Who We Are & How to Join
The Family Services Alliance is a diverse group of 40 community-based organizations. We partner with public departments and private foundations to achieve quality programs, coordination of resources, and policies that support all San Francisco families.
Safe & Sound is a children’s advocacy organization that has served San Francisco and the Greater Bay Area community for 50 years with a mission to prevent and reduce the impact of child abuse, neglect and trauma. Safe & Sound has helped lead practices that have reduced the rate of child abuse in San Francisco by 65% and reduced entries into foster care by over 53% in the last 15 years. In 2021, we merged with the Center for Youth Wellness, the organization founded by the former California Surgeon General, Dr. Nadine Burke-Harris, to advance equitable and just policies to reduce the frequency of Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) and toxic stress. Each year, Safe & Sound reaches over 15,000 children, parents, and caregivers in our community through tangible supports, and comprehensive programs and services for children and families.
MNC’s mission is to serve as the bridge to hope and uplifting opportunities. At MNC Inspiring Success we strive to be Courageous, Trustworthy, and Supportive. Those words state our values and are also the lifeblood that moves each of us and makes us a unique and diverse community. We are proud to be among the most diverse non-profits in the San Francisco Bay Area. For us it is a lived experience.
Our mission “to serve as a bridge to hope and uplifting opportunities” is at the core of our passion for connecting with and serving people. We don’t see clients, agents, cases, and deliverables only. We see, feel, and live with people whom all of us at MNC are committed to inspiring and helping find pathways to success.
Our strategic planning sessions represent a period of immense growth personally and professionally for many of our staff and leaders. It allowed us to evaluate what the next three years are going to look like for us and what we can do now so we can better serve the people and communities we love to see thrive.
Please join us with your passion for our mission as we continue to promote growth, opportunities, provide guidance and leadership for all those we serve and will continue to serve for many years into the future.
The mission of Instituto Familiar de la Raza (IFR) is to promote and enhance the health and well-being of the Chicano/Latino/Indígena community of San Francisco. IFR provides health & wellness programs, & services targeting the San Francisco Latino community. We are committed to addressing the most difficult issues impacting our community, whether that is HIV, violence, trauma, or other behavioral & mental health issues. Our programs recognize the full spectrum of wellness, spanning a continuum of mental health, HIV related & social services, including health promotion & prevention, family support, early intervention, case management, violence prevention, comprehensive behavioral health services, and cultural activities and practices. The Chicano/Latino Family Resource System (FRS) collaborative consists of four agencies that provide linguistically and culturally appropriate services for Latino families throughout San Francisco. With IFR serving as the lead agency, other organizations participating in the Chicano/Latino FRS collaborative include: La Raza Community Resource Center, Mission Neighborhood Center and CARECEN. As part of the network of Family Resource Centers, the Chicano/Latino FRS combines the efforts of the collaborating agencies to develop a continuum of prevention, parent support, educational workshops and intensive case management services for families.
Founded in 1989, HPP is a nationally-recognized family resource center in San Francisco that empowers homeless and low-income families, particularly mothers motivated by pregnancy and parenthood, to find within themselves the strength and confidence they need to transform their lives.
Serving over 3,500 low-income and homeless families annually, HPP helps families become healthy, stable and self-sufficient. HPP focuses on the social determinants of health, supporting both parents and children in order to strengthen the whole family. With services ranging from emergency support to intensive case management, the agency partners with parents to address family needs during the critical years from pregnancy through kindergarten
The first agency in San Francisco to hire former clients as staff, HPP’s evolution is guided by the community it serves. More than half of HPP’s staff come from the community and/or are graduates of the agency’s Community Health Worker Apprenticeship Program.
La Raza Community Resource Center is a bilingual, multi-service, non-profit organization dedicated to meeting the social service, immigration, educational, and leadership development needs of low-income families and individuals. Our Mission is to serve as a bridge between San Francisco and Spanish speaking immigrant families with direct support and advocacy to ensure Latino and Indigenous immigrant communities can access resources, realize their power, and thrive.
La Raza’s Immigration team offers free and low cost services in a safe, confidential, bilingual space. Every year we help hundreds of clients achieve their goals. La Raza’s Family Resource Center also has trained case managers that work with parents and families going through challenging times. We connect families to different government and community resources, including mental health referrals, accompaniment to immigration hearings, assistance with school registration. Our Basic Needs Center helps service seekers apply and receive rental subsidies (ERAP), affordable housing applications (DAHLIA), service connection emergency funds, diapers, and feeds 20,000 families a year in our food pantry.
Wu Yee Children’s Services believes nothing is more essential than excellent child care and education for all our children, right from the start. Every day we partner with parents, as well as countless individuals and organizations across San Francisco, to provide a network that strengthens and connects a diverse, resilient community around our children. Because when we stand up for children, we stand up for one another.
Wu Yee Children’s Services delivers a comprehensive range of Child Development, Family, and Provider Services including Early Head Start, Head Start, and State Preschool programs, the Joy Lok Family Resource Center, Childcare Resource and Referral, Early Learning Scholarships, Childcare Provider training, and a food program for child care providers.
CARECEN SF empowers and responds to the needs, rights and aspirations of Latino, people who migrate and under-resourced families in the San Francisco Bay Area — building leadership to pursue self-determination and justice.
Rooted in its cultural strengths and inspired by the Central American justice struggles, CARECEN SF envisions our diverse immigrant community as thriving; where families prosper, build effective community institutions, and participate confidently in civic life.
We are an immigrant rights and advocacy organization that provides both direct services and advocacy to support the needs of our community members and work to implement policies that improve the lives of those we serve. We provide a range of services including, legal immigration services, family and youth support, and health education in order to strengthen families, promote integration and increase their wellbeing.
At Edgewood, we do what it takes to serve the mental health needs of the children in our community. Since our founding in 1851, we have been providing care and support to children and families in the Bay Area. Today, we are at the frontlines of the mental health crisis our children are suffering. Through centuries of service, we have continually evolved to guide our children and families back to a state of health and well-being. From stabilizing youth in crisis to providing for the hungry, from creating nurturing learning environments to supporting the entire family. No matter how big or small the need, we support children and families with the utmost care and attention. Only here at Edgewood do we provide a breadth of care and depth of experience, at the very height of compassion.
The Dr. Betty Shabazz Family Resource Center is a two-generational family support with members from all backgrounds, ethnicities, sexual orientations, and cultures. We have been in operation for over 25 years, providing the following services:
• Connecting student-parents to both on-campus and community resources.
• Connecting student-parents to academic support
• Workshops created especially for student-parents
• Events aimed at building community
• Case Management to ensure family needs are met
• Parenting information and support
• Trained Peer Mentors
• An annual toy drive for the holidays
• A child-friendly computer lab
• Free printing for up to 20 pages
• A supervised child activity room for drop-in and the Parent Exchange Program (PEP) gives student-parents limited free childcare while they attend classes, do homework, or need a break.
• Free diapers, baby wipes, and snacks
• Free feminine products and condoms
• Clothing Exchange
• And much more!
Please email us at frc@mail.ccsf.edu or give us a call at 415-239-3109 for more information.
The Bayview Hunters Point YMCA Family Resource Center is dedicated to empowering and supporting families by serving as a central hub for accessing local and citywide resources. Our mission is to strengthen families, build capacity, and provide opportunities and tools for them to thrive. Our programs are designed to be family-centered, strength-based, needs-driven, solution-oriented, and community-based, aligning with the YMCA SF’s core values.
For more information, please call (415) 822-9404.
FRCs offer a variety of services to neighborhood residents including family advocacy, case management, mental health services, substance abuse assistance, domestic violence assistance, housing assistance, support groups, parenting work- shops, weekly food distribution (via food pantries at OMI and Potrero Hill FRCs), emergency food & community events. In addition, each FRC offers job training, readiness, and placement services through our Service Connector program.
Our Family Coalition advances equity for the full and expanding spectrum of LGBTQ families and children through support, education and advocacy.
Gum Moon Residence Hall provides safe, affordable transitional housing and linguistically and culturally-appropriate support services for women who are survivors of domestic violence, sexual assault, and human trafficking. The agency also provides linguistically and culturally-appropriate comprehensive family support services for families with children ages 0-17 through its three family support centers in the Chinatown, Richmond, and Sunset neighborhoods. Our programs and services include: parent-child interactive groups; infant and toddler playgroups; after-school programs; weekend children’s art classes; Summer School; parent education workshops and support groups; curriculum-based parenting education (Triple P); parent leadership development; information and referral services; family advocacy; and basic needs assistance.
We offer a range of services and assistance to families in Chinatown and the surrounding neighborhood. Our support is categorized into basic, comprehensive, and intensive care, aiming to cater to the diverse needs of the community.
We provide family support services to prevent child abuse and domestic violence. We advocate for a better future for children, youths, and families by providing the necessary resources/tools to support the advancement of these families, and helping immigrants who are struggling through life to establish their lives in the settled country.
Programs include:
Visitacion Valley Strong Families (VVSF) is a collaborative of five non-profit agencies offering inter-generational services and providing much-needed support for under-resourced/under-represented families and seniors there. APA Family Support Services (APAFSS) is the lead agency. The other collaborative partners are Cross Cultural Family Center, Asian Pacific American Community Center, Felton Institute, and Project Open Hand. This collaborative located at 50 and 66 Raymond Avenue is the Visitacion Valley Community Hub. APAFSS operates a Family Resource Center in the Hub which is also VVSF’s headquarters.
Programs include:
Our mission is to provide culturally appropriate family support services to promote safety, wellness, and economic stability. We provide family support services to prevent child abuse and domestic violence. We advocate for a better future for children, youths, and families, providing the necessary resources/tools to support the advancement of these families, and helping immigrants who are struggling through life to establish their lives in the settled country.
Our core programs:
Asian and Pacific Islander Family Resources Network (APIFRN) is a collaboration of 20+ agencies providing family support services to Asian and Pacific Islander (API) families in San Francisco. APA Family Support Services has been a leader within APIFRN for over 25 years. This collaborative offers comprehensive care and support services for API families with children aged 0-18.
Partner agencies help the family function more effectively and foster a sense of family self-sufficiency and empowerment. Program services are driven by participants’ needs and are responsive in addressing these needs. Network parents play an important role in the design and development of program services and activities, serve as resources for each other, and advocate for themselves in the broader community. The network is culturally sensitive in terms of staffing skills, language capabilities, and geographical accessibilities.
APIFRN’s multilingual hotline plays a crucial role in providing support and resources for families and mitigating stress.
Epiphany Center has been serving San Francisco’s most vulnerable women, children, and families for nearly two centuries. Recognized on Newsweek magazine’s list as "one of America’s Best Addiction Treatment Centers," Epiphany Center is one of a very few recovery programs in the United States with a full continuum of care for women and infants.
Epiphany’s In-Home Services Program utilizes the evidence-based parenting education model SafeCare to provide home-based parenting and support to families with children ages 0-5 who are at risk of out-of-home placement. SafeCare providers work with families to improve caregivers’ skills in three areas: parent-infant/child interaction, child health care, and home safety.
Project Commotion’s mission is to foster healthy development in children of all abilities through purposeful movement, play, and family and community relationships. Our programs include: parent-child playgroups, movement classes for children and adults, an early childhood program, summer camp, school-based residencies, and parent/teacher education.
Project Commotion’s classes and camps are offered on a sliding scale; our early childhood program is part of San Francisco’s Early Learning for All program. Services are offered in English and Spanish.
A Better Way offers expert, trauma-informed Mental Health Services, including individual and family therapy, Intensive Care Coordination, rehabilitation services, and early childhood assessments. All of our referrals come from SFDPH – Foster Care Mental Health Agency.
We are dedicated to serving children and youth who are in – or at risk of entering – foster care. Our support, treatment and parent training helps these families overcome the impact of poverty, community violence, mental health problems, addictive illness and patterns of child abuse and neglect that put their children at risk. All of our services are designed to heal children, improve care-giving relationships, and increase families’ self-sufficiency.
LSS promotes stability and honors the dignity of those we serve by providing supportive housing services that lead to self-sufficiency. In San Francisco we provide that assistance through money management and supportive housing services for adults, seniors, transitioned aged youth, and families.
We honor as expertise the lived experience of survivors, incarcerated people, and their communities. Our programs are culturally responsive, trauma-informed, and rooted in Restorative Justice and the Arts. Our services are designed to meet the needs of people at any stage of justice system involvement, and include four key areas including transformation and restorative reentry programs, youth power and systems change.
The Women’s Building (TWB) is a historically women-led and community driven space on a mission to provide resources to recognize their collective power and self-determination. TWB seeks to advance the wellbeing of women and girls with special attention on subpopulations of women whose voices are most diminished by societal discrimination: Immigrant/Newcomers and LGBTQIA+ community. Today, The Women’s Building is an anchor institution in San Francisco’s ever-changing Mission District, welcoming 25,000 clients and visitors each year. They come to use our in-house programs and gain access to social services, attend workshops and meetings, take wellness classes, volunteer, hold celebrations, and deepen their community connections.
Hamilton Families’ mission is to end family homelessness in the San Francisco Bay Area. Our programs specialize in providing shelter and transitional housing to families in times of need, supporting the wellbeing of children who experience homelessness, preventing homelessness whenever possible, and quickly returning families to safe and stable housing throughout the Greater Bay Area.
Felton’s Children, Youth, Family, and TAY Division offers a wide range of services, including comprehensive early care and education, inclusion, and early intervention for children from birth to six years old, including those with special needs. Additionally, we provide outpatient behavioral and mental health services, as well as case management, for children and youth aged 4-21 and their families. We also offer comprehensive case management, educational and vocational support, health and nutritional services, and parenting education to pregnant and parenting teens up to 24 years old. Our goal is to deliver high-quality services that meet the highest standards of care and have a meaningful impact on the lives of those we serve.
Family Connections Centers provide community-driven, multilingual education and support programs to ensure children and families can thrive.
Offering a cultural and programmatic “bridge” to improve the quality of life for the family, our programs address a breadth of family needs, starting at infancy, developing through childhood and adolescence, coming full circle to adulthood and parenthood, and continuing through grandparenthood.
Over programs are provided in English, Spanish, Cantonese and Vietnamese.
Direct services include
The South of Market Family Resource Center (SOMA FRC) provides comprehensive multilingual support services to families with children ages 0–17 years who live in the South of Market (SOMA) neighborhood of San Francisco. Our goal is to strengthen families and the community by offering parenting education and support, and access to resources and opportunities.
All families living in San Francisco are welcome to attend our programs and receive our services free of charge.
Services are provided at our main FRC location (790 Folsom) and at our satellite sites at the Bill Sorro Community (1009 Howard Street) and Natalie Gubb Commons (255 Fremont/280 Beale), as well as other locations in the community that are convenient for families. All FRC activities include meals and child care.
For more information on any of our programs, please contact us at 415.820.3508. You can also follow us on Facebook to stay up to date on upcoming events.
External service providers can complete the referral form below in order to refer individuals or families to our programs. "
Sunset Youth Services is a relationship based organization that works relentlessly to support systems impacted youth, young adults and families. Our Family Success Coaches work individually with parents to assess needs, listen to challenges and set goals. A variety of classes, workshops, fieldtrips, and case management are available. If a family needs something we don’t provide, we’ll work with them to find what they need. Chinese and Spanish available.
SF Kids Collaborative is a locally led collective of families, self-advocates, providers, and agencies dedicated to amplifying the voices of families of children with special healthcare needs. Through centering family voices and building collaboration between families of children with special healthcare needs, providers, and local agencies, we strive to create a replicable impact model that improves lives throughout our city and beyond. SF Kids Collaborative is comprised of over 165 collective members including 20 families representing children and youth with special healthcare needs and centering experiences of Black/African American and monolingual Spanish and Cantonese-speaking families.
Since 1982, Support for Families of Children with Disabilities has provided critical information, education, and parent-to-parent support services free of charge to San Francisco families whose children have any disability or special healthcare needs. Our year-round services help over 2,000 families each year secure critical care for their children and empower them with the tools, knowledge, and support to help their children reach their greatest potential and thrive.
Families of children with disabilities frequently experience isolation, confusion, fear, and stress as they navigate complex social services, education systems, and healthcare systems that provide conflicting information or cannot meet their cultural or linguistic needs. Through parent mentor programs, case management, support groups, 1-on-1 support for service navigation, workshops, family events, and services at our Family Resource Center, we ensure all families have the support they desperately need and deserve.
Compass Family Services leads the way in helping San Francisco families facing homelessness secure stable housing and attain economic self-sufficiency and family well-being. We have been service innovators for more than 100 years, and 90% of the families who complete our housing programs achieve lasting success.
Offering culturally sensitive services to families including family case management, parenting, literacy and family engagement training, parenting workshops, family events and basic needs services. Services are available in English, Spanish and Vietnamese.
Now open MWF: 9AM-5:30 PM and T/TH: 10AM-6:30PM. Drop in hours: M-F 10AM- 2PM. Groups and programming offered mornings, afternoons and evenings (including virtually). Please call us at 415-674-6215 with any questions.
The Good Samaritan Family Resource Center’s mission is to help vulnerable families, including immigrant families, access needed services, develop self-sufficiency, and participate fully as members of the San Francisco community. Every day, we help striving immigrants and diverse families obtain the skills, support, and resources they need to overcome the challenges of poverty and displacement so, together, we can improve the world we share.
SafeStart is a city-wide collaborative with a mission to reduce the incidence and impact of violence on young children in San Francisco. Through this service, SafeStart, families receive case management services, engage in parenting or parent-child groups that strengthen the parent-child bond, and learn about the impact of violence on young children.
This service is offered free to families with a child 6 and younger, and available in English, Spanish, and Cantonese.
SafeStart is a collaboration of Safe & Sound, APA Family Support Services, Instituto Familiar de la Raza, and YMCA Urban Services.
If you are a family support organization in San Francisco, we would love for you to join us.
Opportunities for networking and peer learning.
Discounted Training Rates.
Amplified Advocacy on issues impacting families and the CBOs that support them.
Policy information and tools related to the family support field and family well-being.
Access to funding opportunities.
Collaboration opportunities with other family agencies.
Contact Ricardo Eugenio at ricardo.eugenio@safeandsound.org.
Q: What are membership dues?
A: Annual dues are based on organization budget size. Dues are $50 for under $200,000, $100 for under $1M, $300 for under $3M, and $650 for $3M and up.
Q: How often do we have meetings?
A: All member meetings are held quarterly, both virtually and in-person.
Q: Who is eligible to become a member?
A: Any San Francisco child- or family- serving Community-Based Organization that meets the state definition of a Family Resource Center.
Not ready to become a member, but want to learn more? Join our ListServ for great resources and connections.
We support and help develop our members through our member committees. Members are encouraged to participate on a committee, but it is not required.
Steering Committee
Responsibilities: The Steering Committee determines strategy and leads FSA priorities. The Steering Committee implements FSA’s mission, vision, annual goals, and Policy Platform. Steering Committee members are empowered to initiate rapid-response decision making for decisions needing a short turnaround.
Committee Member Benefits: Participation in the Steering Committee offers additional opportunities to engage in collective action efforts related to key issues impacting families and family support organizations. This includes meetings with local policymakers, such as members of the Board of Supervisors and city department leaders as well as state legislators and their staff.
Expectations: The Steering Committee meets once per month.
Professional Development & Community Learning (PDCL) Committee
Responsibilities: The PDCL Committee provides guidance and direction for trainings, focusing on member needs. The purpose of this Committee is to: (1) utilize informed best practices, define an organized vision for training for the family support field, and take related action; (2) evaluate participant feedback and revise evaluations to collect relevant feedback; (3) identify strengths and support among members; (4) learn from each other; (5) bring forward community voices; (6) review and approve training topics and presenters, recommend presenters for new/existing trainings, and share/highlight information; and (7) increase FSA participation and visibility.
Committee Member Benefits: Access to local, state, and national training experts.
Expectations: The Committee meets once a month to review training feedback and discuss any highlights or improvements that need to be made to future trainings.
Referral Working Group
Responsibilities: Explore tools for helping the FSA member organizations become more connected to one another and to other child- and family-serving systems for the purposes of better serving children and families of San Francisco. Our hope is to implement a technology platform that can: (1) Show up-to-date available services in the city as well as eligibility requirements, (2) allow us to send and receive referrals to these programs from a centralized platform as well as view the outcomes of these referrals (closed loop system), and (3) protect our clients’ privacy and allow them to trust that their information will be used in ways they consent to, particularly for undocumented clients.
Committee Member Benefits: Firsthand knowledge of the referral network technology options and the opportunity to meet with experts to learn about, evaluate, and make recommendations on platform use.
Expectations: The committee meets once per month.
The FSA is an active and committed membership group with a robust set of both long-term and opportunistic projects that keep our members leading and learning in the communities they serve. Current projects include:
We work to ensure the ongoing financial sustainability of family support organizations in San Francisco through local, state, and federal budget advocacy; increasing organizations’ ability to understand and draw down on local, state, and federal funds such as those through Medi-Cal reforms, Family First Prevention Services Act, and the San Francisco Student Success Fund; private fundraising; and representation of family support organizations in coalitions advocating for increased wages and contract support for the social services sector.
We are committed to increasing support for families throughout San Francisco by fostering collaboration among family-serving organizations. Our mission is to break down silos so families and children don’t get lost in the system and receive the comprehensive, timely, and compassionate care they deserve. By partnering with pediatric clinics, early childhood education centers, and public benefits providers, we bring services directly to families, meeting them where they are and when they need it most.
We promote high quality care to children and families in San Francisco through various capacity-building efforts, particularly training for staff of family-serving organizations so they are equipped to handle changing needs and incorporate best practices. We also support organizational capacity projects, such as developing methods to collect data demonstrating joint outcomes and providing financial support for infrastructure and staff development.
We use our collective voice to advocate at the local, state and national levels on issues that affect children and families. See our annual Policy Platform.