San Francisco Youth Commission presents budget priorities; committee votes to hear and file

The San Francisco Youth Commission on March 19 presented a set of budget and policy priorities for fiscal years 2025–26 and 2026–27 to the Board of Supervisors' Budget and Appropriations Committee, urging sustained or expanded funding for youth voter engagement, school food and wellness services, affordable and educator housing, climate resilience and literacy, youth employment and youth-specific homelessness supports.

The commission’s chair, Jason Fong, told the committee the commission is “a body of 17 young people,” appointed by supervisors and the mayor to advise the mayor and Board of Supervisors. Fong said the commission drafted its priorities while acknowledging the city’s near $1 billion budget deficit and the changing federal administration, and that commissioners conducted extensive outreach to inform the recommendations.

The commission’s priorities included expanding in-school opportunities for 16- and 17-year-old preregistration and continued funding for youth voter outreach; reducing youth social isolation through funded youth events and programs; accelerating completion of SFUSD’s central kitchen and restoring the school food advisory program to improve school meals; and consistent funding for nonprofit in-school youth-development providers and school wellness centers, including multilingual and substance-use-trained counselors.

On housing, the commission urged expansion of educator housing, use of SFUSD joint-use land for housing development, and a local financing plan for workforce housing. The commission recommended improved processes for transitional-age youth (TAY) accessing homelessness services, studying youth-centered navigation centers, protecting rent control and expanding middle-income housing programs and bilingual resources for single-room-occupancy (SRO) residents. Commissioners cited an estimated ~1,200 unhoused young people citywide shown in their outreach materials and said that number may undercount the true scope.

Climate and transit recommendations included scaling electrification and public electric vehicle infrastructure, creating cooling and respite locations in heat-vulnerable neighborhoods (noting Bayview–Hunters Point, Chinatown and Treasure Island as high-risk areas), ensuring youth participation in updates to the city’s climate action plan, funding SF Environment’s education programs, and protecting the school tripper bus program and Free Muni for Youth in baseline budgets. Commissioner Harper Fortgang and others urged placing EV chargers near parks, libraries and community centers to ensure equitable access.

On public safety and youth services, the commission asked for youth-focused SFPD training, expanded SFMTA fare-inspector training and transit ambassador presence, continued funding for youth violence-prevention programs, gun buybacks and weapon-safety initiatives, reestablishing a Title IX student advisory group for schools, and legal and service supports for undocumented youth and families to reinforce San Francisco’s sanctuary-city commitments.

During the committee exchange, members thanked the commission for the outreach and asked about coordination with SFUSD and other boards. Fong and commissioners said they had communicated with SFUSD staff and that several commissioners are SFUSD students who share input; they also reported a recent meeting with an SFUSD commissioner. Committee members said they would share the report with the mayor’s office and other city boards and explore opportunities to present to bodies such as the SFUSD and SFMTA.

Public commenters who identified themselves as Youth Commission members reiterated priorities including climate resilience and Free Muni for Youth. Ava Orem, a mayoral appointee to the Youth Commission, said Free Muni for Youth “is an investment in our city's future” and urged it be retained in the SFMTA baseline budget. Other speakers called for workforce pathways, vocational awareness, and improved fare-inspector responsiveness.

Procedural actions: the committee voted to excuse Vice Chair Matt Dorsey from the meeting (motion made and seconded; recorded outcome: passed, 4 ayes, Dorsey excused). Later, Chair Connie Chan moved and Board President Rafael Mandelmann seconded a motion that “this hearing be heard and filed”; the committee approved that motion (recorded outcome: passed, 4 ayes, Vice Chair Dorsey excused). The committee closed public comment and adjourned.

The commission asked departments and supervisors to consider its recommendations as the mayor and city departments prepare the June budget. Many of the priorities are requests for continued or redirected local funding, studies of program efficacy, or interagency coordination rather than immediate new ordinances or appropriations.

Notes: dollar figures mentioned by supervisors included a recent school bond reported during the hearing as roughly $150–$160 million with about $22,000,000 noted for a central kitchen and school nutrition program; the commission discussed state and federal funding mixes for educator housing but recommended developing local financing options. The commission also referenced California’s EV fleet policies and a citywide youth population figure used in testimony (13,000 youth; referenced as 14% of the city's population in remarks).