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Sustaining a Public-Private
Partnership
The San Francisco Beacon Initiative is a public-private
partnership that promotes youth and family centers in San
Francisco’s public schools. At the initiative
level, partnerships among a broad array of stakeholders, including
city agencies, private foundations and community organizations,
provide governance through a steering committee and help leverage
resources to promote Centers’ long-term sustainability.
For the Beacon Centers, partnerships among community organizations,
schools, Beacon staff and residents strengthen ties to the
community and provide a platform for the delivery of quality
programming and services.
A Shared Vision
In the early stages of the Initiative, the planning council
realized that in order to achieve the vision of community
centers in schools that improve the lives of youth and their
families, there would need to be agreement among the various
stakeholders as to what the Initiative would accomplish and
who would be responsible for making that happen. The
Community Network for Youth Development (CNYD) — then
the Initiative’s intermediary organization — enlisted
the Institute for Research and Reform in Education (IRRE)
to facilitate the development of guiding principles that would
reflect stakeholders’ assumptions about the goals for
the Initiative and outline the steps needed to sustain the
Centers and achieve positive outcomes. A critical part
of this process was to outline the roles and responsibilities
of all stakeholders. The Initiative’s planning
council acknowledged that support from city and school leadership,
private funders, schools, communities and families were all
necessary in order for the Centers to thrive, making public-private
partnerships a critical component of the Beacon Initiative’s
structure.
Citywide Partnerships
Oversight of the San Francisco Beacon Initiative is provided
by a steering committee composed of representatives from the
San Francisco Unified School District (SFUSD), the San Francisco
Department of Children, Youth and Families (DCYF), the San
Francisco Juvenile Probation Department, the Evelyn &
Walter Haas, Jr. Fund (representing a collaborative of funders),
Beacon Center directors, lead agency directors and the Initiative’s
executive director. The steering committee sets policy,
oversees strategic planning, monitors site performance and
develops strategies for the long-term financial stability
of the Beacon Centers. This partnership between public
and private funders has enabled the Initiative to bring in
new resources, adapt to changing fiscal conditions, and advocate
for changes that lead to increased sustainability and efficiency
at the Beacon Centers.
A Diversified Funding Base
The Beacon Initiative’s funding streams illustrate the
value of stable core funding in attracting leveraged resources:
- Core funding for the Beacon Centers comes from DCYF,
primarily through tax set-aside revenue collected under
the voter re-enacted Children’s Amendment. The
funding is a three-year grant to the Beacon Centers.
- SFUSD provides substantial in-kind support for each Beacon
Center through the use of school facilities, as provided
for in a Memorandum of Understanding that specifies the
expectations and responsibilities of the Beacon Center and
a host school. Additionally, after-school funding
streams such as 21st Century Community Learning Centers
provide support for education and enrichment programs at
the Beacons.
- The Mayor’s Office on Criminal Justice, in collaboration
with the Juvenile Probation Department, provides funds for
a case management program at each Beacon Center to bring
prevention services to at-risk youth.
- Private foundations, led by the Haas, Jr. Fund, provide
funds to sustain the work of the Beacon Initiative in such
key areas as evaluation and strategic planning, as well
as targeted grants to encourage innovation at Beacon Centers.
At the Initiative level, a strong focus on accountability
has helped to sustain the commitment of both the public and
private sector stakeholders during a period of retrenchment
in both the private and public sectors. The implementation
of the Beacon Quality Standards in 2003, as well as an ongoing
evaluation process to measure each Center’s progress
in meeting the standards, has helped to reinforce broad citywide
support. To quote Mayor Gavin Newsom: “I
look to the Beacons to set a standard of excellence and quality
for youth development programs citywide.”
Partnerships in the Schools
and Communities
The Initiative’s founders envisioned Beacon Centers
as hubs of activity for the community, located in the schools.
Nonprofit, community-based organizations serve as lead agencies
for each Beacon Center, providing administrative and fiscal
management and oversight of Center directors and staff.
Host schools and local partnering agencies provide facilities
and services that supplement each Center’s core offerings.
These partnerships enable them to reflect the needs and interests
of the host schools and surrounding community and to offer
a broad range of services and activities.
Community Ties
Beacon Centers’ lead agencies and partner organizations
have established ties to their surrounding communities and
can therefore facilitate a direct connection with youth, families
and community. This involvement spans such roles as
assessing community needs and making plans that draw on the
strengths and address the challenges of each neighborhood.
Youth, families, community members, school staff, partner
organizations and lead agency staff come together within community
councils to discuss the needs of the neighborhood and plan
activities and program offerings. This inclusive process
allows the Centers to be responsive to communities’
needs and promotes community ownership of the Beacon Centers.
A Platform for Collaborative
Service Delivery
Lead agencies’ ties to the local community allow them
to leverage support from local agencies. Each Beacon
Center works in collaboration with a number of partnering
agencies that provide activities in the core program areas,
in addition to services such as health care and transportation.
Agencies partnered with Beacon Centers range from community
service and volunteer organizations such as Americorps and
Experience Corps to faith-based organizations and foster care
agencies. The diversity of these partnering agencies
allows Beacon Centers to provide a wide array of activities
and services outside of what the schools and lead agency are
able to offer. Host schools provide Beacon Centers with
the space and facilities to run their programs. Additionally,
collaboration and communication between Beacon and school
staff allows for a continuity of service and care for students
participating in Beacon Centers.
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