Children’s Council 2021: A Year of Possibilities

Where were you on December 31, 2020? Political unrest and the COVID-19 pandemic made us all concerned about what was to come. Yet for all the challenges our child care community faced, 2021 was a year of possibility.

This past year was not without hurdles, but at Children’s Council we kept moving forward towards our vision: a San Francisco where every child is able to reach their full potential and thrive. Will you help us reach that vision?

For over 45 years, Children’s Council has been standing by our San Francisco community, even when times are tough, and this year was no different. Here’s a look at what we accomplished together in 2021.

We ensured our child care infrastructure remained in place

When the pandemic hit in March 2020, we immediately pivoted our most critical trainings – ones child care providers needed to keep their businesses open – to virtual trainings. Since then, we’ve offered hundreds of virtual workshops and services, supporting families in crisis and helping early educators stay ahead of local and state ordinances.

We launched our Financial Aid Eligibility Calculator

Our family support navigators guide families through a complex system to find the care they need. To streamline this process, we created our Financial Aid Eligibility Calculator to greatly reduce some of the stressful guesswork.

We piloted our Black Early Care Education Pipeline Program and African American Early Educator Policy Council

San Francisco had a shortage of child care even before the pandemic, especially for Black families. That’s why we successfully launched our Black Early Care Education Pipeline Program with forty participants; we’re now recruiting for a second cohort. We also formed the African American Early Educator Policy Council to provide both support and a platform for Black child care providers to have their voices heard by city leadership. This was only possible with your support!

We reunited with our community in person at City Kids Family Fair

Thanks to the hard work of our staff and community partners, we were able to safely host hundreds of children and families at our annual City Kids in person, with plenty of free resources and fun family activities. Did you join us? See if you can spot yourself in our photo album!

We celebrated the passage of “Baby Prop C“

After the passage of Prop C in 2018, the bill’s legality was challenged and held in limbo for three years, as it made its way through the local and state court system. In a thrilling victory for our community, the bill’s lawsuit was defeated by the California State Supreme Court, allowing our local government to access millions of dollars for stabilizing our city’s child care infrastructure.

We launched BizNest at Children’s Council

This year we created a new overarching program to truly elevate our work supporting our city’s early educators. BizNest at Children’s Council is our full suite of resources, support and trainings for child care providers.

We responded to the financial needs of SF child caregivers in real time

From thousands of emergency mini-grants to the equitable distribution of governmental financial supports, we’ve ensured that millions of critical dollars went directly to our city’s child care programs. Just in the past month (December 2021), we distributed over $5.2 million in government funds to over 1,800 child care programs.

What a year!

Whether you were at the front lines advocating for us or calling us for help, or if you understand how critical child care is to our community, we ask that you please donate. Every dollar counts, and we appreciate your support at this year’s end.

Best wishes for a healthy and joyous 2022!

Child care makes our lives possible

Margie Stokes has been a home-based early educator and a cornerstone of her community for over 35 years. Her daughter Josiane has worked side by side with her since 2013. Nearly all of the children they care for come from low-income families of color, so it’s never been easy to make ends meet. But when COVID hit, they truly worried that their business would not survive.  

Margie says, “Some of the parents lost their jobs, others were homeless.” Josiane says, “Parents were extremely afraid; they didn’t know if their children would be safe in a child care environment.”  

But just as we have for thousands of early educators for over 45 years, Children’s Council was there to ensure that Margie and Josiane could not only keep their child care business open and operating safely, but ensure that it would continue to serve generations of children in the future.  

Less than three weeks into the pandemic, Children’s Council launched virtual health and safety trainings, allowing hundreds of child care providers like Margie and Josiane learn how to re-open and operate their businesses safely. Over the past 18 months, we’ve continually partnered with the CDC and the Department of Public Health to keep our early educator community abreast of the latest guidelines.  

We’ve also sourced and distributed 15 tons of personal protection equipment and over 10,000 gallons of disinfectant through our weekly “self-serve” station on site at Children’s Council.  

Just as importantly, throughout the pandemic, Children’s Council has been vigilant in connecting our city’s early educators with critically needed grants and loans to offset financial losses from lower enrollment and to cover the increased costs of caring for children during COVID.  

Josiane says, “Some of these grants, I would never have known about, or thought we wouldn’t qualify for, and they said ‘Yes, you do qualify!’ Children’s Council cared so much for us. They checked on us all the time. They always made sure we had what we needed.” 

For the past 1 ½ years, our city has seen firsthand what we’ve been saying for decades: without child care, San Francisco doesn’t work.  

At the beginning of pandemic, many experts feared that 50% of our child care businesses might never reopen. Because of the tireless work by Children’s Council, less than 5% of San Francisco early education programs have closed due to COVID.  

But our city’s child care infrastructure is still extremely fragile, and we know that thousands of parents – particularly women in communities of color – have been unable to rejoin the workforce because they lack affordable child care options.  

Today, even if you don’t have children yourself, think about all the things you did that were made possible because someone had child care. From grocery stores to office buildings, from bus drivers to business owners, now more than ever, child care makes our lives possible. But we need your help!  

With your support, as we cautiously turn the page on the pandemic, we can focus on ensuring that our city’s child care businesses are more resilient moving forward. We’re committed to imparting knowledge, training and coaching that will help educators like Margie and Josiane refine their financial acumen, policies and technological skills to run strong businesses that support children and families for many years to come. 

Won’t you consider making a gift to Children’s Council today? Your donation, no matter how large or small, will make life possible for everyone in San Francisco.  

Announcing BizNest!

Children’s Council is excited to launch BizNest! BizNest serves as the umbrella for all our training, resources and services for established, new and prospective early educators.

Since our founding in the mid 1970’s, we have been recognized as a leading child care organization not only in the Bay Area but in the State. Now, with BizNest we can reach more providers in more California counties.

As part of the BizNest launch, we are proud to announce a partnership with our founding funders, The James Irvine Foundation, Blue Shield of California Foundation and Bainum Family Foundation, to launch a holistic study on the impacts of Children’s Council’s BizNest entrepreneurship training offered out of our Family Child Care Business Incubator. We know we are helping launch successful businesses, and we want to know how that impacts the children, families and neighborhoods they anchor. 

Together with business owners, we are helping San Francisco’s child care sector thrive. 

BizNest includes our highly impactful Child Care Business Incubator, which offers the following FREE resources to prospective child care providers: 

• A tailored, multi-lingual business start-up course that covers the basics of starting a family child care business 
• Advice and tools to navigate the licensing process 
• Coaching on how to access government funds to care for children who qualify for subsidized care  
• And more resources and services

Our Child Care Business Incubator has successfully trained and launched 50+ new child care businesses across 12 California counties since 2019, serving nearly 500 women micro-entrepreneurs who are black, indigenous or people of color (BIPOC).  

Now our FREE BizNest multi-lingual curriculum is available to all supportive organizations in California to launch and grow new child care businesses in their community! 

Special thanks to our BizNest Founding Funders:

Blue Shield of California Foundation

Bainum Family Foundation

SF Dept of Public Health Begins COVID Vaccinations for Ages 5-11

Today the San Francisco Department of Public Health began administering COVID vaccinations for children 5-11.

Here is the full announcement from SFDPH:

The San Francisco Department of Public Health (SFDPH), health system partners and pharmacies will begin administering the vaccines largely by appointment only starting today in select locations, with SFDPH-affiliated spots and four school sites initially reserved for children in highly-impacted neighborhoods where access is crucial. 

Demand for doses is expected to be high as an estimated 44,000 San Francisco children ages 5 to 11 become newly eligible. After the first few weeks, vaccine supplies are expected to increase and more evenly match the demand. For this week, SFDPH has received a shipment of 12,300 doses of the orange-capped pediatric version of the vaccine, which is one-third the dose of people 12 and older, and is distributing supplies to community and school sites, as well as independent pediatric providers. The larger health care systems and pharmacies are directly receiving separate vaccine allocations. Pediatric vaccine supply is expected to increase on a weekly basis.

We anticipate every child to have access to a vaccination over the next several weeks as we enter the busy holiday season. Parents and caregivers can make appointments using their health system’s instructions, or pharmacy websites. Other sources for vaccine appointments include the state’s vaccine booking website, myturn.ca.gov and the City’s website, sf.gov/getvaccinated, which will be updated with local information about appointments as it becomes available across the network of sites in San Francisco. 

Many of the larger health systems, such as UCSF and Kaiser, will begin to book appointments on Friday and into the weekend as well as next week. Scaling up, number of larger-volume sites across the City, including those at major health systems, have the capacity to administer 500 or more doses per day, while SFDPH’s four school-based sites are expanding to accommodate 250 vaccines per day to support the school community as needed. To ensure easy access for working families and children in school, SFDPH and health system partners will hold evening and weekend vaccination sites, and pop-up events at select locations.

For more information, including how to support children during their vaccine visit, see https://sf.gov/news/sf-ready-roll-out-covid-19-vaccines-5-11-year-olds

View this article on our Online Help Center.

City Kids Family Fair: Live & In-person

Are you ready for some outdoor fun? What about an opportunity to laugh and play as a family? If so, City Kids Family Fair is for you!

But what is City Kids Family Fair?

City Kids connects our community to Children’s Council’s mission: to ensure that all children reach their full potential.

City Kids is a fun, family-friendly event that showcases many of the early care and education programs and services available to San Francisco families through Children’s Council and many other community organizations. This event features free resources, giveaways, activities, entertainment and more!

As our CEO Gina M. Fromer said in 2019, “The first five years of life are a critical time for a child’s development. City Kids… is a wonderful celebration of families and children.” We invite you to join our celebration on Saturday, October 16! Watch Gina’s interview:

View Post

After taking our annual City Kids Family Fair online in 2020, Children’s Council will once again be hosting this event live and in-person. Above all, the safety of our guests is our top priority. Masks and social distancing will be required, and you must register in advance to enter.

We are excited to be fostering connections, connecting families to resources and putting smiles on children’s faces. We hope you’ll join us on Saturday, October 16!

General registration opens to the public on October 1, so sign up for early ticket access . Want more information about City Kids, like how to become a sponsor? You can learn more here.

Apprenticeship Program: Pipeline for Black Early Childhood Educator Career Development

Are you passionate about working with children and families?

Are you looking to advance your career as an early childhood educator?

Children’s Council of San Francisco is seeking African American individuals who are passionate about working with children and families, and who want to grow in Early Childhood Education (ECE) field.

This programming is funded by the Dream Keeper Initiative. www.dreamkeepersf.org

Help spread the word on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Instagram. Click here to download a flyer.

You can help:

• Increase the number of African American early educators in San Francisco
• Improve outcomes for African American children
• Build a strong support system for African American families, educators and young children

Participant benefits:

• Earn college credits in our accelerated program 
• Build a support system of African American/Black colleagues
• Receive tutoring and academic support
• Start off your career strong!
  • Connect with jobs at ECE center-based child care programs; salary ranging from $45-$55K annually; OR
  • Build your own Family Child Care business potentially earning $99K annually

Participants will:

• Attend all class meetings virtually*
• Work 1-on-1 with a mentor
• Qualify for a teaching permit through the California Department of Teaching and Credentialing
• Work cooperatively as a cohort to accomplish personal goals
• Actively support an improved ECE system that affirms and supports African American children, families and early educators

Course Topics participants will cover:

• Orientation to ECE Principles and Practice
• Introduction to Early Childhood Curriculum
• Child, Family, and Community
• Child Growth and Development

Click here to download a flyer.

More information:
Email: blackeceteam@childrenscouncil.org
Call: 415.276.2700

*Classes will be asynchronous with live zoom instruction.

This program is funded by the San Francisco Office of Economic & Workforce Development (OEWD).

Historic funding for ECE in CA, but we still have work to do!

Sign up for our budget and advocacy email alerts and engage with us on Facebook.

Children’s Council is proud to have been at the forefront of child care advocacy over the past year. Together with early education advocates across the state, we celebrate that California made historic investments in early care and education in the latest State budget.

But what does this mean for California families as they reenter the workforce and want to ensure their children receive a quality education? 

The new California budget makes groundbreaking investments in our Early Care & Education (ECE) system by:

(1) More than doubling the number of low-income children who can receive child care vouchers for free or reduced child care

(2) Providing critical investments to train and recruit new ECE educators to meet the needs of low-income children and

(3) Waiving family fees for the upcoming year. These investments will be huge for CA families with young children, if the implementation is successful. 

However questions remain.

The State has proposed adding an additional 120,000 new child care slots next year and another 80,000 by 2025. This is an admirable goal, but one that simply cannot be met without substantial investments in Alternative Payment (AP) agencies who will have to process twice as many vouchers as usual, as well as for Child Care Resource and Referral agencies that will connect families to early education programs.

Without AP startup funding to hire enough staff to administer the new child care vouchers, the State will be unable to disperse all the vouchers to families in need. Organizations across the state, like Children’s Council, need to quickly increase staffing in order to facilitate this major increase in child care voucher distribution work.  

Recently the Governor’s office reached an agreement with Child Care Providers United (CCPU), to raise educator rates to 75% of the most current (2018) Regional Market Rate (RMR).

We applaud both the 40,000 members of the CCPU for their tenacity and hard work, as well as our State leaders who came to the bargaining table, and we’re hopeful that this is the beginning of an ongoing discussion to bring our ECE workforce to 100% of the most recent RMR on an ongoing basis. These rate increases will allow early educators to earn a living wage, and attract new teachers to the workforce.

Currently, ECE educators make significantly less than K-12 teachers. Wage gaps between the set State rates and market rates will exacerbate the current workforce crisis for early education programs, particularly those serving low-income families of color. We will need additional quality educators in order to accommodate the increase in children in early education programs.  

It’s been a historic year for child care champions in California, but there is still much work to do! Children’s Council will continue to monitor the state budget process and provide opportunities for action to our advocacy network: Sign up for our budget and advocacy email alerts and engage with us on Facebook.

Join our team at Children’s Council!

Do you believe that every child should have the opportunity to reach their full potential?

Do you want to empower families and build the capabilities of educators?

Then join our team at Children’s Council of San Francisco and make a difference in the lives of thousands of children, families and early educators! 

This is an extraordinary time for early care and education, full of growth and rapid change, and we need innovative change-makers to step into impactful roles here at Children’s Council.

When the pandemic hit, our nation saw firsthand the critical role that equitable, nurturing child care plays for children, families and our economy. Local, state and federal leaders have prioritized unprecedented new funding for Early Care & Education; Children’s Council will play a pivotal role in ensuring that those dollars reach the families and child care providers in our community who need them most.  

Plus, Children’s Council is a great place to work! We are working hard to continually build an open, growth-mindset culture that embraces diversity, equity and inclusion as core values. 

Our offices are centrally located just two blocks from Dolores Park, near great restaurants and easy public transit access. We offer a hybrid remote/on-site work schedule and a generous, comprehensive benefits package, including:  

• Medical, dental, vision, life, long-term disability and pet insurance 
• Employer 401K matching 
• Tuition reimbursement
• Commuter benefits
• Generous PTO accrual: 4+ weeks annually, plus 12 paid holidays and birthday PTO 
• Professional development programs 

Most importantly, Children’s Council offers you the opportunity to work with a highly committed, engaging team of experts who will inspire and motivate you to do the best work of your career. 

Learn more about Children’s Council and our current open positions.  

CEO Gina Fromer Named CAPPA Board President

We’re thrilled to announce that our CEO Gina Fromer has been appointed Board President of California Alternative Payment Program Association!

Established in 1977, Cappa Advocacy is the State’s leading voice for public and private nonprofit agencies who provide child care subsidies to families, to ensure children keep learning while parents are earning.

According to Gina, “For over four decades, I’ve devoted my life and career to serving the needs of families in communities across California. As a native San Franciscan, born and raised in Bayview-Hunter’s Point, I know from firsthand experience how important quality, affordable child care is to our state’s working families.

Many years ago, when I was a young, single mother trying to start a career, I turned to Children’s Council of San Francisco for help in finding child care. Without that critical support, I would never have been able to finish college and break a generational cycle of poverty.

Now, as CEO of Children’s Council and CAPPA Board Chair, my life has come full circle and I have the amazing opportunity to support our collective membership in making a difference in the lives of thousands of children, families and early educators in this great State of ours.”

Read Gina’s full statement and her priorities as CAPPA’s new Board Chair.

Children’s Council Celebrates the Passage of Prop C by CA Supreme Court

Nearly three years after SF voters passed the landmark proposition, “Baby Prop C” will direct $146 million to the SF child care community annually

On April 28, 2021, the California Supreme Court rejected the final appeal to Proposition C (aka “Baby Prop C”) by the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association, delivering a major victory for children, families and early educators in San Francisco and paving the way for $146 million to be directed annually to the local child care field.

This marks the end of a three-year battle against anti-tax business interests by a broad coalition of local child care champions including scores of child care educators and parent activists, Children’s Council of San Francisco, parent-led grassroots advocacy group Parent Voices of San Francisco, Child Care Law Center, Early Care Educators of San Francisco, and city leaders including former SF Board of Supervisors President Norman Yee and Supervisor Jane Kim.

Prop. C was authorized by the City & County of San Francisco after the June 2018 ballot measure was passed by San Francisco voters by 51%; the City Attorney’s Office has defended the measure’s legality through the court system.

“This moment is the culmination of decades of child care advocacy work and a historic turning point for our city’s children, families and early educators,” said Children’s Council CEO Gina M. Fromer. “San Francisco’s child care community has rallied and campaigned for three years to get these voter-approved dollars to families and early educators who so desperately need them, now more than ever.”

Prop. C establishes a long-term annual funding stream to address critical inequities that have faced San Francisco working families and child care educators for decades, including:

• Clearing the child care “waitlist” for vulnerable children to access subsidized child care
• Establishing living wages for early educators in the San Francisco public child care system
• Expanding child care financial aid to middle-income families  
• Meeting other critical system gaps with through early care & education supports
• Dedicating 15% of tax revenue to San Francisco’s General Fund

Although Parent Voices San Francisco and parent-organization Children’s Council, one of San Francisco’s two child care resource centers, were not the litigants in the case, the nonprofit organizations were key partners in the shaping and passage of “Baby Prop C,” and filed a “friend-of-the-court” aka amicus brief, telling the story of the decades of community activism that led to the measure.

Since the passage of Prop. C in June 2018, approximately $433 million in tax dollars from large commercial businesses ($1M+ in size) have already been collected and held in an escrow account. The funds will now be released and distributed through the San Francisco Office of Early Education, which works in close partnership with First 5 San Francisco.

More About “Baby Prop C” and the Three-Year Grassroots-Powered Legal Battle

On June 5, 2018, the voters of San Francisco passed Proposition C (Commercial Rent Tax for Child Care and Early Education), which imposes a gross receipts tax (Childcare Tax) of 3.5% on rentals of commercial space in San Francisco with a reduced 1% tax on rentals of warehouse space. The proposition, which only needed a simple majority vote (50% + one) to pass, was approved by SF voters by 51%. Nonprofits and other small businesses were excluded from the tax.

However, a lawsuit was filed by out-of-town business groups led by the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association, arguing that the measure required a two-thirds supermajority vote to pass. One year later, a superior court ruling sided with San Francisco’s child care community, stating that a simple majority was sufficient. It was appealed, and on January 27, 2021 the appeals court upheld the superior court’s ruling. Children’s Council and Parent Voices San Francisco worked with Keker Van Nest law firm whose pro bono work on the amicus brief to the state supreme court rejecting the Jarvis appeal played a key role in clearing the way for the final passage by the California state supreme court.

This ruling means that the aspects of San Francisco’s 2020 Prop F Gross Receipts Tax Reform that allowed the City to tap into already-raised Baby Prop C dollars will be nullified and all funds raised and to-be-raised will be dedicated to early childhood education as per the initial 2018 measure.

San Francisco Child Care Advocates Sound Off on Prop C

About the coalition of community advocates who worked so hard for this victory, Sara Hicks-Kilday, director of Early Care Educators of San Francisco said, “It takes many of us, but it takes everyone coming together. And I want to especially call out early educators for the work they did to help pass Prop C, then to stand for Proposition C as it was sued in the courts. And then to ensure we could access the funds that were being held in the coffers when we really needed by helping to pass prop F.” 

Norman Yee, retired San Francisco Board of Supervisors President and lifelong early education advocate said, “Prop C is really a game changer, because it provides the resources to do so many of the things that we wanted to do for our early education system. It gets us to close to universal child care access for everybody, including middle income families, and it provides living wages for our early care educators.”

According to Ingrid Mezquita, director of the San Francisco Office of Early Education, “The reality is that without child care, San Francisco’s economy would have a very hard time recovering. Working families need quality, affordable child care to get back to work. The fight for Prop C. has been a challenge and an opportunity to show how child care actually contributes to the economic impact of San Francisco. We’ve been able to get the wider community to understand and appreciate that the small investment that they make through Prop. C fees, at the end, are a huge return on investment for our children and for our overall economic vibrancy.

”Longtime Parent Voices activist April Leung says, “As a working mother of three, I know firsthand how vital Baby Prop C is for families. Seeing parents struggle without child care, I was motivated to do everything in my power to get Prop C on the ballot. I even won the Parent Voices signature collecting contest. I was inspired to educate my community via phone banking, and at visibility events at farmers markets, grocery store parking lots, parks and the beach. Getting positive feedback compelled me even more to dedicate a lot of time towards these efforts, with my children alongside me, all the way through election day in June 2018.”

African American Early Educators: Your Community Needs You!

By Je Ton Carey 
Director of Black Early Care & Education Achievement 

Children’s Council is seeking African American early educators to join a new city-wide African American Early Educator Policy Council (AAEEPC). Support your community through collaboration and expertise sharing!

You can help us: 

• Increase the number of and retention of African American early educators in San Francisco
• Provide racial justice recommendations and improve outcomes for African American children  
• Build a strong early educator support system for African American families, educators and children

Participant benefits: 

• Subscription service to technical administrative supports 
• Monthly stipend of $150* 
• Opportunity to collaborate with peers and stakeholders while impacting change! 

Council members will: 

• Attend bi-monthly council meetings 
• Attend community meetings on behalf of the community  
• Work cooperatively to accomplish goals  
• Actively participate in efforts to support an improved early care system that affirms and supports African American children, families and early educators.  

Click here to apply for this exciting new initiative! 

You may email jcarey@childrenscouncil.org or call 415.343.3367 with any questions. 

*African American Family Child Care providers who meet monthly requirements and expectations.

SF Orange Tier: Latest Guidelines for Child Care

With San Francisco moving to the less restrictive orange tier this week, many of the guidelines and restrictions that have been in place at child care programs for many months have now changed.

Are you an early educator in need of the latest information for your program? Are you a family looking for child care so you can return to work? Children’s Council is here to help.

Check out these detailed articles on our Online Help Center:

For Child Care Programs:
What is the current guidance for child care group sizes and activities?

For Child Care Programs:
I’ve been open, but the guidelines keep changing. How can I learn what’s new or changed?

For Families:
What are tips to ensure my child is in a safe, nurturing, and clean child care environment during this time?

Have more questions? Submit a request through our Online Help Center and we’ll get in contact with you as soon as possible.

You can also give us a call at 415.276.2900.

A Message from our CEO

The terrible shooting in Atlanta this week has been on my mind, as I know it has for everyone at Children’s Council, particularly our Asian American staff members, as well as the countless Asian American families and early educators who we serve.

This act of senseless violence is so deeply troubling, and sadly, it is not a random incident. This is the latest manifestation of anti-Asian bigotry that has plagued our country for hundreds of years.

To our friends and colleagues of Asian American heritage: please know that you are in our minds and in our hearts always, but especially during this especially painful and frightening time.

And, for all of us, I offer a call to action: let us all seize this moment. Let’s channel our anger and fear into opportunity. Learn about ways you can stand up for and with our friends in the Asian American community. 

Take a moment to explore this expansive list of Anti-Asian Violence Resources. The statistics at the top of the page are startling, but there are concrete ways you can act now, particularly as an ally to the thousands of Asian American children, families and early educators in our community.

One resource that caught my attention was Young, Proud and Sung-jee, a free online children’s book on fighting anti-Asian racism during COVID-19. Why not share this book with a friend or family member who may be struggling to engage with children about this difficult topic?

Truly, we must all stand together in our ongoing commitment to fight racism in our community and in our country. 

In solidarity,
Gina M. Fromer
Chief Executive Officer, Children’s Council of San Francisco

EdSource: The Federal Stimulus Bill Impact on ECE

This week in EdSource, California’s pre-eminent source of education information, research and analysis , our CEO Gina Fromer leads the publication’s article on the Biden stimulus bill and its impact on early education in our state.

“Our early educator community has been desperately underfunded for decades. Even before the pandemic, most child care providers — particularly those in communities of color — lived below the poverty level, relying on government support and social service programs like Medicaid and food stamps to meet their family’s basic needs. 

Those inequalities have been magnified during COVID-19,” said Gina Fromer, CEO of Children’s Council of San Francisco, a resource and referral agency.

“The passage of the Biden stimulus plan is a significant investment in our early education community, and one that we are grateful for. These funds will go a long way to helping many child care providers survive the current crisis.”

Click here to read the full story.

Drop-in vaccines through 3/15 at SF General for eligible San Franciscans

Today (Wednesday, March 10) we received the following information from the child care team at the SF Department of Public Health. Please read details about current eligibility guidelines for the COVID-19 vaccine.

Dear Education and Childcare Partners:

San Francisco is offering free COVID-19 vaccinations to all eligible residents who live in the Bayview, Mission, Excelsior, Portola, OMI, Visitacion Valley, Tenderloin, and Treasure Island. Current eligibility: residents 65+ OR Phase 1A OR Phase 1B in these zip codes: 94124, 94134, 94110, 94112, 94107, 94102, 94103 and 94130.

Here are the details:

• If eligible, you can drop-in to Zuckerberg San Francisco General, Building 30 (1001 Potrero Ave) in the Mission every day from 9 am – 3 pm. No appointment is needed. There are no insurance requirements – you can be uninsured or have any insurance provider.
• As a reminder, current eligibility includes those who are 65 years and older OR those who work in the following types of jobs: healthcare, child care, education, restaurants and other food service, transit, and emergency services. For these drop-ins, you can be a volunteer in those fields or unemployed but looking for work in those fields.
• No one will be turned away for lack of proof of residence, age, or occupation but you may be asked to self-attest. You can read more here: https://sfhealthnetwork.org/covid-19-vaccine/.
• Zuckerberg San Francisco General will try to accommodate drop-ins after March 15, but efforts will be focused on vaccinating San Francisco Health Network patients in Phase 1C (people with disabilities or chronic disease) beginning on March 15, 2021.
• After two days of extending vaccines to drop-ins for eight priority zips, we can report minimal wait times and no one eligible was turned away for lack of vaccine.
• The Southeast Health Center (2401 Keith St) in the Bayview is open to drop-ins for the 94134 and 94124 zip codes but the smaller site cannot accommodate the same capacity as Zuckerberg San Francisco General.

Let us know if you have any questions and thank you for helping us get San Francisco vaccinated!

COVID-19 School/Childcare Team
San Francisco Department of Public Health

Happy Lunar New Year!

The Lunar New Year begins this Friday and ushers in the Year of the Ox.

According to the Chinese zodiac, people born in a Year of the Ox are diligent, dependable, strong and determined. They place strong values on family, have ideals and ambitions for their lives and are excellent planners. Sounds like the team at Children’s Council! 

Please join everyone at Children’s Council in celebrating our vibrant Asian community, including our staff and board members, early educators and families of Asian descent. 

At home with your kids? From DIY Lunar New Year crafts to fun books, celebrate the Year of the Ox with these kid-friendly activities.

While there won’t be an in-person parade in San Francisco this year, check out this SF Chronicle article that highlights activities happening virtually. 

Black History Month – A Message from our CEO

By Gina Fromer
CEO, Children’s Council of San Francisco

February 2021 is a Black History Month like no other!  

As an African American woman, a mother, a grandmother, and an education advocate, I have the opportunity every day – and this month in particular – to share my culture with others. 

Black culture is rich in history, but it’s a history that has often been misinterpreted or left entirely untold.  

My ancestors came from West Africa and landed in Virginia during the early Colonial Period. Anytime I talk about this with family or friends, a reserve of curiosity awakens within me: a desire to learn more about the myriad of stories about my African ancestry.  

Tracking down my family’s manifestations of resilience, self-determination, and bravery opens my mind to many of the factors that moved us from then to now.

As I reflect on our work at the Children’s Council, I think of the thousands of Black children and parents we serve and support every day – families who have similar stories to my own – and I reaffirm the importance of passing those narratives and testimonies down to future generations.  

Black History Month is a time to reflect, engage, and learn more about the amazing contributions made to this America. I love sharing family stories with my grandchildren, to let them know that they come from strong people. 

And so, I’m sending out this humble request: This month, learn new facts about African American historical figures or history and share them with others. 

Not sure where to start? Check out this great resource from the Library of Congress. It’s a treasure trove of stories, videos, and online events paying tribute to the generations of African Americans who struggled with adversity to achieve full citizenship in American society.

Over the past year, with the rise of the Black Lives Matter movement and a renewed sense of energy around the pursuit of racial justice and equity in the United States, Black History Month takes on special meaning in 2021.  

At Children’s Council, we know there is still much work to do, but Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) is a critical part of our culture. DEI is a key strategy in our #1 Core Focus Area, it’s part of our daily work, our hiring practices, and our public programs.  

I look forward to working with you to make our vision for San Francisco a reality: a city where every child is able to reach their full potential and thrive.  

We are all contributors to this amazing place called Earth, and the sooner we realize how our individual efforts, gifts, and accomplishments help to build the whole, the more capable we will become of inspiring subsequent generations to reach for greater heights.  

Sincerely, 
Gina Fromer
CEO, Children’s Council of San Francisco

Mayor Breed Announces $25 Million ECE Recovery Fund

Mayor London N. Breed today announced $25 million in financial assistance for San Francisco’s early care and education programs.

Licensed and cooperative early care programs may be eligible for grants of up to $15,000 as part of this new program. Early care programs can also apply for interest-free loans up to $50,000, repayable over the next five years.

All licensed early child care programs serving children age 0-6 in San Francisco are encouraged to apply: www.sfoece.org/covid-19/early-education-recovery- program/.

Click here to read the full press release.

Mayor Breed and former Board of Supervisors President Norman Yee created the Early Education Economic Recovery Program with funding from revenue unlocked by Proposition F.

In the announcement, Children’s Council C.E.O. Gina Fromer is quoted, saying, “Much of our city’s workforce continues to struggle during the pandemic now and long-term — restaurants, retail and hospitality, to name a few — and because our workforce relies on child care to get to work in the first place, we need to provide fundamental support to our child care system. This fund will help child care operators of all types remain open and viable, and helps our entire community get back to work.”

According to Mayor London Breed, “Child care providers have really stepped up during the pandemic, with many of them providing emergency child care and making significant modifications to the way they operate. This program ensures that safe, high-quality early care and education remains available to our City’s youngest residents during the pandemic and beyond, which will play a critical role in our economic recovery. 

Click here to read the full press release.

All licensed child care or license-exempt co-operative early care programs providing services to children age birth to six in San Francisco are encouraged to apply on the San Francisco Office of Early Care and Education’s (OECE) website: www.sfoece.org/covid-19/early-education-recovery- program/.

Our CEO Reflects on the Legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

By Gina Fromer
C.E.O., Children’s Council of San Francisco

As we approach Monday’s celebration of Martin Luther King, Jr. and prepare to honor his legacy, I wanted to lift up his message of peace and action.

These words have resonated with me in recent days as we experience the turmoil of our country’s rebirth into what I believe will be a more just, equitable, and peaceful future. In Dr. King’s words:

“Change does not roll in on the wheels of inevitability but comes through continuous struggle. And so, we must straighten our backs and work for our freedom.”

Children’s Council is working every day to further us on the road to that future. I hope you will join us on Monday to reflect on Martin Luther King, Jr.’s legacy, and to pledge action that will honor his call to peaceful change.

I also encourage you to talk with your little ones about Dr. King. It’s never too early to talk to your children about civil rights, and there are many resources out there to help you navigate the conversation.

I came across this wonderful list of teacher-approved videos about Dr. King appropriate for kindergarten-aged children and older.

Thank you for your ongoing support of our community’s children, families and early educators.

Women make up an astonishing 100% of US job losses in December

The COVID-19 pandemic has once again amplified the ongoing issue of gender inequality for women in the U.S. workforce. The Labor Bureau released its monthly statistics for December 2020 and the results were startling. 

Employers cut 140,000 jobs in December, a troubling increase in job loss from November. But perhaps more shocking is that the data showed that women accounted for all of the job losses, losing 156,000 jobs while men gained 16,000.

An even more disappointing reality for women of color: a separate survey showed that Black and Latina women lost jobs while white women made gains. 

According to CNN: “Black and Latina women disproportionately work in some of the hardest-hit sectors in the pandemic, often in roles that lack paid sick leave and the ability to work from home. As schools and day cares closed, many were forced to make hard trade-offs between work and parenting.”

C. Nicole Mason, president and CEO of the Institute for Women’s Policy Research said, “We don’t have the pandemic under control. Schools and day cares are still closing, and we know that’s what’s impacting women’s ability to reenter the workforce and sustain jobs.” 

As we often say at Children’s Council, “Without child care, San Francisco doesn’t work.” For more than 45 years, we’ve worked hard to ensure that early educators in our community are supported, so that San Francisco parents can work and their children can thrive. 

But now, as we reach the one-year mark of the COVID-19 crisis, it’s critical that everyone – especially our city leaders and business community – understands that child care is the key to getting our city and region back to work. 

Click here to learn about how you and your colleagues can join us in the fight for our city’s recovery.

Children’s Council Launches Child Care Financial Assistance Eligibility Calculator

By Claudia Quiñonez
Children’s Council Interim Director of Community, Innovation and Impact

Children’s Council is pleased to officially launch our Child Care Financial Assistance Eligibility Calculator, allowing families to go online at any time to learn about their child care financial assistance options and how to apply.

The beginning of the year is a perfect time to start preparing child care arrangements for the next school year. Learning if you qualify for child care financial assistance is extremely important, especially as parents may be returning to work or perhaps their living situation has changed.

To access our innovative new calculator, families can simply go to www.childrenscouncil.org/subsidycalculator and enter:

• Child’s date of birth
• Family size and income
• If family is a San Francisco resident or not
• If family has received child care financial assistance in the past or not

Based on the information entered, the calculator provides customized information on child care financial assistance options and steps for a successful application.

Although Children’s Council is not currently offering in-person services, our staff is always available to support families’ needs. Give us a call at 415.343.3300 or email rr@childrenscouncil.org.

If you need help finding open child care programs, visit our Mobile-Friendly Child Care Finder search engine.