San Francisco to Expand Subsidized Childcare Spots Citywide

Over 700 additional spots for free and low-cost childcare will soon be available in San Francisco, Mayor Daniel Lurie announced Thursday.

The seats were announced to meet increased demand for childcare, following an expansion in tuition subsidies that were rolled out earlier this year.

“Now what we’re really focused on is ensuring that you don’t just have a subsidy with nowhere to go,” said Kunal Modi, chief of Health & Human Services, at Thursday’s press conference at Wah Mei School, a bilingual preschool in the city’s Sunset neighborhood.

More than half of the spots will be reserved for infants and toddlers, which are currently some of the hardest to find, according to a press release from the city.

At the conference on Thursday, DEC’s executive director, Ingrid X. Mezquita, said that infant and toddler care is also “the most costly for families.”

Officials are focusing their efforts on key neighborhoods, including Sunset, Parkside, Richmond, Mission, Bayview, Portola, Mission Bay, Excelsior, Glen Park and SoMa, according to a press release.

In January, Lurie expanded free and reduced-cost options for early childhood education.

A family of four making less than $233,000 per year now qualifies for free childcare, and those making less than $311,000 per year now qualify for a 50% discount on their tuition.

Ben Wong, executive director of Wah Mei, said that with more families now eligible for this benefit, “more families are looking for care.”

The expansion comes after families expressed anxiety about being able to stay with daycare providers that they’d already built relationships with, and after providers raised concerns about how long it would take to meet the eligibility criteria to join the Early Learning for All network.

At the press conference, the city announced that they opened the application process early for new providers to join the ELFA.

Families who qualify for free childcare can begin applying now. Families who qualify for discounted childcare can apply online starting July 15.