Committee approves amendments to Our Children, Our Families Council ordinance and forwards to full Board

The Rules Committee on April 9, 2015 accepted a package of amendments to an ordinance implementing the Our Children, Our Families Council created by Proposition C and forwarded the amended ordinance with a positive recommendation to the full Board.

Supervisor (recorded in the transcript as Supervisor E) described the changes: the council’s overall membership was reduced from a proposed 18/18/18 structure to a smaller 14-member body to keep the group functional while remaining inclusive. The mayor and superintendent will serve as co-chairs, the mayor will appoint public members, and the Board of Supervisors and Board of Education may recommend members to the mayor. The ordinance sets a minimum of three council meetings per fiscal year and suggests initial working groups on education, health, safety and housing, with a data-driven approach to closing achievement gaps and tracking outcomes.

Multiple community speakers and stakeholder groups — including the Children's Funding Community Coalition, Transitional Age Youth advocates, the San Francisco Child Care Providers Association and the Youth Commission — expressed support for the council and for ensuring youth voices and clear performance metrics are included. Youth Commissioner Rosa Chen said the added youth seats will “make an impact on the decisions and the insightful comments” to help children across the city.

Supervisor Katie Tang moved to accept the amendments and forward the ordinance with a positive recommendation to the full Board; the motion was seconded and taken without objection. The committee instructed staff to proceed with the transmittal process so the council can be staffed and begin meeting.