child care available to all families. We acknowledge and thank our growing body of supporters, government agencies, private funders, and generous people like you, who make our work possible. Our heartfelt thanks also go to Children’s Council’s 100+ staff, who demonstrate their commitment to San Francisco’s families and child care professionals every day. Finally, we offer our gratitude to the board members who give generously of their time and talent in support of our mission. Sincerely yours,
Elena Schmid
Sandee Blechman
President
Executive Director
Supporting Families Family Subsidy Services In partnership with state and local funders, Children’s Council provides financial assistance to support income-eligible parents who are working, in training, or attending school. This is the backbone of a system for providing children with valuable early care and education so parents can work or pursue their own education.
“Without Children’s
Council, I probably wouldn’t have this job. And my girls have had loving care all these years.” –antoinette forte Antoinette and (from left) Joy, Ebony and Jayda
Helping Families Thrive Back in 2002 A n t o i n e t t e F o r t e brought her baby girl, Ebony, along to a job interview at the Homeless Prenatal Program. The hiring manager told Antoinette the job was hers if she could find reliable child care. Antoinette was no expert, though she knew that infant care was expensive and hard to find. But she wasn’t about to give up on this job. The next day Antoinette came to Children’s Council, where a counselor explained the types of child care available and how Antoinette could get help with payments. Within a few weeks Ebony was enrolled in a nurturing family child care home. And Antoinette began her career at the Homeless Prenatal Program as a substance abuse caseworker. Eleven years later Antoinette loves working at the Homeless Prenatal Program and has been promoted to a Housing Case Manager position. She’s also raising two younger daughters, Jayda and Joy, along with Ebony. Antoinette pays for child care through a combination of her own income and financial assistance through Children’s Council. With her girls in safe, dependable programs Antoinette can concentrate on pursuing her career and serving some of San Francisco’s neediest families.
Connecting Families to Care M a l o r i e B r e w s t e r was a college student when she became pregnant with her first son, Armond. She left school and found a job. But she never gave up her dreams of higher education and a career helping children in need. Malorie worked hard and was making it as a single mother. Though she soon found it hard to advance in her career without a degree, plus she wasn’t pursuing her passion for helping others. Malorie decided to return to college for a degree in social work. She needed a new caregiver close to campus for Armond and she needed help with the payments. Malorie was referred to Children’s Council. Our staff helped her identify quality programs with flexible hours to suit her class schedule. Soon Armond was enrolled in a reputable family child care home and Malorie got the financial assistance she needed. That was in 2008. In 2011, Malorie earned her Bachelor’s degree and gave birth to another son, A’Malaki. Since then Malorie has served as a child advocate in family court while continuing her education. Today, A’Malaki attends a child care center at San Francisco State, where Malorie is on track to earn her Master’s of Social Work degree in the Spring of 2014.
“Children’s Council allowed me to pursue my passion.” –Malorie Brewster
Resource and Referral Children’s Council’s dedicated counselors provide free, multilingual assistance in finding child care, including access to our database of more than 1,000 licensed child care providers. Through one-on-one counseling and monthly Choosing Child Care and Choosing a Preschool workshops, parents learn to evaluate child care options and determine the best fit for their family. Counselors also serve as a gateway to legal, health, financial and other community resources.
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Supporting Child Care Providers
Angela and her husband read to the children at their family child care home.
“Children’s Council has taught me so much about providing the best care for children. I am proud to use everything I have learned.” –Angela Siharath
Provider Support Services Children’s Council supports individuals interested in becoming licensed child care providers throughout the licensing process. And we offer a range of services for both new and established child care providers. Professional development workshops increase knowledge of child development and business operations. Home visits, consultations and technical assistance help providers strengthen the quality of their programs by supporting the social and emotional development and learning of the children in their care.
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Elevating the Quality of Care In 1991, A n g e l a S i h a r at h learned about Children’s Council from another child care provider at the neighborhood playground. She’d started out caring for her own children and some neighbors’. Now she saw a chance to build on that experience and create a business. But she learned that to legally care for more children, she needed a license. Soon Angela met with a member of our provider support team, who assisted her through the licensing process, then enrolled her in our required child development, health and safety, and CPR classes. When Angela got her license we entered her new family child care home in our citywide database of licensed providers. Now parents could learn about her program through referrals from our child care counselors. Those referrals helped Angela build and sustain her business. She continued to serve neighborhood families, but no longer had to rely solely on word-of-mouth. Now she serves families from all over San Francisco. Over the years, Angela has also deepened her knowledge of child development and small business operations by attending dozens of Children’s Council classes. And coaching visits by our staff help her continually find ways to support the learning and development of the children in her care.
Child Development and Inclusion Team Children’s Council’s Child Development and Inclusion Team has provided early childhood mental health consultation to child care centers for over 25 years and helps families of children with special needs find child care placements. The Inclusion Team works with each family to understand their child’s social and emotional needs, helps them evaluate potential child care placements, and orients providers to the needs of the child.
Supporting Healthy Emotional Development Ja n e M a n c i n a , Site Administrator at Junipero Serra Annex Early Education School, recalls a moment during a visit from Children’s Council’s early childhood mental health consultants. For several days, a little girl who had recently experienced family trauma came in and stood at a mirror, touching her own face and looking at herself from different angles. Jane mentioned this observation to the consultant. After watching the girl from afar, the consultant suggested, “Maybe she’s checking to see if she’s okay?” That ability to quietly observe and spot behavioral cues is the bedrock of support Jane and her teaching staff receive from our team. During weekly visits, consultants help teachers explore what behaviors are more or less important to address, and model ways of speaking to children with empathy and respect. Jane credits our team of consultants with demonstrating ways of creating a positive socialemotional environment. Young children who experience trauma vary widely in how they express those feelings. So helping them feel safe and supported while they’re at preschool is a critical piece of their social and emotional development.
Enjoying the garden at Junipero Serra Annex Early Education School
“The mental health consultants are like giant Band-Aids. They help all of us heal.” –Jane Mancina
Fiscal Year in Review* Year ended June 30, 2013 Total Budget $60,664,090 Subsidy payments $29,191,312 Provider income supports $22,303,953 Programs and OperationS $9,168,824
Family Services
$6,590,444
Provider Services
$761,307
Resource & Referral
$691,919
Fiscal Intermediary
$472,344
Clinical & Child Development $344,600 Nutrition
$308,210
*Unaudited figures
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Creating Access to Quality Child Care We believe that all families deserve access to quality child care. Here are some of the ways Children’s Council works toward that goal:
We help families understand their options, navigate, and connect with child care that meets their needs, connect lowincome families to financial assistance for child care, and direct families to other social services based on their needs.
We elevate the quality of family child care programs through one-on-one quality improvement coaching, and by connecting providers to training and financial supports.
We manage San Francisco’s only citywide database for child care subsidy enrollment, helping providers fill open slots and speeding placements for the neediest families.
We promote nutrition education and physical activity in child care settings through the Child Care Food Program and the Healthy Apple Award for child care providers.
We advocate locally and statewide for increased funding so that all families have access to safe, affordable child care.
We host the San Francisco chapter of Parent Voices, a leadership and advocacy training program for low-income parents interested in child care issues.
Our Supporters Donors $10,000 and Above
Up to $500
S.H. Cowell Foundation The David B. Gold Foundation Mimi and Peter Haas Fund The San Francisco Foundation The Morris Stulsaft Foundation The Laszlo N. Tauber Family Foundation
Janis and Mitchell Andrews Anonymous Kelvin Arenas J. Bailey Alvin Baum Jr. Rachel Brody Carrie Byles Tom Cauchioa Marlinawati Chan and Kevin Sietho Eliza and Doug Chin Cecilia Comparini Maiysha S. Dickerson David Elkins April Mei Fong-Ortega Nicholas Footracer Michael A. Freeman, M.D. David S. Gast Joseph Ghione Allyson Halpern and Dan Cohen Susan Hancock David Hoffman Taara Hoffman and Steve Bissinger Leslie and George Hume Min Yi Jiang Patti Jinkerson Nancy and Peder Jones Ruth Katz and Michael Rapaport Laurie and Peer Krane Kim Kruckel and Daniel Baptista Jeffrey Lang Tuyet Le Woodrow Levin Danielle McGuire Negar Naraghi and Khosro Daraie Garrett O’Reilly Stephan Pippen Janice Platt and Jeffrey Ross Amy Portello Nelson and Family Catherine Powers Amy and Joshua Rassen Kobie Roberts Debra and Robert Rosenthal Joanna Rosenthal Susan Rothstein and John Koeppel Randy Schwemmin Carol Shenon and Albert Archangel Barbara Shragge William Singleton Smart & Final Charitable Foundation
$1,000 to $9,999
Wendy Bear Beverly Blechman Nina and Michael Blechman Sandee Blechman and Steven Goldberg California Child Care Resource & Referral Network Victoria Fong The Albert and Judith Goldberg Foundation Harrington Group Jennifer and Howard Holderness Jordan Trent Jones Joan Karlin and Paul Resnick Mechanics Bank Paulette J. Meyer and David A. Friedman Gale Mondry and Bruce Cohen Jami and John Nadzam The Safeway Foundation San Francisco Health Plan $500 to $999
Audrey Agustin-Kirk and James A. Kirk Angela Alvarado James Annunziata Susan Bailey and David Harnden Michael Bien Darby Furth Bonomi, Ph.D. and Thomas Bonomi Allison and Eli Cohen Catriona Fallon Alison Geballe Yolanda Jenkins, Ph.D. McCarthy Cook & Co. Farris Page Rosen, Bien, Galvan & Grunfeld, LLP Andrea Scharf and Ken Krug Elena Schmid Renita Sinn Catherine Zinn and Aaron Rosenthal
Sports Basement Vera and Harold Stein Emma Stewart Dr. Haywood L. Strickland Donald & Sara Sweet Revocable Trust Rebecca Turner and Marc Zussman Donna Waldman Marilyn and Murry Waldman Aaron Watson Wendell Family Foundation Ruth and Ken Wilcox Glenda and Al Wiman Ida and Fitzroy Younge Jr. Edith McClusky Zinn and Don Zinn Matching Gifts
Genentech Kaiser Permanente Community Giving Campaign Kroger-Foods Co Community Campaign PG&E Corporation United Way of California, Capital Region United Way of the Bay Area Major In-Kind Support Provided By
AEDEA Partners Additional IN-KIND Supporters
Accolade Wines Bi-Rite Market Costumes on Haight Google Law Office of Joseph A. Creitz Mission Cliffs Sanchez Elementary School San Francisco Food Bank San Francisco Department of Public Health-WIC Sports Basement Trader Joe’s John Uselman Whole Foods
Children’s Council of San Francisco is a 501(c)3 organization and contributions are tax-deductible as allowed by law. This report lists supporters from July 1, 2012 through June 30, 2013. We strive for accuracy in our listings. Please accept our apologies for any errors and contact our Development Office at 415.276.2968 or development@childrenscouncil.org so we can make the appropriate revisions.
Program Funders California Department of Education, Child Development Division Human Services Agency of San Francisco – Office of Early Care and Education First 5 California First 5 San Francisco San Francisco Department of Public Health
Community Partners California Alternative Payment Program Association California Early Childhood Mentor Program California Child Care Resource & Referral Network Child Abuse Prevention Council Child Care Food Program Roundtable Child Care Law Center Child Care Planning and Advisory Council City College of San Francisco Compass Family Services Dance Out Diabetes Family Child Care Association of San Francisco Family Child Care Peer Mentor Program Family Support Services of the Bay Area Fu Yau Grace Urban Ministries Healthy San Francisco Instituto Familiar de la Raza Leah’s Pantry Mission Economic Development Agency Noe Valley Smiles and Braces Parents Place Raising A Reader San Francisco Child Care Health Project San Francisco Child Care Providers Association San Francisco Department of Public Health, Feeling Good Project San Francisco Family Support Network San Francisco Sheriff’s Department San Francisco State University San Francisco Unified School District Sports Basement Support for Families of Children with Disabilities University of California, Davis – Center for Excellence in Child Development Urban Sprouts WestEd Wu Yee Children’s Services Edited by Aaron Rosenthal Photography on back cover and pages 3–7 by Carol Vaziri Design by Denise Jasper
Children’s Council is grateful to the generous supporters who help us pursue our vision of quality child care and early education for all San Francisco families.
childrenscouncil.org 415.276.2900
Children’s Council of San Francisco 445 Church Street San Francisco, CA 94114