Rules committee advances ordinance to create Department of Early Childhood

The San Francisco Board of Supervisors Rules Committee on July 25 voted to send to the full Board an ordinance establishing a Department of Early Childhood (DEC) as the successor to the Office of Early Care and Education (OECE) and First 5 San Francisco.

Supervisor Mirna Melgar, the ordinance cosponsor, told the committee the new department is intended to ‘‘have a unified vision, strategy, and outcomes framework to serve our city's youngest residents, our babies and our toddlers ages 0 to 5 and their families,’’ and to consolidate planning, funding and oversight intended to expand access to early care and education.

Melgar and Director Ingrid Mesquita said the consolidation is designed to strengthen the city’s ‘‘whole child, whole family’’ approach and to align state and local dollars. Mesquita described the effort as ‘‘an unprecedented opportunity to invest and build a robust early childhood system’’ and noted the city has set aside more than $71,000,000 for workforce compensation, benefits and recruitment and retention, and an additional roughly $40,000,000 to bring childcare subsidy rates closer to market levels and support access.

The ordinance would also convert the existing Office of Early Care and Education advisory body into an Early Childhood Community Oversight and Advisory Committee, clarify membership, terms and duties for the Children and Families First Commission, and direct the new department to provide administrative support to the commission. Melgar said the clerk proposed several non‑substantive changes now adopted by the committee, including a requirement that the commission meet at least four times a year and an attendance rule deeming certain seats to have resigned if members miss at least half of annual meetings.

Public testimony was largely supportive but mixed on implementation details. Savita Murthy of Tandem Partners in Early Learning praised the ordinance for consolidating services across roughly 400 partner classrooms and many family childcare centers. Parent Voices and Family Resource Center speakers welcomed the coordination but urged sustained family representation, transparency on spending and clear language access. One caller, Rachel Church, said the merger raised questions about ‘‘accountability, transparency, decision making, and which pot of money funds which program,’’ and urged protections so Baby Prop C funds are used as voters intended.

Chair Aaron Peskin offered the clerk’s proposed amendments and moved to send the ordinance, as amended, as a committee report to the full Board for hearing. A roll call recorded 'aye' votes from Supervisor Connie Chan, the vice chair in the roll call (as spoken), and Chair Peskin, and the motion passed to forward the amended ordinance.

The committee action advances the ordinance to the full Board for a hearing and further consideration of implementation details and any additional, substantive legislative steps needed to finalize the department's governance and operations.