Our History

• 1971 Patty Siegel, Martha Roditti, and friends start the Yellow Garage Playgroup and other child care services.
• January 1973 The Childcare Switchboard information and referral service begins, with Patty Siegel as executive director.
• 1973 Meanwhile, the Children's Council of San Francisco incorporates as a nonprofit, using the 4 Cs (child care coordinating council) model, with Ed Warren as executive director.
• 1970s The Childcare Switchboard receives its first grants from the Rosenberg Foundation and the Ford Foundation.
• October 1976 The Childcare Switchboard merges with the Children's Council of San Francisco to provide information and referral, technical assistance to child care providers, community coordination, and public policy work.
• 1976 The California Department of Education funds child care resource & referral and alternative payments programs in all California counties.
• 1977 Wu Yee Children's Services is founded as a second R&R in San Francisco.
• 1980 Patty Siegel establishes the California Child Care Resource & Referral Network.
• Early 1980s Helen Cagampang and Barbara Wein serve as executive directors of the Children's Council Childcare Switchboard.
• 1984 Martha Roditti becomes executive director.
• 1984 The agency receives funds from the Mayor's Office of Community Development to recruit and train providers, and from the Private Industry Council for child care subsidies for low-income parents.
• 1985 The Children's Council Childcare Switchboard has 22 staff, 11 Board members and an agency budget of $547,859 ($155 in contributions).
• Late 1980s-Early 1990s The agency manages federally funded child care subsidies through GAIN, Title IV-A At Risk, and Federal Block Grant, as well as state-funded alternative payments; and collaborates with Audrey L. Smith Developmental Center, Mission Neighborhood Center and Wu Yee Children's Services for recruitment of child care providers and subsidies for low-income parents.
• 1990s Children's Council is active in public policy work through the Starting Points Initiative, the Mayors Advisory Council on Welfare Reform, the Child Care Planning and Advisory Council, the California Child Care Resource & Referral Network, Coleman Advocates for Children & Youth, and numerous other organizations.
• August 1993 Linnea Klee becomes executive director of Children's Council. The agency has 35 staff working on resource & referral, child care training and support programs, child care payments, the child care food program, and various special projects.
• 1993 Children's Council celebrates its 20th anniversary.
• 1994 Parent Voices, a parent-run and -led advocacy organization, is established, with the San Francisco chapter housed at the Children's Council.
• 1995 The agency has doubled in the last decade to 50 staff working in eight programs.[1]
• 1996 Children's Council launches its website, www.childrenscouncil.org.
• 1997 The agency budget is almost $7 million, over 60 percent of which is in child care subsidy payments.
• 1998 Children's Council celebrates its 25th anniversary with keynote speaker Rob Reiner, a special award for Patty Siegel, and acknowledgement of 25 individuals who helped shape the agency's history.
• Children's Council begins to administer CalWORKS child care subsidies, increases in size by 40 staff in one year, and almost triples to 130 over the next several years.
• 2000 Longtime Program Director Jan McMillan retires.
• 2001 Children's Council initiates the Centralized Eligibility List and the therapeutic preschool, begins to use the CARE database, and distributes over $27 million in child care payments, with 53 percent going to license-exempt providers.
• 2003 Children's Council celebrates its 30th anniversary.
• 2004 The agency budget is $46 million, with 68 percent going out in child care subsidy payments.
• 2006 The city approves a six-year contract between Children's Council and the Human Services Agency to handle child care subsidies and other services at up to $270 million.
• Children's Council launches a new website.
• 2008 New ACCESS program provides child care for homeless families.
• Agency celebrated its 35th anniversary.

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[1] Child Care Payments, Child Care Support Services, Resource & Referral, Child Care Nutrition Services, Child Care Training and Development, Mental Health Services, Infant/Toddler Caregivers Project, San Francisco Early Childhood Information Systems Project.