Promoting Family Economic Success in San Francisco

Background  The Families with children are an essential part of San Francisco's social, economic and civic vitality. Yet, families have been leaving San Francisco in large numbers for decades. The number of children under age 18 in San Francisco has declined from 24.5% in 1960 to 14.6% in the lowest percentage of children of any city in the U.S.  Recognizing that the city's high cost of living is one of the top issues affecting family flight, the San Francisco Family Support Network developed its first Family Economic Success Policy Platform in 2007, and revised it in The platform supports family retention by promoting strategies for families' economic stability, advancement and success.  The Policy Platform was developed by the SFFSN Policy Committee. The diverse stakeholders on the Policy Committee represented Family Support providers, Family Economic Success providers, and advocacy organizations, and government departments.

What is Family Economic Success? Family Economic Success (FES) is the ability of families to secure the financial resources to meet their needs and achieve their goals for themselves and for their children within one or two generations. The unique perspective of the Family Support field is that Family Economic Success should be promoted with a two-generation strategy that includes both parents and their children.

What makes this platform unique?  The key areas articulated in the platform are systemic issues that need to be addressed at multiple levels. Each of the objectives, therefore, lists both the systems change actions and the SFFSN internal actions needed to achieve them.  Every item in the platform is something that the SFFSN and/or its many members are committed to move forward.  Each May since 2008, the SFFSN holds the San Francisco Family Economic Success Forum to focus the City’s attention on the economic situation of families and to report back on progress of the platform. This ensures public accountability for the platform’s implementation.

FES Policy Strategies Summary I. Helping Families Make Ends Meet  Objective 1: Increase access to public benefits and private money saving programs designed to help families make ends meet  Objective 2: Increase access to affordable child care and out-of-school time programs  Objective 3: Increase access to affordable family housing at all income levels

FES Policy Strategies Summary II. Helping Families to Build and Protect Assets  Objective 1: Promote family financial management through education  Objective 2: Increase opportunities for families with children to save for themselves and the next generation  Objective 3: Reduce or eliminate asset limits in programs that assist low-income families

FES Policy Strategies Summary III. Increasing Families’ Income  Objective 1: Ensure that workforce development policies, programs, and strategies are family supportive  Objective 2: Support families in reducing their tax burden and maximizing their credits including the Earned Income Tax Credit, Working Families Credit, Child Credit/Additional Child Tax Credit, and the Child and Dependent Care Credit

FES Policy Strategies Summary IV. Promoting Educational Opportunities for Families  Objective 1: Increase school readiness, reduce early chronic absenteeism, and increase summer learning in order to increase grade level reading  Objective 2: Strengthen expanded learning opportunities for school- age youth before and after school  Objective 3: Increase the quality of public education through increased family engagement  Objective 4: Increase access to adult education and English-as-a- Second-Language education for parents

FES Policy Strategies Summary V. Increasing the Coordination and Quality of Families Economic Success Efforts  Objective: Support the coordination and quality of Family Economic Success efforts

San Francisco FES Coordinating Council Founded in 2007, the San Francisco FES Coordinating Council is a collaboration of public agencies, private funders, and city-wide nonprofits committed to improving the economic well-being of low-income families in San Francisco. The FES Coordinating Council seeks to:  Improve cross fertilization of ideas and learning across key FES stakeholders  Identify effective strategies for FES  Leverage/bundle FES resources and initiatives  Identify gaps or ways to improve utilization of available resources or services Current membership includes: First 5 San Francisco Mission Asset Fund Mission Economic Development Agency San Francisco Family Support Network San Francisco Human Services Agency San Francisco Mayor's Office of Housing San Francisco Office of Financial Empowerment Tax-Aid United Way of the Bay Area

San Francisco FES Site Certification Program Vision: To create a network of FES hubs across the City so that all families will be able to access FES services. Goals: 1.) To ensure more thorough coordination of FES resources for San Francisco families 2.) To institutionalize FES knowledge and practice 3.) To strengthen the capacity of providers to provide quality FES services. How it works: Sites register for the Program and then staff successfully complete a series of six workshops that prepares them to support families in their journey toward financial success by helping them to access more than 14 different benefits and economic supports. Staff must pass the quiz provided at the end of each workshop with a score of 70% or better. The workshops include:  Helping Families Access Financial Stability Programs  Helping Families Access Private Money-Saving Programs  Helping Families Access Basic Needs  Helping Parents and Children Access Benefits  Enhanced Information & Referral Upon completion, sites receive signage to display at their location valid for 2 years and are listed as certified sites on the SFFSN website.

San Francisco FES Site Certification Program Green=certified, orange=in process

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San Francisco Standards for Promoting Family Economic Success  The Standards are designed to be used a tool for planning, providing, and assessing quality FES services.  They are intended to be supplemental to the California Standards for Family Strengthening and Support.  They may be used in conjunction with content standards for individual FES service areas such as the Financial Education Standards of the San Francisco Smart Money Network.  There are 4 Standards and 8 pairs of indicators of Minimum and High Quality in the following categories: Service Provision Information Referral and Collaboration Data Collection and Evaluation Quality Practice  Meeting the Minimum Quality indicators will create a FES program with a solid foundation. FES service providers are encouraged to strive to meet the High Quality indicators, in order to serve families most effectively.  The San Francisco Family Economic Success Coordinating Council is committed to helping FES service providers to apply the Standards in their work with families. It will continue to develop tools and resources in this regard.