§ 5.20

(a) Establishment. Pursuant to California Welfare and Institutions Code Sections 10480, 10485–10487, a local Child Care Planning and Advisory Council for the City and County of San Francisco (“Council”) is hereby established as an Advisory Body as defined in Section 5.1-1. The Department of Early Childhood shall provide administrative support for the Council.

(b) Purpose. The Council is established to provide a forum for the identification of local priorities for child care and the development of policies to meet the needs identified within those priorities. The Council shall advise the Board of Supervisors, the Mayor, the San Francisco Children and Families First Commission and, with their consent, the Board of Education and the Superintendent of Schools about child care issues. The Council will serve as a representative advisory and planning body to maintain, expand, and improve local child care services. The Council will provide links between government and the community, and will work to maximize the amount and impact of local, State, federal and private resources and funding for child care in San Francisco.

(c) Definitions. For the purposes of this Article XX, the following definitions shall apply:

“Child care” means all licensed child care and development services and license-exempt child care, including but not limited to, private for-profit programs, nonprofit programs, and publicly funded programs, for all children up to and including 12 years of age, including children with exceptional needs and children from all linguistic and cultural backgrounds.

“Child care provider” means a person who provides child care services or represents persons who provide child care services.

“Community representative” means a person who represents an agency or business that provides private funding for child care services, or who advocates for child care services through participation in civic or community-based organizations but is not a child care provider and does not represent an agency that contracts with the State Department of Social Services to provide child care and development services.

“Consumer” means a parent or person who receives, or who has received within the past 36 months, child care services.

“Public agency representative” means a person who represents San Francisco or a local educational agency including the Department of Early Childhood; Department of Children, Youth and their Families; Human Services Agency; San Francisco Children and Families First Commission; Department of Public Health; Recreation and Park Department; Office of Community Investment and Infrastructure; San Francisco Housing Authority; or other entities. (d) Powers and Duties. The Council shall have the following powers and duties:

(1) By May 30 of each year, and upon approval of the Board of Supervisors and the Superintendent of Schools, the Council shall submit to the State Department of Social Services and the State Department of Education the local

priorities it has identified that reflect all child care needs in San Francisco.

(2) To conduct an assessment of child care needs in San Francisco no less than once every five years. The needs assessment shall comply with all guidelines issued by the State Department of Social Services and consider, at minimum, the following:

• (A) The needs of families eligible for subsidized child care.

• (B) The needs of families not eligible for subsidized child care.

• (C) The waiting lists for programs funded by the State Department of Social Services.

• (D) The need for child care for children who have been determined by the local child protective services agency to be neglected, abused, or exploited, or at risk of being neglected, abused, or exploited.

• (E) The number of children receiving public assistance.

• (F) Family income among families with preschool or school age children.

(G) The number of children in migrant agricultural families who move from place to place for work or who are currently dependent for their income on agricultural employment as defined in Welfare and Institutions Code Section 10236, as that section may be amended from time to time.

(H) The number of children who have been determined by a regional center to require services pursuant to an individualized family service plan, or by a local educational agency to require services pursuant to an individualized education program or an individualized family service plan.

• (I) The number of children by primary language spoken pursuant to the State Department of Social Services’ language survey.

• (J) Special needs based on geographic considerations.

• (K) The age of children needing services.

• (L) Any other factors deemed appropriate by the Council.

• (3) To document information gathered during the needs assessment, which shall include, but need not be limited to, data on supply, demand, cost, and market rates for each category of child care in San Francisco.

(4) To prepare a comprehensive countywide child care plan designed to mobilize public and private resources to address identified needs and formulate priorities. The Council shall enlist community participation in establishing priorities and shall hold at least one public hearing prior to the development of, or any revisions to, the child care plan, during which members of the public can comment on the proposed priorities and the plan.

(5) To conduct a periodic review of child care programs funded by the State Department of Social Services to determine if identified priorities are being met.

(6) To collaborate with subsidized and nonsubsidized child care providers, county welfare departments, human services agencies, regional centers, job training programs, employers, integrated child and family service councils, local and state children and families commissions, parent organizations, early start family resource centers, family empowerment centers on disability, local child care resource and referral programs, and other interested parties to foster partnerships designed to meet local child care needs.

(7) To design a system to consolidate local child care waiting lists if a centralized eligibility list is not already in existence.

(8) To coordinate part-day programs, including state preschool and Head Start, with other child care to provide full-day child care.

(9) To submit the results of the needs assessment and the local priorities identified by the Council to the Board of Supervisors and the Superintendent of Schools for approval before submitting them to the State Department of Social Services.

(10) To report the result of the child care needs assessment, local priorities, the countywide child care plan, and any revisions thereto, the review of any child care programs, and any other reports or information gathered regarding

child care in San Francisco, to the Department of Early Childhood, San Francisco Children and First Families Commission, and the Board of Education.

(11) To identify at least one, but no more than two, members of the Council to serve as part of the State Department of Social Services team that reviews and scores proposals for the provision of services funded through contracts with the State Department of Social Services. The Council representatives may not review and score proposals from San Francisco.

(12) To develop and implement a training plan to provide increased efficiency, productivity, and facilitation of Council meetings. This may include developing a training manual, hiring facilitators, and identifying strategies to meet the objectives of the Council.

(e) Membership and Organization.

(1) Notwithstanding the term limits that generally apply to Advisory Bodies under Section 5.1-4, Council members shall serve a three-year term and may serve up to two consecutive terms, unless the Board of Supervisors and the Board of Education determine otherwise in conformance with State law. A part of a term that exceeds 18 months shall count as a full term; a part of a term that is 18 months or less shall not. Notwithstanding the preceding sentence, the current term of any person serving on the Council on January 1, 2027, shall count as a full term if the person serves more than 18 months of that term. Terms completed on or before December 31, 2026, shall not count as a term for the purpose of the consecutive term limit. Council members serve at the pleasure of their appointing authority and may be removed by their appointing authority without cause. Before making their selections, the Board of Supervisors and the Board of Education shall publicize their intention to select the members and shall invite local organizations to submit nominations. The Board of Education may delegate its responsibilities under this subsection (e) to the Superintendent of Schools.

(2) The Council shall consist of 25 members. The Board of Supervisors and the Board of Education shall each appoint 12 members. The Board of Supervisors and the Board of Education shall jointly appoint one member.

• (3) The Council shall be comprised as follows:

• (A) Twenty percent of the membership shall be consumers.

• (B) Twenty percent of the membership shall be child care providers, reflective of the range of child care providers in San Francisco.

• (C) Twenty percent of the membership shall be public agency representatives.

(D) Twenty percent of the membership shall be community representatives, who shall not be child care providers or agencies that contract with the State Department of Social Services to provide child care and development services.

(E) The remaining 20% shall be appointed at the discretion of the appointing agencies. (Added as Sec. 5.200 by Ord. 362-95, App. 11/20/95; amended by Ord. 118-99, File No. 990310, App. 5/14/99; Ord. 192-99, File No. 990879, App. 7/1/99; Ord. 31-00, File No. 000109, App. 2/25/2000; Ord. 6-03, File No. 020913, App. 1/31/2003; Ord. 49-10, File No. 091435, App. 3/19/2010; amended and redesignated by Ord. 99-26, File No. 260217, App. 5/29/2026, Eff. 6/29/2026)