better yet, the more. i am working so our kids have the opportunity to enter into the job market and afford a home in the city they live in. thank you. >> thank you for those stories and sharing that. >> hello, supervisors. i appreciate this hearing and making the space to hear from the voices of parents who are struggling to survive and stay in san francisco. we handed out a report. in 2008,: released a report -- coleman released a report. in the report, we looked out the subsets by income.

we looked at four different level incomes for families in san francisco and found we believe all children have the right to secure future in their own city and our findings say that is not the case for all children and in particular, for two-thirds of children looking at extremely poor, low-wage working, and middle income families. who in 2000 made up 66% of san francisco families. based on the 2000 census. we're talking about families making less than 120%. this is in 2008 before the recent census numbers. we have not done their across tabulations for the 2010 census numbers. based on what we're looking at we can assume there is a lot of similar trends. we have found that middle-income families, defined as 80% to 120% of ssmi, are priced out of home

ownership. we have had conversations about that in the last couple of hours. we want to make sure the stories and priorities and policies of the city are not only focused on middle income families but are focused on extremely poor and low-wage working families when we are deciding what policies we are putting in place to try to curb family flight. these are the families who are in overcrowded and substandard living conditions. if they're lucky, they get this -- they get subsidized housing. this is the distribution of families with and racial and ethnic groups. when we're looking at those for your income groups, it was striking to find that -- those four income groups, it was striking to find the concentration by race.

there is a concentration of black families with and the extremely poor income group. a concentration of latino families with and low-wage working and white families with an upper income and asian families with a middle-class income. these are the lines of race and class in san francisco. >> are you planning to update this for the 2010 census? >> we have not done across tabulations for race and income for the most recent. what i am referring to is 2010 census numbers. if you look at the second half of the page, the number of upper-income children have increased by over 5000 in the last 20 years. other income groups of children have decreased significantly. this is based on the recent city

economist report that was done for the housing hearing a couple of weeks ago. if you look at the chart at the bottom, some of these numbers we have talked about. i can skim over them. we're looking at an increase in terms of the child population. the child population is becoming increasingly young, white, and wealthy. i think that before closing this and passing on to our executive director, i wanted to draw attention to the last for the third page. this chart is looking at by race with the change in the child population has been. we heard from dan kelly at hsa, very similar to what he is saying. every racial group has decreased except for white and mixed-race children. most shockingly, the african-

american population especially because of their lower numbers in san francisco. we would argue the city's policies and practices have contributed to this trend. coleman fought for the children's fund. we believe in open space in parks. those things will not be the defining factor for what keeps the family in san francisco if they are struggling to survive. when we're looking at economic policies, we have to consider families and extremely poor, low-wage working, and middle income families when we're making those decisions. thank you. supervisor farrell: thank you. >> i want to talk about key priorities. and key recommendations that we're hoping that will be considered here. move children out of poverty with a priority of the needs of

45,000 children growing up and 20,000 extremely poor and low- wage working families, part i is those first. invest in affordable. focus the vast majority of limited housing resources on building a four -- permanently affordable housing. invest in a secure future for 100,000 children with the priority being build affordable family housing, prioritizing poor and low wage working families below 80% sfmi. prepare all sfusd children for college and living wage work. invest in a stronger safety net for families and create concrete pads out of poverty and create jobs. as chelsea stated, it is important to note that while there has been economic

development policy initiatives, it is not focused on families and children in the city. when there has been policies focused on that, it has been targeted toward middle income families and not poor and low- income families. it is important to know that we need to figure out how to take into account all families, especially these poor and low- income households who are cleaners, who are folks that are in our hotel rooms, they are drivers to the buses, they take care of our children in the child care system. there cashier's and waiters. we highlight the tourism here, we need to figure out how to make these individuals for working hard every day, sometimes to jobs, to be able to live here and drive. we're interested in the mayor's job priorities. we will be advocating for job policy opportunities to include job access before -- for low-

income families including youth. while unemployment is improving for some, it is not necessarily for the black or latino communities. the unemployment rate has hovered around 20% for blacks and 14% for the latino community. we support solutions for today and tomorrow. there is a lot of talk about the high-tech industry jobs. even involving young people in those. what are the pathways to make sure that low-income and working families children and youth can get into those jobs, whether today or tomorrow? summer jobs are available often but they tell black and latino children and teenagers they are not qualified. there is no plan to help them get qualified for the upcoming next year. finally, we focus on education. it is a social justice issue. there has been talk about education, affordable housing, and jobs. we do not think that one is

better than the other. the focus the city needs to figure out of court -- a better relationship with the board of ed and make sure our children are qualified to go into college. veronica talked about, she is at cities college -- city college. it takes longer to get out. in closing, we hope this is not a one time opportunity to hear what the statistics are going on in san francisco but figuring out real, true policy solutions that can move and include the voices of communities of color that are most impacted. as someone who is new to the city, i am concerned on a regular basis, especially around the black families and if there will be any black families for my organization to organize in 10 years. thank you. supervisor farrell: thank you for coming and speaking for the stories. especially thank you for your time today.

we appreciate it. moving along, we have to folks left. -- two folks left. andrew, thanks for coming. supervisor dufty, we will do shortly. >> thank you. i am the director and co-founder of the san francisco families support network. the network is a membership based organization made up of the various stakeholders in the family support field. those include public departments, public foundations, and community-based organizations focused on supporting san francisco's families. our mission is to work collectively to achieve quality programs, coordination of resources, and policies that support all san francisco families. our vision is san francisco made by brand by healthy, strong, and

the first family supported by accessible, well coordinated, high-quality resources and services and by policies that value and promote their well- being. we could not be happening -- happy -- more happy about the fact you have called this hearing and we thank you for doing that. we as a family support network for all about coordination and collaboration. it has been said that san francisco does not so much a lack resources as it lacks coordination. hence, the need to work together and come together. which is where you found today. especially thinking before supervisors who were here today. -- thanking the four supervisors who were here today. all of you have records of supporting families which is key to the success of these initiatives. we want to thank kathrin stephanie -- katherine

stephanie. we are covering some points here. why families believe and what the network is doing. and talk about the success workgroup and talk about what remains to be done collectively. in terms of white families live, -- why families leave, the issue of family flight has been going on since the 1960's. families told us through city surveys, especially the ones conducted every two years. there are three main issues. the cost of living, the cost of housing, and the perceived quality of the public schools. those are the three top schools repeatedly mentioned by families. supervisor farrell: do you have those surveys done after -- year after year? >> we have so many that have been conducted recently --

frequently. you have heard organizations that have conducted data. we do not lack for services -- for sources or information. the issue of why so many families exit at age 5, at age five is when people are entering that schools or -- and they do not get their choices or they are uncomfortable and they leave. also housing. when your child is 5 years old, you need another bedroom by now. maybe you started to have another child at this point. your family is growing. that is where the housing becomes a squeeze which is why families leave around age five. those are the main reasons why 5 seems to be the tipping point. in terms of what the san francisco met -- network and its membership is doing, we are and

network of 61 different members. the majority of them are family support programs. family support programs support families. as because -- as basic as that is, it is fundamental to families succeeding. two of the most important roles, being a parent or partner or spouse, we received no training for whatsoever. maybe we are fortunate we had good role models. many of us were not. where do we find that support? especially if we are away from our extended families and striking out in a new city. how do we find that? family support programs are poised to help. that is why they are here. those most commonly are family resource centers of which there are 24. there are other programs that support families in critical, meaningful ways. such as parents for public schools, which supports parents to have an active role in their children's education.

we know empirically through data, national data, when parents are involved in schools, children and families do better. children, families, schools do better when parents are involved. another point to mention is that given that san francisco is a city of immigrants, many family support programs act as extended family for the families they are working with. for families who have now extended family here. they played a key role in bridging that gap and supporting families to be healthy and strong. the second point to mention in terms of what the support network is doing is our policy platform on promoting family economic success. all this can be found at our website at sfsfsn.org the policy platform focuses on this key area of promoting family economics assess. as we -- family economic

success. there was a gap in ones focused on the economic success. that is where our network came up with this policy platform which looks that supporting families economically through unit family support, two generations strategy. we're talking about supporting the parents to obtain the education and skills they need for jobs that provide living wages to support themselves and their families as well as we're talking about supporting the children to be well prepared for future of learning and learning. that is what -- why our policy platform is very broad, including school readiness to supporting the improvement of english as a second language education for the many immigrant families in the city for whom esl is critical in obtaining jobs that can provide living wages for themselves and their families. this policy platform which was developed five years ago, hard

to believe already, is not a document that lives on the shelves. it is actively implemented on a daily basis by the many stakeholders in the city who work on these issues. every year, we hold a forum in may. it will be a morning of may 18. save the day, which is the annual san francisco family's economic success forum that highlights and recognizes and awards the many people who have moved pieces of the platform forward in the previous year and highlights the pieces we plan to move in the coming year. that is the way to keep this alive. economic issues are not going away for families. we have worked on these issues before the economic downturn when the situation became more serious. another entity to mention, give credit for, and highlight their work is the work of the san francisco family economic success worker. this is a unique collaboration of public agencies, private funders, and nonprofits committed to improving the

economic well-being of families. the san francisco families support network is pleased to co-chair this with the office of financial empowerment. it is a public-private partnership that is working on advancing these issues around family economic success. this is no one department or organization's responsibility or band with a long period is a collective, collaborative effort that makes the difference. one of the products to highlight is the work we have done around promoting and identifying what are the various kinds of benefits and services that many families qualify for, that they did not know the qualified for. we have identified 14 of those and created an entire site certification program that aims to get different sites across the city prepared and certified with being able to provide family support and access -- in accessing these benefits. everything from child care to healthcare, food stamps, park

and rec scholarships. helping getting fat information in family's hands. we have trained 700 direct service staff on how to help families access these benefits. if you think about the impact of 700 staff working with thousands of families, this is critical. why does this matter? in terms of economic downturn, in terms of -- times of downturn, family stress increases. when family stress increases, rates of child abuse and neglect and domestic violence increased also. this is data that is clear and have been recorded time after time. family support programs were already prepared to help families address the challenges of being a parent and starting new families. there are prepared to help families navigate the economic challenges they also face. such that one parent showed up at the front door of the family research center saying, i have never been unemployed in my

life, where do i go? i do not have food to help my family. these are centers that were prepared to support them. in terms of what remains to be done, there are two points with like to make. consider referring the issue of family flight. as we know, families have free will. if they want to leave, they will leave. the goal is not to create a cage around the city and keep families here like zebras in is to provide what we would like to focus on is how do we develop san francisco as a world-class city for families? what does it mean to be a world- class city for families? it means doing well by the families who will here already. as well as being a place where people believe they can start a family. this is a place that will support and be a thriving place for them and their young ones. families -- and that families can move to. as we attract families that say this is a great place with resources and support services and a great quality of life i

would like my children to have. john avalos asked about assets. president chiu referred to millions of dollars spent. when we think about the resources, through programs -- 3 programs come to mind. preschool for all, a kindergarten to college, and the museum pass program. the family support network for -- worked for several years to create a family museum pass modeled after boston's program that is available to any family at the library where they can check it out and take their family to different museums during the week. all these three programs are in need-blind and accessible by all families. able to be accessed by all families. how many cities have programs like that? the fact we have these kinds of resources is amazing. the fact that we have 61

different departments and organizations focused on supporting children and families, there is a lot going on here. in terms of the second point, the second point is what san francisco needs. a clear city policy platform suit -- for supporting our families. clear goals, outcomes, david chiu mentioned to measure both. this is a clear focus for what needs to be done for our families and gives us that ability to be focused on what we need to do collectively. everyone being on the same page. linking together. when we look at other cities, this is something that is not [unintelligible] boston, the same land size as us and has a slightly higher

population, they started something called countdown to kindergarten and number of years ago. it is a model and a brilliant program on uniting the city around what does it take to get children ready for school? it is something that was brilliantly conceived to focus on what different sectors can do pray what can families do to get children ready for school, what can the city do to support children, what can schools due to be ready for those children and families coming to them? everyone's role was clear in this plan which was part of a large public awareness campaign that created an environment in a city that people were focused on how is boston preparing its children for school? this program, this initiative was so successful it changed into something called thrive in five. it is akin toou our first five

program. we already have these things that other cities took time to develop. how can we come together and look at what we can do collectively? that being said, the san francisco family support network books for to working with everyone to ensure san francisco is a city that values and promotes family's well- being. our children deserve no less. thank you. supervisor farrell: thank you for your comments. ok. supervisor dufty, thank you for being here. for those left, we have one more speaker and we will open up for public comment. thank you for taking the time to stick around. supervisor dufty: i will say my kid starts t-ball at 5:30 p.m.

i cannot stop without acknowledging supervisor elsbernd as a dad. we almost built puc headquarters without child care because the people who do the cost-cutting plans decided that was a great way to save money. i would encourage you to look carefully at everything that has the name transbay terminal on it. they do not have a very aggressive child care plan. i wanted to empower you both as dads to be active child care dads. we need more of them here. let me say that i am the director of housing opportunity partnership and engagement. our role and responsibility in working for mayor lee is to look at all our housing services whether they are shelter supported housing and looking for better outcomes for individuals and families. that live in those housing services provided by the city.

to the extent we do better by families in those housing services and enable those families to become more self- sufficient and successful. we are a city that is more welcoming of families of all incomes. what coleman has articulated is extremely important and i have talked about a black agenda for the san francisco and that is something i get to do in my role. we recognize where we -- we're not where we should be in terms of federal housing -- we're not where we should be. we do have great organizations whether it is the family support network for co -- or coleman or others. we have a great jobsno now program. we have to link so families can live to success. i think it is also recognizing there have been new directions

at the federal level around rapid rehousing and looking at what we have done in san francisco. the traditional model has been to take an evicted family and put that family into family shelter and to move that family into housing as is possible. no matter how great disservice is, the experience -- no matter how great the service is, the experience is breaking to families. we're trying to maintain some stock of housing so we can move a family directly in there and address their needs. i think being engaged and i want to commend you and your colleagues but particularly you for staying here without a doctor at this hearing because this is not easy. you are looking at it from what is not working because the numbers are not working in our direction. to a certain extent, being a politician, you have to champion what is working. you have to get the message out there about a city government that is in partnership with our school district and is providing

resources and i think doing an unprecedented job of supporting public education without trying to control the decisions made by that school district. that is something that is to be commended. what you are doing is using this hearing as another step on a path of trying to guide our city with the initiatives we have had like kindergarten to college and other things that speak to an aspirational city that wants to be welcoming to families. i do not think we have to put families against one another whether it is middle income, working class, families that are on the economic margins. this is not one pipe that will be carved up. this is something where we need to engage and get our faith- based institutions, i just had a meeting talking about getting churches more involved in supporting families that are at risk in a crisis -- and iraq crisis. this is a great endeavour that you have embarked upon. it is important to recognize the successes that are taking place and the ways in which we're

doing a good job. there is ways to be insisting that things like child care matter. 50% of the families that want licensed child care cannot get it because the capacity is not there. every day, you have the opportunity to ask our corporate partners that are making philanthropic investments. you have the opportunity to ask the government decision makers and to ask agencies who are coming here saying we need funding, to ask them to work with one another in a more coordinated fashion and that is what my agenda is. to focus in on the services we provide to do a better job. the advocates will tell you we do not have the size of homeless families we do in new york city. even from a proportional basis, it is smaller here and we ought to be able to do a better job. we have lost so much african- american population and that is bad, but we ought to be able to do better by those families. do better by those families. we have a commitment to change