BRODKIN TO SHOWCASE CHILDREN, YOUTH, FAMILIES MODEL
TO NATIONAL LEADERS

From the Mayor's Office of Communications

September 27, 2005

San Antonio, Texas - - Margaret Brodkin, Director of San Francisco's Department of Children, Youth and their Families (DCYF), will present A Model of an Office for Children, Youth & Families: The San Francisco Experience at the 2005 National Summit on Your City's Families.

"Margaret's participatory session will showcase San Francisco's impressive progress for children, youth, and their families," said Mayor Gavin Newsom. "DCYF, is a national model of a government office devoted to addressing the needs of its youngest citizens and their caregivers," Newsom continued, "and Margaret is the best person to share San Francisco's innovative efforts to make it a family friendly city."

San Francisco's innovative programs and initiatives include the Children's Fund and Children's Baseline Budget; a unique collaboration between the schools and city government; extensive locally-funded after-school programs; a local universal health care; a very successful youth governance arm; and a mandated planning process for children, youth, and family services. She will also discuss the recent innovations of the Newsom administration, including San Francisco's groundbreaking Earned Income Tax Credit, the only program of its kind in the nation. Brodkin will make the case that a centralized office in local government charged with promoting progressive child and family policy has a positive affect on entire communities.

The National Summit, in San Antonio, Texas, from September 25 to 28, is sponsored by the National League of Cities. It will be the largest-ever gathering of municipal officials who are working to improve the lives of America's children, youth, and families. More than 300 mayors, city council members, municipal staff, and representatives of local school and community partners will attend.

Brodkin earned a national reputation as a child advocate during her 26 years as the Executive Director of Coleman Advocates for Children and Youth and as a founding member of the Children's Fund Citizen's Advisory Committee. Gavin Newsom appointed her Director of DCYF last year.

Visit dcyf.org.

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