We Are All in This Together!

A message from our CEO Gina M. Fromer

Dear Children’s Council community, 

We realize that the current situation with COVID-19 is impacting everyone, and we are committed to doing everything we can to reassure and support the families and early educators in the community who need our help.  

Our office is closed in accordance with guidelines from the City & County of San Francisco to “shelter-in-place.” However, our staff is still working remotely. We are working hard to come up with new and creative ways to continue supporting our community during this time. 

If you have a child care subsidy through Children’s Council
We’ve got you covered. We are working closely with the SF Office of Early Care & Education and with our California Department of Education partners to put temporary waivers in place that will allow families to use their subsidies more flexibly during this time of instability. Stay tuned; we anticipate good news on the way.   

Please be in touch with your Children’s Council Specialist. If you are not sure who your Specialist is, please call 415.276.2900. Our staff are answering phones during business hours and working diligently to respond to messages as quickly as possible. You may also email rr@childrenscouncil.org. 

Workshops and activities at Children’s Council going online
Strong social connections are a crucial factor for families and educators, and we know that virtual community-building can be an important solution. Many of our workshops are already being offered online and by phone and there will be more “virtual workshops” in the coming days. Keep an eye on your email inbox and on our website for the latest information. Learn more here.

Child Care Provider payments & information hub 
We have put a plan in place to maintain core business functions to ensure early educators will continue to receive their subsidy system payments in a timely manner. We are in close communication with our network of early educators to keep them abreast of the latest developments at the city, state, and federal levels related to guidelines and best practices. 

We know that the coming months will be tough on our child care business community, and we are ramping up to help them tap mental health resources, small business economic assistance, and more.

Our emerging plan to support emergency response workers and the wider family community  
We are collating and sharing emergency child care resources as fast as we can, and working to identify early educators who can care for children of essential workers, following newly issued guidelines by the City & County of San Francisco. 

We’ve compiled this list of resources for families with children at home, which you may find helpful as you juggle your new role as full-time educator, caregiver, and working parent. 

Support our COVID-19 Response
Children’s Council staff is responding to the universal child care crisis and rapidly changing environment by supporting our community of families and educators so they can buffer our children against the stress we will all continue to experience. You can help us continue to be as responsive, innovative and flexible as possible by donating to our COVID-19 Response Fund today. 

With the tremendous disruption to our daily life, we also see opportunities to build on our ability to connect and support our community. It is during moments like these that I am reminded what a privilege it is to support families and early educators in San Francisco. 

We will get through this together, and I truly believe we will come out stronger!  

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