Parent Voices is a parent led and run grassroots organization fighting for access to quality child care and health care for all children. We are the San Francisco chapter of a statewide organization.

Description:
Parent Voices is a parent led and run grassroots organization and our mission is to make quality child care and health care affordable and accessible to all families. We believe in working towards social change by developing new leaders who can advocate for quality child care and emerging issues. We believe in strong articulate parents who govern the policies of the organization and who will act with passion and resolve in reaching our goals.

History:
Parent Voices was established in 1994 with initial funding from the Jennifer Altman Foundation. It grew out of parents' demand to have their own voice on issues that affect the lives of their young children and families. In 1996, the need for a strong parents' voice became even more urgent with the passage of the Welfare Reform Act, which required parents on welfare to enter the work force.

An informal survey indicated that low-income working parents who are receiving subsidized child care fear that they will lose it because of the large numbers of people moving from welfare to work and requesting child care subsidies. Parents newly entering the work force, on their part, fear that they will have to settle for lower-quality care because of their limited income and marginal employment. In response to these and other concerns, Parent Voices offers leadership training, advocacy, and community organizing. Members of Parent Voices contribute their time, talent, and resources to increasing funding, improving quality, and providing better access to child care.

For 12 years, Parent Voices has worked effectively with other organizations to expand quality care and education for young children. Through letters, media appearances and interviews, special campaigns, dissemination of family budget profiles, and testimonies at legislative hearings, Parent Voices successfully pressured the Governor to reinstate $60 million dollars he vetoed in child care subsidies for fiscal year 1999-2000. In 1998 we sponsored a Senate bill which encouraged private businesses to partner with the State in investing in child care (this proposed legislation has been incorporated into the Child Care Master Plan Bill which unfortunately was shelved).

As a follow-up to a successful Parent Summit in September 2001 attended by more than 250 participants, parents planned an action urging the Governor not to cut the child care of thousands of families in California. As a culmination of the campaign, on December 5, 2001, Parent Voices held a press conference at the Governor's office where 9 media outlets were represented. An hour later, the Governor issued a press release saying that "No families will be cut-off. We found the money." That is $24 million dollars. In the past 3 years parents have persistently urged legislators to maintain child care funding for families transitioning from welfare to work (Stage 3 Program)and expand funding for other low-income families not on welfare.

In San Francisco, Parent Voices, in collaboration with other children's advocacy groups, urged the Mayor and the Board of Supervisors to increase subsidies for child care. As a result, starting in fiscal year July 1997, San Francisco has added $3 million in annual funding for quality child care expansion. Our members sit in the Public Policy Committee of the San Francisco Health Plan; two of them serve as consumer representatives to the Governing Board of the San Francisco Health Authority. At the state level, Parent Voices works with legislators to ensure that a parent representative is present on each county Child Care Planning Advisory Council. We were also represented at the State Advisory Panel of the Healthy Families Program.

Our Asthma Relief for Kids Project has been successful in advocating for teacher training on asthma, redefining or clarifying SF Housing Authority's smooth surface flooring policy for families with asthma and in cleaning up emissions of school buses.

Parent Voices works diligently to get its message out to the public. KQED, KPFA, CNN, PBS (the News Hour with Jim Lehrer), the Wall Street Journal, the San Francisco Chronicle, and the San Francisco Examiner, among other major media outlets, have carried interviews with Parent Voices members highlighting the challenges parents face in finding and paying for child care.

Contact person: Maria Luz Torre, Program Director, (phone), (email)
Main office number: (415) 343-3383
Office fax number: (415) 392-2399

Address:

445 Church St San Francisco, CA 94114 (See a map)

Web Site: http://www.parentvoices.org

Directions:

We are co-located with our host agency, the Children's Council of San Francisco. 445 Church St is between 16th and 17th Streets and right across Everett Middle School. We are 2 blocks from Market St and 4 blocks. . . (more)   Nearest Metro/Subway Stop: 16th and Church,   Walk distance (in minutes): less than 1 minute   Nearest Bus Stop: #22 and J - Church, less than 1 minute minute walk

Miscellaneous Information

Besides English, which languages are spoken at your agency?
	Cantonese, Japanese, Russian, Spanish, Tagalog, Vietnamese
What is the minimum age for volunteers at your agency?
	12 years ( Middle School &High School students)
Is your agency wheelchair accessible?
	Yes
Does your agency have the capacity to host groups of more than 10?
	Yes
Does your agency have the capacity to host groups of more than 20?
	Yes