FAMILY SUPPORT: Building a family-friendly city.

San Francisco can be a uniquely exciting place to raise a family. Yet the City has the lowest percentage of families raising children of any city in the United States. Families raising children comprise only 18% of all households. The highest priced housing market in the country is the primary factor pushing families from the city. Only 35% of the city’s families are able to own their own home. San Francisco is becoming less family-friendly as families struggle to survive in the city and increasingly decide to move elsewhere. The exodus of families threatens to transform San Francisco from one of the most diverse multi-cultural metropolitan areas in the world to a much more homogenous city.

• WHAT WE BELIEVE
  · Family should be defined as “those who share responsibility for raising a child to adulthood, regardless of age, sexual preference, or marital/custodial status. Families are composed of one parent, two parents, grandparents, foster parents, legal guardians, or from a need of mutual support.”
  · The decline in the family population negatively impacts the economic, social, spiritual and cultural life of the city.
  · San Francisco must develop more family-friendly policies and more programs and services that provide family support.
  · Family support services should build a sense of community among families, be flexible enough to meet the unique and changing needs of families, be inclusive of all family members, and provide linkages to other services and other parts of the community.
  · San Francisco can be in the vanguard in embracing diverse families.
  
  
• COLEMAN’S WORK TO SUPPORT FAMILIES INCLUDES
  · Creating and strengthening San Francisco Families United, a broad-based organization aimed at promoting family-friend policies.
  · Sponsoring an annual Family Fest – a unique event attracting thousands of families and offering information, civic engagement opportunities, entertainment and family fun.
  · Promoting funding for a network of family resource centers throughout the city.
  · Advocating for a local earned income tax credit for low income working families.
  · Advocating for the inclusion of parents in Healthy Kids, San Francisco’s universal health coverage for children.
  · Sponsoring regular trainings in civic action for parents throughout the city. Involving families in the electoral and policymaking process.
  · Advocating that family support principles be incorporated into all services for children, youth and parents.