Agency Mission: Ending Poverty One Family at a Time.

FCS provides San Francisco's needy families with the services they need including: life-skills education and vocational training, placement & support services as they advance in their careers, comprehensive subsidized child care services, parent support services, fatherhood support services, and youth empowerment & pregnancy prevention programs.

Description:
FCS provides families with all of the services & support they need to prosper & achieve their dreams.

Our Infant and Child Development Program (ICDP) began providing California State Department of Education-subsidized, licensed child care in 1971. FCS also supports a network of home-based child care providers, the Family Child Care Network, bringing care to children in the city's most isolated, impoverished and at-risk neighborhoods. In 2002, FCS expanded ICDP to a new Center in Hayes Valley, located on the premises of the Hope VI low-income housing development; in 2003, our 2 ICDP Centers & FCCN served 125 children ages 6 weeks to 5 years old and their families as the largest direct service provider of infant care in San Francisco.
ICDP provides parents the freedom to remain employed and support their family, or to pursue vocational training and placement (our own LEAP program) or further education, all the while confident that their child is receiving the best possible care and developmental support. We are assuring the healthy early days of our city's next generation.

Parents love to watch their children grow, and we love to watch parents grow! FCS' Parent and Family Resource Center (PFRC) supports parents to meet their young children's developmental needs and in fostering parent-child bonding. PFRC offers monthly educational, supportive parent group meetings & workshops; families also take part in 1-on-1 case management & referral services as necessary. PFRC also manages a multilingual lending library and resource center for parents featuring books, toys, videos and continually updated literature on child development, family issues, etc.

Our Mentorship Program provides networking, community-building and other supports for child care providers throughout San Francisco's low-income communities. Through FCS' collaboration with the Citywide Asian Provider Network, the Hispanic Provider Group, and the African American Provider Network, participants work with experienced provider-mentors and receive language- and cultural-specific instruction and support, both one-on-one and in monthly forums, to improve the quality of care offered to children.

LEAP (Learning + Earning = Achievement + Power) is a 12-week intensive vocational and life-skills training program empowering and educating families to become self-sufficient in order to build a better life. Curriculum includes on administrative and clerical skills training, parenting skills development, personal goal setting and money management. Successful LEAP graduates are eligible for employment with one of several partner employers. Since 1996, LEAP has changed the lives of nearly 100 parents and their families.

Our Fatherhood Program works with single fathers and other male role models to improve relationships with their children. The Fatherhood Program employs a weekly support group setting and 1-on-1 mentorship to address personal goal-setting, legal and family issues, as well as understanding and improving their relationships and involvement with their children. Participants can also receive career planning and employment, and provides referrals to outside agencies and city departments as needed.

FCS' GYST (Get Your Stuff Together!) Program is a teen pregnancy prevention and youth empowerment program at Ida B. Wells High School that serves approximately 70 at-risk students annually. GYST educates, empowers and supports teens to gain control of their lives, set goals and make informed decisions about their future. GYST's curriculum includes responsible behaviors, academic & personal success, self-esteem and delaying/preventing pregnancy. As of 2003, GYST is now part of the required curriculum at Ida B. Wells High School. This year, FCS has added individual case management services for our teens and are already seeing the benefits of this one-on-one work.

History:
In 1889, philanthropist Charles Nelson Crittenton set out across the United States to found a family of homes that served women who were facing child-bearing alone. These homes were all named in honor of his own infant daughter Florence. Finding a similar institution already in existence in San Francisco (incredibly rare in those days!), he reincorporated the Pacific Rescue Mission as the Florence Crittenton Home. The Home's services evolved over the next 115 years in order to serve the needs of San Francisco's most needy families. In 1971, we opened the first of many Infant and Child Development Program (ICDP) child care centers. In 1973, to reflect the more comprehensive scope of the agency's services, the name of the agency was officially changed from the Florence Crittenton Home to Florence Crittenton Services..

Contact people:

Carol A. Larson, Director of Administration, (phone), (email) Brian Johns, Program Director, (phone), (email) Margaret Jerene, Executive Director

Main office number: (415) 567-2357
Office fax number: (415) 567-2476

Address:

840 Broderick Street San Francisco, CA 94115 (See a map)

Web Site: http://www.fcs-sf.org

Directions:

Florence Crittenton Services is located in the Western Addition, between McAllister Street and Golden Gate Avenue. The #5 Fulton bus stops at the corner of McAlister and Broderick - proceed north (up a small hill) 1/2 block.   Nearest Bus Stop: #5 Fulton, 2 minute walk

Miscellaneous Information

Besides English, which languages are spoken at your agency?
	Cantonese, Farsi, Mandarin, Spanish, Tagalog, Vietnamese
What is the minimum age for volunteers at your agency?
	Minors with adult guardians
Is your agency wheelchair accessible?
	No
Does your agency have the capacity to host groups of more than 10?
	No
Does your agency have the capacity to host groups of more than 20?
	No