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FORGING A

NET WORK OF SERVICES

January 2007

THE 2007 - 2010

CHILDRENS SERVICES ALLOCATION PLANOF THE

SAN FRANCISCO DEPARTMENT OF

CHILDREN, YOUTH AND THEIR FAMILIES

www.dcyf.org


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DCYF Vision, Mission, Goals, and Values

Vision: All San Francisco children and youth should reach adulthood havingexperienced a safe, healthy, and nurturing childhood, prepared to become responsibleand contributing members of the community. Families should be supported by eachother, their neighbors, their community, and government in realizing this vision. Familieswith children must be able to thrive in all San Francisco neighborhoods, in a place wherethey are welcomed as integral to the Citys culture, prosperity and future.

Mission: The Department of Children, Youth and Their Families mission is to improvethe well being of children, youth, and their families in San Francisco.

Goals: San Francisco has adopted the following goals in its City Charter.

Children and youth are healthy.

Children and youth are ready to learn and succeeding in school.

Children and youth live in safe, supported families and safe, supported, viablecommunities.

Children and youth contribute to the growth, development, and vitality of SanFrancisco.

Values: Serving our community is the foundation of DCYFs work.

Diversity. The ethnic, cultural and economic diversity of San Franciscoscommunities and families is an asset. We embrace the wide array of familyconfigurations that nurture San Franciscos children and youth.

Equity. All young people must have equal access to supports and opportunities.

Valuing community, family and individuals. The gifts and talents of everyindividual, family, and community are valued and built-upon. All services use astrength-based approach. Parents and caregivers are essential partners andleaders in all programs.

Empowerment and participation

. Youth, parents and guardians are valued anddeveloped as partners, decision makers, and leaders and thereby experience asense of ownership and belonging in the programs in which they participate, andin their communities.

Collaboration and community. Active collaboration among community-basedorganizations and City departments on the neighborhood level and city-wide is essential. All stakeholders must work together to support San Franciscoschildren, youth, and families.


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San FranciscoChildrens Services Allocation Plan2007 2010

TABLE OF CONTENTS

I. BACKGROUND,OVERVIEW, AND GOALS ..........................................................................2

BACKGROUND ON CHILDRENS FUND ..............................................................................2ACCOMPLISHMENTS OF CHILDRENS FUND,200307 ......................................................2CREATING A NEW ALLOCATION PLAN .............................................................................4GUIDELINES FOR THE CHILDRENS SERVICES ALLOCATION PLAN.....................................5GOALS OF THE CHILDRENS SERVICES ALLOCATION PLAN,20072010.........................5BASIC ELEMENTS OF THE PLAN ......................................................................................7

II. FUNDING ALLOCATIONS IN EACH SERVICE AREA..........................................................10

EARLY CARE AND EDUCATION ......................................................................................11OUT OF SCHOOL TIME ..................................................................................................17YOUTH WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT .............................................................................24FAMILY SUPPORT .........................................................................................................30VIOLENCE RESPONSE AND TRUANCY PREVENTION........................................................34WELLNESS EMPOWERMENT ..........................................................................................41YOUTH EMPOWERMENT ................................................................................................46

III. INVESTMENTS TO FORGE A NETWORK OF QUALITY SERVICES ......................................48

COMMUNITY BUILDING ..................................................................................................50INFORMATION AND ADVOCACY ......................................................................................54ACCESS .......................................................................................................................56

ACCOUNTABILITY,CAPACITY BUILDING,TRAINING AND SUPPORT..................................58OTHER .........................................................................................................................60

IV. PROPOSED GEOGRAPHIC DISTRIBUTION OF SERVICES ................................................61

V. MOVING FORWARD......................................................................................................65

VI. APPENDICES ..............................................................................................................67

APPENDIX A-CHILDRENS AMENDMENT .......................................................................68APPENDIX B-OVERALL CITY SPENDING ON CHILDREN,YOUTH &FAMILIES...................74APPENDIX C-PROCESS AND PARTICIPANTS .................................................................89APPENDIX D-COMMUNITY VOICESFINDINGS FROM COMMUNITY MEETINGS................93APPENDIX E-STANDARDS............................................................................................97

APPENDIX F-NEIGHBORHOOD INDEX OF NEED .............................................................98


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I. Background, Overview, and Goals

Background on Childrens Fund

The Department of Children, Youth and Their Families (DCYF) was created in 1989 afterover 30 years of community advocacy. The collective vision of advocates was that SanFrancisco have an arm within government focused exclusively on ensuring that youngpeople, ages 0 17, become healthy, productive, and valued community members.Today DCYF achieves this vision by:

Engaging stakeholders in planning and policy development; Providing information and resources; Coordinating services in the public and private sectors; and Funding a large network of agencies, which provide high quality services and

opportunities.

The funding DCYF administers comes primarily from the General Fund and theChildrens Fund. The Childrens Fund is generated by an annual tax of 3 cents for every$100 of assessed property tax value. The Fund was initially established by PropositionJ, known as the Childrens Amendment, approved by San Francisco voters in 1991,and renewed by Proposition D in 2000. The Childrens Amendment resulted from theefforts of advocates and community members and is now considered one of the Citysmajor assets. (see Appendix A) The Childrens Fund and DCYF are often recognized asnational models.

One of the key provisions of the Childrens Amendment of 2000 is a three-year fundingcycle for DCYF. In the first year of the cycle, DCYF is required to complete aCommunity Needs Assessment. This is followed by a Childrens Services Allocation

Plan (CSAP), which establishes funding allocations and outcomes for the overall Fund.In the third year, DCYF issues a Request for Proposals (RFP) for a three-yearcommitment of funding. An RFP based on this plan will be released in February 2007.

Accomplishments of Childrens Fund, 20032007

DCYF has achieved a great deal since the last Childrens Services Allocation Plan wascompleted in 2003. In 2006, DCYF-funded programs served over 28,000 children andyouth, and 5,000 parents and caregivers. Through partnerships with community-basedorganizations and collaboration with other government departments, San Franciscoschildren and youth now enjoy a wide array of child care, afterschool programs,employment opportunities, as well as exposure to cultural programming. Families

receive support for the challenge of raising their children. High-risk children and youthhave a range of supports and opportunities to help them succeed. DCYF has beenresponsive to the needs of homeless children and youth; youth involved in the fostercare and juvenile justice systems, and the unique needs of LGBTQ youth and families.DCYF provides these services through grants to 177 different community organizations,and 4 public agencies, including San Francisco Unified School District (SFUSD). Inaddition to grants to individual agencies, we have created (or partnered with other Citydepartments to create) 20 innovative initiatives that provide coordinated services:


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Afterschool for All Partnership with SFUSD, private foundations, and providers toexpand afterschool slots and create a system-wide training, technical assistance andcultural enrichment program.

Beacon Centers Eight school-based comprehensive programs sponsored bycommunity-based organizations.

Community Response Network Collaboration with the District Attorney to fundnetworks in high violence communities to prevent street level violence and supportvictims of violence.

Early Childhood Mental Health Consultation Initiative Collaboration with First FiveSan Francisco and Department of Public Health to provide consultation to child careproviders on mental health issues of children in their programs.

Early Literacy Initiative to reach all pre-schoolers and their parents in VisitacionValley and Bayview Hunters Point with exposure to early literacy activities.

Gateway to Quality An assessment and funding program to help all child careproviders achieve quality.

Jobs for Youth Public/private partnership with United Way to expand youth jobs inthe private sector.

MYEEP Year-round youth employment program in 12 community agencies.

New Directions Summer employment program for youth in the juvenile justicesystem, a collaboration with Juvenile Probation and Recreation and Parks.

Rec Connect Collaboration between community agencies and Recreation andParks to enhance the ability of recreation centers to serve as community hubs.

Safe Start City-wide project to improve services to young children exposed toviolence in their homes and on the streets.

School-based violence prevention Anti-violence program in six schools with highlevels of violence.

Secure Our Schools School safety program in four schools using EducationIntervention Specialists to reach out to students and parents.

SF CARES Stipend program for child care providers to offer financial incentives tofurther their education in the early child care field.

SF Families Connect City-wide events to offer families information, entertainment,and cultural enrichment, as part of SF Connect.

SF Team Eleven school-based literacy improvement programs one per district.

Shape Up San Francisco City-wide initiative to promote physical exercise andhealthy eating.

Special Needs Inclusion Project Staff training, information, support, and on-sitetechnical assistance to promote the inclusion of children with special health careneeds and disabilities in community-based programs.

Wellness Centers Eleven high school-based health centers, focused on healthempowerment and behavioral health issues.


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Youth Empowerment Fund 3% of the Childrens Fund dedicated to youth initiatives,currently including philanthropy, organizing and entrepreneurship.

In DCYFs annual client satisfaction survey, participants indicate that they are highlysatisfied. Youth and parents report that their lives improve; they feel respected; and theytrust staff. In addition, we conduct evaluations of many of our initiatives. For instance,

an independent evaluation of the Wellness Initiative documents that Wellness Programsin the high schools are effectively enhancing students' capacity to make healthydecisions, seek services on campus and in the community, strengthen their coping skills,improve their relationships with family and friends, and improve their connection to andperformance in the school community. The evaluation of our SF Team initiative showedthat 75% of the elementary and middle school youth who participated in the programimproved their reading skill, which resulted in an increase in the percent of students whoscored at or above their grade levels by the end of the school year.

Yet, there is much more to do to improve the lives of all of San Franciscos children,youth and families.

Creating a New Allocation Plan

Issued in April 2005 by DCYF, Mapping the Future of San Franciscos Services toChildren, Youth and Their Families identifies the key needs of our constituents andpromising strategies for meeting those needs. This Community Needs Assessmentserved as the foundation of the Childrens Services Allocation Plan (CSAP).

During the past year, DCYF has undertaken an extensive process to guide our planningprocess for the CSAP. (see Appendix C for more detail on the CSAP process) Thisincludes:

1) A comprehensive analysis of overall City spending on children, ages 0 17 (seeAppendix B)

2) Twenty-three community meetings involving 500 youth, parents, & serviceproviders (see Appendix D for a summary of the findings)

3) Ten strategic conversations with more than 150 content experts

4) Numerous collaborative conversations with public sector colleagues, includingeight department heads, who provide services to children and youth

5) Two public meetings with DCYF grantees

6) Two public hearings before the Citizen Advisory Committee of DCYF

7) Six public hearings before City commissions and boards Health, SocialServices, Youth, Recreation and Parks, Juvenile Probation, and Mayors Office ofCommunity Development

8) Research on effective practices to achieve the outcomes prioritized by parents,youth, and service provider colleagues

Promising practices were filtered by staff to determine the highest impact strategies.The strategies selected are:


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Reinforce the vision, mission, goals and values of DCYF; Address key needs; Have a solid base of research leading to positive, youth development outcomes;

and

Build upon local experience.

Guidelines for the Childrens Services Allocation Plan

Celebrate and build upon the strengths of the current system.DCYF and its partners have a proud and important history of providing high quality,culturally relevant, empowering services to San Franciscos children, youth and theirfamilies. San Francisco is home to some of the best practices and programs in thenation. A sharpened focus on programming and increased accountability are welcome,but not at a cost to the continuation of current excellent programs. DCYF will place ahigh value on program continuity when it best serves the needs of children, youth andtheir families. This is consistent with the initial goal of the Childrens Fund, to provide

stability to childrens services which, prior to 1991, lacked a stable funding base.

Leverage resources strategically.In order to maximize the impact of the dollars spent by DCYF, we will:

Prioritize spending on areas where there is the greatest potential for impactbased on best practices in the field.

Prioritize areas where there is no other City department investment. Coordinate with, and blend resources with other City departments and the San

Francisco Unified School District (SFUSD) in order to mitigate or reduceinequities, create a continuum of care, and provide opportunities for children andyouth that would otherwise not be funded.

Make public facilities more available to their communities. Many communities

expressed the desire to more fully utilize schools and/or recreation centers as alocation for providing youth and community services outside of school hours.

Goals of the Childrens Services Allocation Plan, 2007 2010

Throughout the development of this Childrens Services Allocation Plan, there wereconsistent themes that emerged from the diverse voices of the many constituent groups.These consistent themes are the basis of the goals of our Allocation Plan.

1. Serve all neighborhoods, all children.We will distribute resources across all age groups and to all neighborhoods based on

number of children and level of need. We will ensure than every neighborhood has theessential infrastructure to support families quality child care options, a diversity ofchoices for constructive out of school time activities for school age youth, and jobtraining and employment options to help transition older youth to adulthood. Familysupport services that are vital for helping parents and caregivers meet the challenges ofraising children will be available in all neighborhoods. All neighborhoods will haveservices which promote health and wellness, and empower youth and families as keystakeholders in the community.


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2. Focus on greatest need.San Francisco is experiencing an increasing polarization in its child population withsome of the countrys most well-off and high-performing children and youth as well assome of the lowest. Race and class are the primary factors fueling this increasing gap.Within each service area, funds will be targeted toward those populations with thegreatest need. In order to determine where the greatest need lies, we have identified

several risk factors, which we will consider in allocating resources. These includeincome level, poverty rates, CALWorks participants, youth on probation, and SFUSDgraduation rates. We also recognize that almost 25,000 (22%) of the Citys children livein public housing complexes. Their poverty rates, involvement in the child welfare and

juvenile justice systems, and family unemployment are the highest in the City. Servicesfor these children, youth and their families will receive special attention.

3. Foster inter-departmental partnerships.DCYF has developed strong agreements and joint programs with other City departmentsand the school district in order to effectively serve the Citys children and youth. Thesepartnerships will be deepened and expanded. The partnerships include jointprogramming with Juvenile Probation, Department of Public Health, Mayors Office of

Community Development, Human Services Agency, Public Library, First Five SanFrancisco, Recreation and Parks, and the San Francisco Unified School District. It isparticularly important that we collaborate with the Citys overall violence preventionstrategies, the emerging differential response network of HSA, and the Communities ofOpportunity.

4. Improve service quality and organizational capacity.In some instances, the capacity of local organizations to meet changing needs wasquestioned and the need for high quality standards was cited by community members.During the past year, DCYF addressed the difficult and longstanding challenge ofimproving accountability of funded programs. In partnership with community-basedorganizations and City department representatives, we created a Standards Initiative.

We developed minimum and quality standards in each of our service areas and are alsodeveloping high quality standards. The standards are based on youth development andfamily support principles and national best practices, as well as the best thinking ofpeople doing the work on the ground in San Francisco. All currently funded programsare being assessed to determine their compliance with minimum quality standards. Onlyprograms that meet these standards will be funded in the next cycle. Newly fundedorganizations will also be required to meet minimum standards, and all funded programswill be required to work toward high quality standards. Programs will be assessed fortheir compliance with standards on an annual basis. (see Appendix E for a summary ofDCYFs Standards Initiative)

5. Increase access.

Agencies we fund will be required to improve the accessibility of their services byexpanding outreach, increasing hours, improving language capacity and culturalrelevance, and serving children, youth and families with special needs as well as LGBTQyouth and families. Furthermore, agencies will be expected to be accessible to thediversity of children, youth and families in their neighborhoods even as neighborhoodschange over time and to link neighborhood residents to city-wide services when needed.Ensuring safety and demonstrating sensitivity to turf lines and other neighborhooddynamics will be essential. Agencies will also be expected to disseminate informationon important services on behalf of City departments.


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6. Engage Families.Because it is widely recognized that effective interventions with children and youth mustinvolve their entire families, we will be asking children and youth service providers todevelop strategies for reaching out to parents. This will be true even when the service isprimarily centered around the youth, as in employment and afterschool programs. We

will strive to make the service delivery system more family-centric, and engage parentsin supporting their children.

7. Build community.DCYF is committed to using its leadership and grant making role to help build a sense ofcommunity at the agency, neighborhood and city-wide level. We will work to makeprograms to become environments where conflict resolution, tolerance, and diversity canflourish. We will fund models which create community hubs of involvement and positiveactivity in neighborhoods throughout the City. We will work on addressing the racial andclass divisions which challenge our communities.

8. Forge a collaborative system.

Discussion in several neighborhood meetings highlighted the relative wealth of servicesin San Francisco, but a lack of coordination of services, particularly on a neighborhoodlevel. As DCYF and a city, we must create an integrated system of services responsiveto all of San Franciscos children, youth and families. The goal of a coordinated systemis not new, but remains unfulfilled despite the fact that we are a relatively small town,both one city and county, and have a strong base of service providers, and a relativelyhigh level of investment.

Overall, San Francisco invests $365 million (see Appendix B for an analysis) in childrenyouth and family services but this investment is often fragmented. The challenge is tofocus and align public investment to create a city-wide system. This Plan aims toprogress from funding single, isolated programs to forging a network of services which

are responsive to individual and community needs.

These goals overlay the specific service area strategies DCYF has developed for 2007 2010. The forthcoming Request for Proposals (RFP) will require that all agencies meetthe above goals as well as program standards established through DCYFs StandardsInitiative.

Basic Elements of the Plan

Service categoriesFor 2007 -2010, DCYF will focus its funding in seven service areas:

Early care and education for children, ages 0 5 Out of school time activities primarily serving children ages 6 13 Workforce development strategies aimed at youth ages 14 17

And for children, youth and families of all ages: Family support services Violence response and truancy reduction Wellness empowerment Youth empowerment


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Neighborhood and city-wide servicesThe majority of programs funded by DCYF will serve a specific neighborhood, so thatparticipants can receive services near their homes or schools. This makes servicesaccessible and allows agencies to create environments and programs to meet specificneighborhood needs. Strong neighborhood-based organizations contribute to the vitality

of the communities they serve, as stable and familiar neighborhood institutions.

However, services for teen parents, homeless youth and families, children with specialhealth care needs, new immigrants, LGBTQ youth, and other special populations areoften best provided on a city-wide (rather than neighborhood) level so that resources canbe pooled and unique expertise can be developed. Programs for these populations withhigh-needs will be funded in various service categories primarily through competitivegrants. We anticipate that approximately one-third of the grants from the ChildrensFund will be allocated for city-wide services, maintaining the current percentage.

Empowerment StrategiesYouth and families must be empowered as stakeholders in their communities.

Organizations will be supported in providing leadership roles for youth and parents.DCYF will proudly continue a 3% set-aside of the Childrens Fund for YouthEmpowerment. This funddriven by youth themselves through the YouthEmpowerment Fund Advisory Boardwill implement its plan of investing in youthphilanthropy, youth organizing and youth entrepreneurship. Bolstered by theaccomplishments of the Youth Empowerment Fund and the parent action grants of FirstFive San Francisco, DCYF will be piloting a family action grant program to enableparents and caregivers of children of all ages to have the resources to address pressingcommunity needs and develop their own skills and voice.

Capacity-Building, Training & SupportDCYF will continue to have a formal capacity-building program which will both broker

community resources and provide content specific training to help funded agencies meetstandards and address organizational challenges and opportunities. Some training willcut across all service categories; some strategies will be specific to a particular fundingcategory. The most elaborate strategies are in early care and education, which includea combination of technical assistance, peer support, adherence to national standards,and stipends (SF CARES) for educational attainment of providers. Funds in each majorservice area are allocated to field-led efforts and organizing because such efforts areessential to forging a responsive system of services. We will also develop several newstrategies: A peer network for youth employment service providers, site-based mentalhealth consultation for afterschool programs, and a public/private technical assistancefunding pool for afterschool service providers with a focus on training for line workers.To the feasible extent, we will collaborate with other City departments in our capacity-

building work. In addition, we will be training a core group of youth who will evaluateprograms and assess community need.

FlexibilityWhile maintaining our focus and overall priorities, we must retain some flexibility to meetthe changing needs of San Franciscos dynamic neighborhoods and evolving populationof children, youth and families. To respond to emergencies or opportunities, DCYFproposes will seek to support an emerging needs fund to meet one time critical needs of


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agencies of up to $35,000 per year; and a youth activities fund to meet one-time, smallexpenses of youth activities, trips, and events.

System Level Investments to Forge the ConnectionsThe message in 23 community meetings was clearcommunity members and serviceproviders alike do not know the universe of services available and how to meaningfully

connect their services and efforts to a coordinated system. In addition to fundingindividual services and programs, our aim is to develop a system of services that iscoherent, coordinated, responsive, and unites all stakeholders. To this end DCYF willraise the expectations of funded agencies in terms of information and referral and willfund a variety of system-level strategies:

Community-based neighborhood conveners We will fund 20 agencies inneighborhoods throughout the City to convene public and private serviceproviders in their neighborhoods to better coordinate and plan services, advocatefor their community, and plan community-wide events.

Support for anchor institutions In the belief that all communities need anchorinstitutions that serve as hubs for community problem solving and leadership

development, as well as a wide range of services for all residents, we areproviding seed money for what we hope will ultimately be an inter-agency pool offunding for infrastructure needs and community engagement activities.

User-friendly parent and youth information DCYF is working to improve itsability to provide information to the public about resources available to them.Toward this end, we will be funding a parent-to-parent website, a youth-driveninformation system, and a peer-to-peer family ambassador program.

Family events under the Families Connect banner In collaboration with ourcommunity of service providers and cultural and educational institutions, DCYFwill sponsor three annual events for the Citys families: Family Festival, FamilyFree Day, and Summer Resource Fair.

These investments are critical for forging a system that is responsive to the uniqueneeds of individuals, families and diverse communities.


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II. Funding Allocations in Each Service Area

Based on the estimates of the City Controller, DCYF has built a plan anticipating aChildrens Fund amount of $38,518,333, as well as projected general fund revenues of$23,431,450; a community development block grant allocation of $850,000 from the

Mayors Office of Community Development, and other revenues of $1,794,600. Theseallocations are only approximate and actual funding levels may vary. If additional (orfewer) dollars are available, we will allocate dollars across funding categories in order tomaintain the approximate percentages presented in this plan.

PROPOSED EXPENDITURES Total Proposed 07-08

Seven Service Areas

Early Care and Education 11,828,650

Out of School Time 15,695,000

Youth Workforce Development 9,655,650

Family Support 3,409,000

Wellness Empowerment 10,015,000

Violence Response and Truancy Prevention 6,324,083Youth Empowerment 1,070,000

SUBTOTAL 57,997,383

System-wide Investments

Community Building 1,420,000

Information and Communication 1,117,000

Access 650,000

Accountability, Capacity and Training Support 700,000

Administration, Management, and Operations 2,460,000

Miscellaneous Competitive Grants 250,000

SUBTOTAL 6,597,000

TOTAL 64,594,383Note: Allocations based on best available projections of revenue.

The 20072010 proposed allocation presumes nearly a 6% growth rate in the ChildrensFund and presumes general fund allocations are annualized including supplementalappropriations.

***************************************************A discussion of each service area and its underlying strategies follows in a consistentframework, which addresses:

Target Population Desired Result Background

The Current City-wide Picture Community Voices DCYFs Funding Strategies for 2007 2010 DCYFs Role Partners Expectations of Funded Agencies

The approximate funding amount for each major strategy is shown.


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Early Care and Education

TargetPopulation: Children 0 5 and their caregivers

DesiredResult: All San Francisco children have access to quality early care and

education services to support their social, emotional, andacademic development; and their parents/caregivers cancontribute to their households and the Citys economicprosperity.

Background: Recent advances in the neurosciences have demonstrated whatgenerations have known intuitively high quality care forchildren from the day they are born pays off in terms of significantfuture benefits to society. Theses benefits are both social andeconomic. Children who experience high quality early care andeducation demonstrate better social skills, and more success inschool. Longitudinal studies show that high quality programs,particularly for low income children, provide significant economicgains through increased earnings and decreased publicexpenditures on special education, juvenile delinquency, adultincarceration, health care, and social services. Investment in highquality early care and education both improves outcomes forchildren and reduces overall government spending.

Current City-widePicture:

Over the past nine years, San Francisco has built a childcare/early care and education system that addresses some of themost challenging issues in a dynamic field: quality of care,

wages, facilities, cost and supply. Through voter passedProposition H, San Francisco is working toward providinguniversal preschool to all the Citys four year olds by 2010. In thecurrent year, San Francisco has invested $550,000 in localdollars to create universal access to child care for homelessfamilies in shelters; and $1,500,000 to increase the affordabilityof infant/toddler care for working families. Bolstered by strongfield-led advocacy, the Citys policies and programs havebecome models for the nation.

In the 20052006 budget year, overall City spending in early careand education was more than $49 million comprised of

spending for direct child care services and system-wide supports.Four City departments invested nearly $33.6 million in direct childcare services and subsidies for children and their families. TheHuman Services Agency is the largest funder of child careservices through the CalWORKS child care subsidy program,and other state and federal revenues associated with child carebenefits provided as entitlements for high-need families. First 5San Francisco provides nearly 10% of funding for direct services,


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followed by DCYF at 4%, and the San Francisco InternationalAirport at 1%, which partially supports an after-hours child carecenter for its employees.

Over $15.6 million is also invested in system-wide supports, andbenefits for child care providers to improve the quality of care,

promote the compensation and stability of the workforce, improvefacilities, and other strategies. The Human Services Agencyprovides 47% of this funding, 41% is provided by DCYF, and12% is provided by First 5 San Francisco.

Early care and education serves as a model for inter-agencycollaboration and aligned funding. Since issuing a joint requestfor proposal for child care/early care and education funding in2003, the Human Services Agency, First 5San Francisco, andDCYF have had a formal collaboration to align resources,monitor contracts, and develop new strategies to support highquality child care/early care and education opportunities for San

Franciscos youngest residents.

Despite a relatively high level of investment in early care andeducation, challenges remain. In San Francisco, licensed childcare is available for only 42% of children with parents in the laborforce. Only 5% of spaces in child care centers just 873 areavailable to meet the needs of nearly 20,000 infants andtoddlers.i The cost of child care is prohibitive for most families the average cost of infant care in a child care center is over$1,000 per month, nearly the full annual salary of one minimumage worker.ii Approximately 4,300 children are currently oneligibility waitlists for subsidized child care in San Francisco, and

80% of subsidy eligible families seeking infant/toddler care areunable to find it. iii State funding for subsidized child care is madeavailable on the basis of a standardized reimbursement ratewhich falls significantly short of meeting the full cost of providingcare in San Francisco.

Early educators/caregivers are essential for childrens healthygrowth and development, but face high educational requirementsand low pay, resulting in a high rate of turnover among the earlyeducators/caregivers. Community members spoke out about theneed for high quality, affordable child care/early care andeducation services that were responsive to their needs, providing

a choice of culturally appropriate options, particularly for thosecaring for infants and toddlers. DCYFs strategies to address theneeds in the field seek to respond to these challenges.

CommunityVoices:

Participants in community meetings identified availability of childcare as a top priority. The Chinatown, Mission, Treasure Island,and West Portal residents identified child care as their numberone priority. Challenges both finding and affording child carewere noted. Service providers voiced the pressing need to


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expand the supply and affordability of child care for infants andtoddlers, and to address the workforce needs of caregivers.

DCYFsFundingStrategies

for 2007 - 2010

DCYF will continue its strategic alignment and formalcollaboration with our partners, First 5 San Francisco and theHuman Services Agency. Early care and education funding will

be issued in a separate request for proposals developed withthese partners. Subject to further development, DCYF hasidentified the following key strategies and tentative allocations inearly care and education.

Strategy 1:Early Literacy

Initiative

Building on a program launched in the current year, DCYF willfund a collaborative of community agencies focusing on buildingthe literacy skills of and resources for families and informalcaregivers of children in public housing developments. This effortis currently focused in the Bayview/Hunters Point and VisitacionValley neighborhoods through the Mayors Communities ofOpportunity Initiative. If this strategy proves effective, it may

expand to other public housing developments as the ChildrensFund grows.

Allocation: $300,000

Strategy 2:Competitive Grants

for Early Care andEducation

Services

DCYF will provide funding that can help support the operationalcosts of direct child care services for low income families.Funding will continue to be made available to agencies providingcare in child care centers and homeless shelters and residentialtreatment programs. For the first time, DCYF will support familychild care homes, through making funding available to familychild care networks. Priority will be given to programs serving

infants and toddlers. Licensed child care programs will need tohave completed or scheduled Gateway to Quality Assessment byDecember 31, 2006 and receive an aggregate score of 3.0 orhigher.

Allocation: $1,800,000

Strategy 3:Child CareSubsidies

DCYF will continue to provide child care subsidies/vouchers with$660,000 for low income working families; $1,000,000 will be forinfants and toddlers (children 0-3); and $1,050,000 for childrenliving in homeless shelters. Our goal will be to create universalaccess to child care services for homeless families. These funds

will not be competitively bid but provided by contract to the localresource and referral agencies for administration to families.


In addition to these investments in direct services, DCYF will continue to supportsystem-wide investment designed to improve the quality and preserve the supply oflicensed child care services for San Franciscos working families.


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Strategy 4:Workforce

Investments

A stable workforce is critical to the quality of care and earlyeducation. DCYF will support four workforce strategies: 1) DCYFwill continue the high level commitment of $1,529,388 annually tothe SFCARES (Comprehensive Approaches to RaisingEducational Standards) program which provides stipends,training and technical assistance to the child care workforce; 2)

DCYF will continue to support the WAGES+ program of theHuman Services Agency at $258,019 annually; 3) DCYF willcontinue to fund at $260,000 for the Provider Health Benefitsprogram for family child care providers to have access to healthinsurance; 4) In addition, DCYF will support an expandedsubstitute reimbursement pool for both family child care providersand licensed child care center providers. Our hope is that otherfunders will contribute to this pool so that child care/early careand education professionals can obtain critical release time fromteaching responsibilities in order to further their own educationand professional development. DCYF has allocated $112,593 toseed this effort.


Strategy 5:Gateway to Quality

DCYF remains committed to supporting programs and providersto increase the quality of child care/early care and educationprovided through a multi-tiered strategy, based on the researchvalidated rating scales. DCYF will invest $800,000 in anorganized assessment and support strategy.


Strategy 6:

Preserve theSupply and Lower

the Costs of Infant/Toddler Care

For the last three years, DCYF has supported the Infant/Toddler

Sustaining Grants program along with First 5-San Francisco.Through community advocacy, this program was recentlyexpanded by $1,000,000. DCYF will build on lessons learnedfrom the current program design, and work collaboratively with itsco-funders and community partners, to revamp and redesign aneffective, efficient program designed to help reduce the cost andpreserve the supply of high quality infant/toddler care. Thisrevised program may be linked to one or more strategies outlinedhere for maximum impact.


Strategy 7:Child Care

FacilitiesPreservation,

Improvement &Expansion

Since 1998, DCYF has supported the Child Care Facilities Fund,a public-private partnership formed in order to improve andexpand the supply of licensed child care facilities in SanFrancisco. Revenues generated from child care services,whether from private or public sector sources, are often soconstrained that programs are forced to under invest in theirphysical infrastructure. This is particularly troubling, as manychildren spend more time in child care than in any other setting,including their own homes, and when child care environments


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are critical to supporting and fostering healthy development.Local funding sources for child care facilities development are notenough to meet the needs; and creative thinking, policy andadvocacy efforts must focus on long term, high dollar capitalstrategies. In the interim, DCYF will allocate the funds it hasavailable to meeting high priority needs.

Allocation: $700,000 (approximate, based on ongoingcommitments, and funds available in the ChildCare Capital Fund)


to Community-Based

Organizations toProvide

Technical

Assistance andTraining

DCYF values the technical assistance and training as keystrategies for providers to develop professionally, and for toprograms to raise the quality of services provided to children andfamilies in their settings. With our collaborative funding partners,DCYF has embarked on a participatory process to examineindependent technical assistance strategies in an effort to createan organized system of technical assistance (TA) for the early

care and education field. This system is still under development.


Strategy 9:Increasing Access

to Child CareServices

The City has pioneered a Centralized Eligibility List (CEL) toefficiently match subsidy eligible families with available child careresources. This provides a vital service to families whopreviously had to navigate a range of waiting lists andinvaluable data for policy and planning purposes. Despite thesupport of the CEL, two special populations need additionalsupport to access child care services to meet their needs.Allocations will be set aside for enhanced child care referrals and

support for both homeless families and the families of childrenwith special health care needs. Historic local funding will leverageapproximately $197,823 annual in funding from the CaliforniaDepartment of Education-Child Development Division for the CELproject.


Strategy 10:Funding for Field

Building

Peer-to-peer support, organizing and advocacy are key to thedevelopment of the child care system in San Francisco and willbe key to forging an innovative, responsive system in the future.DCYF will allocate resources to support field-led initiatives and

organizations as a concerted aspect of our strategy.


Strategy 11:Staffing

Staff is necessary to both effectively steward DCYFs investmentin early care and education as well as champion local systemchanges and advocate for more resources for early care andeducation from the State and Federal Governments. Positionsinclude: City-wide Child Care Administrator; Program Officer; and


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Early Childhood Mental Health Services Coordinator.


DCYFs Role: Fund direct child care services and system-wide supports

Coordinate efforts with inter-agency partners for maximumimpact

Change systems to improve the supply and quality of childcare, including advocating for more state and federalresources

Collect and analyze data on the effectiveness of fundingand system change strategies

Partners: Successfully raising children is both a family and communityresponsibility. DCYF values parents and guardians as their

childs first and most important teacher. Extended communitiesand service providers are vital partners in helping parents raiseand nurture children. DCYF will continue to work collaborativelywith our funding partners, First 5-San Francisco and the HumanServices Agencies to both align funding and create policy andsystems changes that improve the access to available, affordablehigh quality early care and education throughout San Francisco.

Expectationsof FundedAgencies:

Funded agencies will be required to meet minimum programstandards for early care and education and will be supported inefforts to reach high quality standards. In order to develop aneffective and coordinated system of services, agencies funded in

early care and education will be expected to form linkages withlocal schools to support effective kindergarten transitions; andwith family resources centers and funded family support agenciesin their area in order to provide effective information and referralservices to families. All child care centers funded by DCYF willbe expected to be active participants in the Early ChildhoodMental Health Consultation Initiative (ECMHCI) and participate intrainings of the SafeStart Initiative.


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Out of School Time

TargetPopulation: All children and youth, with a focus on 6 13 year olds

DesiredResult:

All San Francisco children have safe, supportive, challenging andfun places to be during the out of school hours and in thesummer, freeing their parents and guardians to work withoutworry.

Background: San Francisco is home to more than 50,000 elementary andmiddle school age youth; and nearly 25,000 high school ageyouth who need positive opportunities and activities in the out ofschool hours. Out of school time programs are the core of theservice delivery system funded by DCYF. DCYF has adoptedthe youth development approach for this work. Youthdevelopment principles emphasize the development andprovision of supports and opportunities for young people todevelop skills and a sense of safety, competence, usefulness,belonging and empowerment.

Quality out of school time opportunities provide their participants:

a safe, structured place while parents/guardians work the supports and opportunities that they need to become

successful, healthy adults learning activities that can complement the lessons of the

school day enrichment opportunities designed to explore themselves

and the world around them healthy physical fitness and recreational activities a place to have fun

Out of school time covers the wide range of programs thatpromote learning, take place outside of regular school hours andenhance the cognitive, social, physical, artistic, and/or civicdevelopment of youth. Out of school time programs provide asafe, accessible space, operate at both school and communitysites and encourage youth to explore the world around them.

The benefits of quality out of school time programs are many.Children who experience quality programs have strong socialnetworks and perform better in school, and are less likely to getinto trouble. Parents and guardians are able to work with theknowledge that their children are safe and supported. This isespecially true during the summer. Because each child andfamily is different, it is essential to have a diversity of out ofschool time program options available in neighborhoods and city-wide.


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San Francisco is home to vast array and diversity of out of schooltime programs for youth. The overall system of out of schooltime services is hard to quantify because many opportunities areprivately provided and funded. Many parents privately pay forservices and foundations invest heavily in youth development

programs. The public sectors portion of these services is verysignificant.

In the 20052006 budget year, 12 City departments and SFUSDsupported out of school time programs representing spending

just over $49 million dollars. 90% of out of school time programsare provided by four major entities. The Recreation and ParksDepartment is the single largest funder of out of school timeactivities providing 31% of the investment for sports, recreation,latchkey, and summer camp programs. DCYF is the secondlargest funder of out of school time programs (27%) through itsweb of funded community-based agencies who provide a variety

of programs and opportunities. The School Health ProgramsDepartment of SFUSD is the third largest provider of out ofschool time services (nearly 17%). The Library is also a systemwhich actively supports the growth and development of youthduring the out of school time hours with a multitude of childrensprogramming, clubs, homework help and activities (15% of out ofschool time spending).

Nine additional City departments provide the balance of out ofschool time investment (10%).

San Franciscos system of out of school time services is vast,

comprised of public and private programs, and has much to offeryouth and parents. Yet this host of programs and options is not acoordinated system. San Francisco has many assets on whichto build and is at a stage identified by a recent, national researchreport on afterschool programs:

The programs constitute, in most places, a patchwork ofindependent efforts cobbled together by individualneighborhoods and schools, funded by a hodgepodge of oftenunrelated grants and contracts, and certified or evaluated by nosingle authority.iv

Recent focus groups with 200 parents from 9 schools identifiedafterschool programming as a top parent priority. Many parentssaid that the afterschool programs at their schools were of poorquality, unavailable, or failed to provide kids with the homeworksupport and enrichment activities they needed.v

In San Francisco, out of school time planning and programmingis ripe for more active, creative, and integrated collaboration inorder to: increase funding for, and availability of, programs;


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broker enrichment opportunities city-wide; ensure programofferings meet standards of quality; and centralize information soparents and youth are informed about the diversity of optionsavailable.

A system-wide approach to providing out of school time services

is underway with San Franciscos newly formed Afterschool forAll Initiative. Sparked with a policy pledge made by Mayor GavinNewsom in October 2005, Afterschool for All is a collaboration ofthe San Francisco Unified School District, the City of SanFrancisco, foundations and providers. The goal of Afterschool forAll is to provide quality afterschool programs for all SanFrancisco elementary and middle school children who want themby 2010. Currently in its first year of implementation, Afterschoolfor All seeks to leverage $3 - $5 million in new state funding forafterschool programs through Proposition 49. Implementation ofAfterschool for All will be the major focus of DCYFs out of schooltime funding strategy for 20072010.

CommunityVoices:

Afterschool services were identified as a top priority in communitymeetings by community members in the Bayview, Richmond,Bernal Heights and city-wide. Parents and youth alike want adiversity of quality programming choices both at or near schooland in the community. Service providers voiced the need toallow diversity in programming, and identified great opportunitiesto improve enrichment offerings to youth. They requestedtraining and support to offer strong programs, conduct effectiveviolence prevention, and meet the needs of participants withmental health issues.

DCYFs FundingStrategiesfor 2007 2010:

DCYF will take a leadership role in forging a city-wide systemand continue its commitment to being a major funder of out ofschool time programs through grant making to community-basedagencies and continuation of major initiatives. Subject to furtherdevelopment, DCYF has identified the following key strategiesand tentative allocations in out of school time programming.

Strategy 1:Competitive Grantsfor High Quality 3

5 Day A Week Outof School Time

Programs Serving6 13 Year Olds

In order to meet the policy goal of universal access to qualityprograms by 2010, DCYF will expand funding available to meetthe operational costs of consistent, 3 5 day a week afterschoolprograms serving elementary and middle school children in avariety of settings. Priority will be given to programs with a

proven track record, multiple funding sources, and which meetDCYFs high quality standards for afterschool programs as wellas year-round programs.



for 1 2 Days A

DCYF will continue to fund enrichment activities for children andyouth in the out of school hours. Enrichment activities includeacademics, visual and performing arts, music, cultural awareness


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Week Academicand Enrichment

Programs

and understanding, sports and physical fitness, creativeexpression and other programming. Priority will be given toprograms with a proven track record, have multiple fundingsources, and meet aspects of DCYFs high quality standards forafterschool programs. Priority will also be given to programserving children and youth 6 13 and year-round programs.


Strategy 3:Teen Programming

Based on feedback from participants in community meetings,DCYF will have a specific funding strategy for out of school timeactivities exclusivelyfor older teens 14 17. This funding willsupport a wide array of recreational, cultural, academic servicesand safe evening activities (excluding youth employment) and willbe made available on a competitive basis.


Strategy 4:Summer Only

Activities

Summer is an important time to engage young people in safe,stimulating, developmental activities. Community-basedorganizations are an increasingly key part of the summerprogramming puzzle, as parents work more and longer hours andsummer school availability decreases. DCYF will allocate a poolof funding to support summer programs.


Strategy 5:San Francisco

Beacon Initiative

The San Francisco Beacon Initiative is a public-privatepartnership that promotes youth and family centers in our publicschools. The goal of the Initiative is to offer opportunities,

services and activities that promote the healthy development ofchildren, youth, families and communities. Eight Beacon Centersoperated by community-based non-profits and housed in publicschools across the City provide youth development opportunitiesbefore and afterschool, on weekends and in summer. Thecenters now serve nearly 7,500 youth and adults, every year.The Beacon Initiative is a broad-based partnership that includesthe San Francisco Department of Children, Youth and theirFamilies, the San Francisco Unified School District, communityorganizations, and local foundations, led by the Evelyn & WalterHaas, Jr. Fund. The Centers offer young people a vibrant array ofprograms focused on five different areas that are important to

their future: education, career development, arts and recreation,leadership, and health.

As community centers, Beacons are designed to be responsiveto the local needs and conditions of specific neighborhoods. Thecommunities ethnic makeup, organizational resources andspecific youth and adult needs shape the Centers operationsand offerings. Therefore, each has a unique personality and feel.


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DCYFs allocation for the Beacon Initiative includes a $376,000annual allocation for continuation of the effective Beacon CaseManagement program which provides intensive services to high-risk young people who attend Beacon programs. 2025 studentsat each Beacon site will be provided case management services,to reduce possible recruitment into gangs, sets, cliques, to be

hooked up into more positive, safe, and legal alternatives both inschool and afterschool in the community, and to develop apersonal care plan that would prevent greater involvement indisciplinary action at school and possible sustained contact withthe juvenile justice system.


Strategy 6:Rec Connect

Launched in December 2005, the Rec Connect initiative expandsrecreation, developmental, and fitness programs and activities infive key recreation sites in high-need neighborhoods benefitingthousands of children each year. Active collaboration between

the Recreation and Park Department and DCYF on the publicside, and community organizations and foundations on theprivate sideis the hallmark of Rec Connect. Rec Connectcollaborations will impact 5,000 children and youth per year.Efforts of the Rec Connect pilot will be formally evaluated todetermine increases in the number of children and familiesserved at each site, and improvements in the diversity ofprograms available. Selected through a competitive request forproposals process, Rec Connect sites [Bayshore/Portola Valley(Palega); Bayview/Hunters Point (Gilman); Mission (Rolph andGarfield); Western Addition (Hamilton); Sunset (W. Sunset)] willcontinue to receive public funding from DCYF 2007 2010. This

public funding will leverage $500,000 or more in private funding.


Strategy 7:SF TEAM

SF TEAM (San Francisco Together Education AccomplishesMore) is a program that partners schools and community-basedorganizations to provide academic support to San Franciscoyouth. The main goals of SF TEAM are: 1) Literacy andAcademic Achievement and 2) School-Community Partnershipsto support literacy development and academic achievement of allstudents. The program is currently in 16 elementary and 4 middleschools in each of the eleven supervisor districts in San

Francisco. SF TEAM defines expanded learning to includeprograms that are not restricted by time and that are not part ofthe schools core instructional activities. Examples includebefore and afterschool activities or special support programsoffered during the school day, and literacy-rich summerprogramming.



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Strategy 8:Technical

Assistance andTraining

Formal technical assistance and training is a key component tobuilding a system of quality afterschool and out of school timeprograms in San Francisco. Agencies to provide technicalassistance will be selected by a request for proposal process toin late 2006 and subject to performance, will be supportedthrough 2010. Key areas of technical assistance are: training;

neighborhood resource coordination; and peer mentorshipstrategies.



Building

Peer to peer support, organizing and advocacy are key to forgingan innovative, responsive system of out of school time services inthe future. DCYF will allocate resources to support field-ledinitiatives in the areas of afterschool and out of school time.

Allocation: $55,000


Staff is necessary to both effectively steward DCYFs investmentin out of school time as well as champion local system changesand advocate for more resources from the State and Federalgovernments. Positions include: Planner and Policy Analyst,and two Senior Program Officers.


DCYFs Role: Fund out of school time services.

Coordinate efforts with inter-agency partners, in order torealize the goal of universal access to quality out of school

time programs for all elementary and middle school childrenwho want them by 2010.

Change systems to improve the supply and quality ofservices, including advocating for more state and federalresources.

Collect and analyze data on the effectiveness of fundingand system change strategies.

Partners: Forging a diverse, responsive and high quality system of out ofschool time services will take active collaboration with major

providers. DCYF looks forward to increased coordination withthe San Francisco Unified School District, Recreation and ParksDepartment, Library, community-based agencies, andfoundations to expand and improve the quality of services forSan Francisco children and youth.

Expectations ofFunded Agencies:

Funded agencies will be required to meet minimum standards forout of school time, and will be supported in their efforts to reach


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high quality standards. In order to develop an effective andcoordinated system of services, agencies funded in out of schooltime will be expected to provide timely and updated informationabout services for resource and referral purposes; form linkageswith local schools to support effective alignment with school dayactivities; and with family resource centers and funded family

support agencies in their area in order to provide effectiveinformation and referral services to families. All out of schooltime programs funded by DCYF will be expected to be activeparticipants in the afterschool mental health program pilot as itdevelops. In order to ensure that there is a diversity of high-quality out of school time choices at the neighborhood level,funded programs will also be expected to collaborate with otherprograms in their communities.


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funding strategies can be improved to generate betterresults. First, young people need more opportunities to explorethe workplace and be prepared to make the most of a subsidizedemployment opportunity. Service learning and other careerexploration activities, and increased, quality job readinesstraining are key ingredients. Second, greater counseling and

transition services are needed to create a progression ofexperiences for young people within and across programs and tothe private sector. To achieve this, funded agencies should beresourced and held accountable for transition planning; that is,helping and supporting a youth identify their own next step and tomake sure that next step is taken. A critical component ofcreating a progression of work experiences for young people isforging opportunities in the private sector. Finally, the quality offunded services must be improved through implementation ofprogram standards, assessment of participant skill gains, andtracking of participants over time.

While San Francisco is home to many successful programs, anoverall strategy which brings together relevant players, setsstandards of practice, and proactively shapes policy islacking. Particularly needed are proactive strategies to forgeprivate sector and school day connections to community-basedservices providing services to youth. The Mayors Office ofEconomic and Workforce Development is poised to take thismuch needed and important leadership position.

CommunityVoices:

Youth employment was the top priority identified in communitymeetings in the Sunset, SOMA, Tenderloin and Western Additionneighborhoods. Young people want career exposure and work

to broaden their horizons, develop personally and make endsmeet financially. Youth employment is key for preventing high-risk youth from joining gangs, or entering or returning to thecriminal justice system. Service providers see DCYFs role as alead funder of subsidized youth employment, and identifiedopportunities to increase career exposure, increase transitionplanning, and forge connections to the private sector.

DCYFs FundingStrategiesfor 2007 2010:

From 2007 2010, DCYF will seek to align its funding and policywork with efforts to forge an overall youth workforce developmentstrategy. DCYF will continue and expand its core commitment toproviding high quality, subsidized youth employment

opportunities city-wide, with resources targeted to highest needyoung people. For maximum impact, job readiness training andprivate sector links will be improved. DCYFs funding strategy willcontinue a commitment to subsidized youth employment, whilecreating a broader continuum of experiences for youngpeople. Efforts will also emphasize increasing the quality andimpact of all services provided.


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Strategy 1:Service Learning

Initiative

Based on feedback from the community and Mayoral priority,DCYF will explore the feasibility of establishing a service learninginitiative in partnership with San Francisco Unified School Districtand community members. This allocation presumes six monthsof planning and up to six months implementation. Subject tofurther planning, the goal will be to establish a city-wide service

learning initiative. Future growth in the Childrens Fund may bededicated to fully funding this nascent effort.



forCommunity-Based

EmploymentPrograms

DCYF will continue to provide grants to community-basedorganizations providing youth 14 17 job readiness training,subsidized employment, and post placement transition services,including placements in the private sector, where possible.Priority will be given to agencies or collaborations which canprovide this continuum of services for a young person. Youthwith disabilities will be a priority population for these services.


Strategy 3:Mayors Education

and EmploymentProgram (MYEEP)

The Mayors Youth Employment and Education Program is a city-wide collaborative of 12 non-profit organizations that providesyear-round job readiness training, work experience, educationalsupport and youth leadership development activities to over1,000 youth from low to moderate income families each year.MYEEP serves predominantly youth with barriers to employmentsuch as high truancy/low school performance, involvement withthe juvenile justice system, residence in group or foster care,limited English proficiency, including youth who have disabilities,

are homeless or are teen parents. Services are provided through11 neighborhood-based organizations and one organizationwhich serves youth with disabilities city-wide. Youth receive pre-employment training, are placed with non-profit or public sectorworksites and work an average of 10 hours per week during theschool year and 20 hours per week during the summer.Additional trainings and support activities are providedthroughout the program.

Current members of the MYEEP Collaborative:

Bernal Heights Neighborhood Center serving outer

Mission/Excelsior Community Educational Services serving Chinatown/North

Beach CYC (Community Youth Center) serving Richmond/Sunset Horizons Unlimited serving Mission IT Bookman Center serving Oceanview/Merced/Ingleside Jewish Vocational Services - serving youth with disabilities

city-wide


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Morrisania West, Inc. serving Western Addition Potrero Hill Neighborhood House serving Potrero Hill Vietnamese Youth Development Center serving

Tenderloin/SOMA Visitacion Valley Community Center serving Visitacion

Valley Young Community Developers serving Bayview/Hunters

Point Japanese Community Youth Council (Fiscal Agent)

Evaluation has established MYEEP as an effective model forproviding job training and subsidized employment. DCYF willimprove on this established model through competitive biddingand collaboration.


Strategy 4:Youthworks

Youthworks is a city-wide program that enhances youthemployability skills and awareness of government careersthrough supportive and learning-rich internships in citygovernment. Annually, San Francisco YouthWorks serves over350 10th-12th grade students. A core element of the program isvolunteer career mentors, who provide educational, work-basedlearning experiences for each participant. This experience issupplemented by other program activities including: educationalactivities, pre-employment and career development training, on-going workplace monitoring, and leadership developmentopportunities.


Strategy 5:Workreation

The Workreation program is a unique City program designedespecially for teens ages 14 through 17. Participants work forminimum wage in a variety of recreational, aquatic, horticultural,administrative and athletic positions. Teens are provided theopportunity to develop leadership skills, problem solving, workingalong side others and community awareness. They develop skillssuch as safety awareness, job retention, program planning andimplementation, communication skills and first aid. Youth work for10 hours per week during the school year and 2030 hours perweek during the summer months. 2006 marks the 47th year ofthe program. All teens that are 1417 years of age and attend

school in San Francisco, live in San Francisco or have aParent/Guardian that works in San Francisco are eligible.Admittance into the program is highly competitive and based onhis/her application, interview results and background clearance.



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Strategy 6:New Directions

EmploymentProgram for Youth

in the JuvenileJustice System

New Directions provides employment and training opportunitiesfor youth on Probation by leveraging existing training andsupports and, where appropriate, bringing new ones to the table.Youth identified by the Juvenile Probation Department (JPD)are enrolled in enhanced programs provided by the MayorsYouth Employment & Education Program (MYEEP) or

Workreation, a city-wide work experience program operated bythe Recreation and Park Department.

Through the program, youth are assigned a worksite withsupervisors specifically selected to provide quality worksitemonitoring and coaching at park facilities and various non-profitorganizations throughout the City. Once enrolled, youth are alsoeligible for additional incentives based on the numbers of hoursworked and their performance in the program. Additionalenrichment opportunities include college field trips, communityservice projects, recreational outings and career exposureactivities. Skill building workshops addressing job readiness,

conflict resolution, communication, problem-solving, life skills andbanking/financial literacy are also offered.


Strategy 7:Funding for

School- BasedWorkforce

Development

DCYF values its participation and support of the School to Careerprogram of San Francisco Unified School District. DCYF willsupport a program in the County school system that providesinternships and training for some of our most vulnerable youth, oralternative school-to-career programming as needs evolve.


Strategy 8:Jobs For Youth

The community and service providers were clearyouthemployment needs cannot be met by the efforts of the publicsector alone and that links to the private sector must be forged inorder to employ youth today as well as ensure that education andtraining efforts are linked to the economic development strategyof the City. DCYF will look to improve outcomes of the Jobs forYouth intermediary and identify other strategies to create privatesector employment opportunities for San Franciscos youngpeople.



Building

Peer to peer support, organizing and advocacy will be key forforging high quality employment services and a city-wide,responsive system of youth workforce development. DCYF willallocate resources to support field-led initiatives in the areas ofyouth employment.

Allocation: $40,000


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Staff is necessary to both effectively steward DCYFs investmentin youth employment as well as champion local system changesto forge a youth workforce development system. Positionsinclude: Senior Planner and Policy Analyst, and Program Officer.


DCYFs Role: Fund youth employment, including career exposure, servicelearning, job training, subsidized employment, transitionservices, and private sector linkages

Coordinate efforts with inter-agency partners to leverageimpact and promote standards for programming

Change systems to move from subsidized youthemployment to a city-wide strategy of youth workforcedevelopment


Partners: DCYF is committed to inter-agency collaboration and partnershipwith community-based agencies, SFUSD, the United Way, andthe private sector to improve the youth workforce developmentsystem. Within the context of a city-wide youth workforcedevelopment plan to be led by the Mayors Office of Economicand Workforce Development, DCYF will focus on several keyissues. These include: promoting program quality standardsacross publicly funded agencies; forging a city-wide youthworkforce system that looks at the unique developmental needs

of youth 11 13, 14 17 and 18 24; invigorating local school tocareer services in partnership with SFUSD; and creating an arrayof educational and workforce options that respond to the uniqueneeds of San Franciscos youth, especially high-needpopulations.

Expectations ofFunded Agencies:

Agencies will be required to meet minimum standards for youthworkforce development and will be supported in their efforts toreach high quality standards. Funded agencies will be requiredto increase efforts to improve the quality of job readiness trainingservices provided pre-employment and to pro-actively work withyoung people to support them in identifying their next career step

as part of transition planning, with a particular emphasis on linksto the private sector. Agencies will be required to present plansfor how they will be part of a continuum of increasinglyresponsible employment opportunities for youth. It is anticipatedthat youth will not stay in one program for many years but willmove to higher level opportunities.


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Family Support

TargetPopulation: San Francisco families with children ages 0 17

DesiredResult:

All San Francisco families with children receive the information,resources and support they need to survive and thrive in SanFrancisco

Family support and resource centers (FS/RCs) ensure the wellbeing of families in San Francisco by offering an array ofservices, resources, and opportunities to assist parents innurturing and raising healthy children.

From Landscape Report of Family Support/Resource Centers inSan Francisco, August 2003vi:

A FS/RC is a center or a network in the communitywhere families are welcomed and program activities aretailored and implemented based on the unique strengths,needs and wants of the families and the community.Services are designed to be comprehensive and inclusiveand intend to supplement existing resources and servicesin the community.

Most FS/RCs develop organically in response to communityneeds, and thus take several different forms. These agenciesoften target their services to specific neighborhoods, or anidentity based community or, in some cases, both. Some

FS/RCs are quite new, while others have been a part of SanFrancisco for generations.

FS/RCs are staffed in many different configurations, by bothprofessional and paraprofessional staff as well as communitymembers as paid staff or volunteers. Common services providedby FS/RCs include information and referral; outreach; parentingeducation, classes and workshops; counseling; family-childactivities; case management; peer support; child abuseprevention or intervention; community development andleadership activities; food; financial literacy training; employmentservices; drop in or respite care; child care; emergency services;

and ESL courses.vii

FS/RCs are diverse in the types of services they provide, butshare a common approach to service delivery framed by familysupport principles.


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PRINCIPLES OF FAMILY SUPPORT PRACTICEviii

1. Staff and families work together in relationships based onequality and respect.

2. Staff enhances families capacity to support the growth anddevelopment of all family members--adults, youth, and

children.3. Families are resources to their own members, to other

families, to programs, and to communities.4. Programs affirm and strengthen families cultural, racial, and

linguistic identities and enhance their ability to function in amulticultural society.

5. Programs are embedded in their communities and contributeto the community-building process.

6. Programs advocate with families for services and systemsthat are fair, responsive, and accountable to the familiesserved.

7. Practitioners work with families to mobilize formal and

informal resources to support family development.8. Programs are flexible and continually responsive to

emerging family and community issues.9. Principles of family support are modeled in all program

activities, including planning, governance, andadministration.


Family support services are vital to the health and vitality of SanFranciscos families and for the City as a whole. A 2003landscape report identified 29 FS/RCs operated by 25 communityagencies, in each of San Franciscos Supervisor Districts.FS/RCs are both publicly and privately funded.

In the 2005 -2006 budget year, overall City fundingfor familysupport services exceeded $13.86 million dollars. The largestfunder of family support services is the Human Services Agency(56%) which targets its resources to low income and high-riskfamilies, with a combination of prevention and interventionservices. DCYF provides 23% of family support funding, followedby First Five San Francisco (20%). The Department on theStatus of Women and Mayors Office of Community Developmentcombined represent the remaining 1% of City funding dedicatedto family support services. Across these public agencies, a widerange of services and activities are currently characterized as

family support.

Families are central to the social and economic health of SanFrancisco, and focused family support strategies that help adiversity of San Francisco families survive and thrive areessential. Greater inter-agency coordination and collaboration isneeded to ensure that family support resources are used to mosteffectively benefit families. The Human Services Agency, FirstFive San Francisco and the Department of Children, Youth &


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Their Families have agreed to begin work to formally alignresources in order to ensure availability of family support servicesin most San Francisco neighborhoods, as well as city-wideservices for special populations.

Community

Voices:

Community members voiced the need for family support services

and parent education and support throughout San Francisco, andidentified a particular need of services for LGBTQ families.Service providers called for core funding to providecomprehensive family support services which meet programstandards for family support.

DCYF FundingStrategiesfor 2007 - 2010:

DCYF will work to coordinate and align its funding strategies withthe Human Services Agency and First Five San Francisco toensure an adequate funding base to provide high quality familysupport services responsive to family needs.

Strategy 1:

Competitive Grantsto meet the unique

needs of childrenexposed to

violence and theirfamilies

(children 0-5)

DCYF will fund direct services, training, support and systems

change work specifically geared toward addressing childhoodexposure to violence, integrating the success of San FranciscosSafeStart Initiative into our family support and violence responsestrategies. SafeStart was formed with a Department of Justicegrant, for which DCYF provided local match funding. Thepurpose of SafeStart is to break the cycle of violence which oftenoccurs due to childhood exposure. SafeStart: 1) providestraining and support to staff at family support points-of-servicewho provide early intervention and treatment to families withyoung children exposed to violence; 2) delivers early interventionand treatment services to children and families; and 3) conductspolicy advocacy and systems change work to promote

coordinated and effective responses to childhood exposure toviolence. This funding is allocated toward initiative leadershipand direct services for children and families. Recipients offunding will be required to participate in trainings, data gathering,systems change work, and service delivery team of SafeStart.



to Community-Based

Organizations toProvide

ComprehensiveFamily Support

Services

DCYF will move from a diffused approach of funding a wide arrayof family support activities and programs to a more focusedstrategy of funding agencies which can meet the family supportprinciples and our family support program standards. Working in

alignment with the Human Services Agency and First Five SanFrancisco, DCYF will seek to use its resources to ensureavailability of family support services in key neighborhoods andcity-wide services including, but not limited to, services forfamilies of children with special needs, homeless families, teenparents, and LGBTQ families.



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Building

Peer to peer support, training, capacity building, and leadershipdevelopment are key to cultivating an innovative family supportsystem which is responsive to family needs. Toward this end,DCYF will continue to support the Family Support Network.

Allocation: $40,000

Strategy 4:Staffing

Staff is necessary to both effectively steward DCYFs investmentin family support as well as champion local system changes.Positions include: Family Services Outreach Coordinator &Trainer, and Program Officer.


DCYFs Role: Fund family support services

Coordinate efforts with community agencies and inter-agency partners for maximum impact

Change systems to improve the scope and impact of familysupport services


Partners: Successfully raising children is both a family and communityresponsibility. DCYF values parents and guardians as theirchilds first and most important teacher. Extended communitiesand service providers are vital partners in helping parents nurturechildren. DCYF will continue to work collaboratively with our

funding partnersFirst Five San Francisco and the HumanServices Agenciesto both align funding and create policy andsystems change to improve the availability and quality of familysupport services provided by community-based agencies in SanFrancisco.

Expectationsof FundedAgencies:

Agencies funded in family support will be expected to formlinkages with local children and youth service agencies in orderto provide effective information and referral services to families.All funded family support agencies will be required to participatein trainings and service delivery team of the SafeStart initiative;and conduct community-based outreach and other strategies to

increase access to and utilization of services. Funded agencieswill be encouraged to participate in the Family Support Network.


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Violence Response and Truancy Prevention

TargetPopulation:

DCYFs violence response and truancy prevention efforts willimpact children, youth and families throughout the City with afocus on highly impacted neighborhoods: Bayview/HuntersPoint; Chinatown; Excelsior/Outer Mission; Mission; OceanView/Merced/Ingleside (OMI); Richmond/Sunset; South ofMarket; Tenderloin; Visitacion Valley and Western Addition.

DesiredResult:

All children and youth are safe within their families, schools andneighborhoods, attend school, and are able to thrive and reachtheir greatest potential.

Background: The fundamental work of DCYF is prevention. We do this byproviding high quality, positive activities for children and youththroughout San Francisco, especially in the out of school hoursand high-need areas of the City. We believe community-basedorganizations that provide services are core to healthycommunities, and we strive to support these groups with theresources necessary to produce a strong safety net for all of ourcommunities.

DCYF recognizes that preventative high quality services are notenough. Violence and truancy are two of the critical issuesfacing our children, youth and families, concentrated in a handfulof neighborhoods.

DCYF proposes a newly focused approach to addressing thecontinuum of violence, starting with our children and youth while

engaging with their families and communities. Far too manychildren and youth of all ages are exposed to violence in theirhomes, schools, and community.

SafeStart estimates at least 11,000 and as many as 16,500children are directly exposed to domestic violence incidents eachyear in San Francisco.ix Additionally, some children and youthare witness to homicides and gang violence.

Violence has permeated San Francisco schools. Children andyouth report witnessing fights or other violent behavior andcrimes on their way to school, around school, and afterschool.

Between October and December 2005, 190 violent crimes werereported to the San Francisco Police Department as havingoccurred near San Francisco Unified School District elementaryschools. According to the Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS)xand California Healthy Kids Survey (CHKS) for San FranciscoHigh Schools:

Twelve percent of responding students reported that

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