Shelter Network is the San Francisco Peninsula's leading provider of services to homeless families and individuals. In January 2001, with the support of Prop 10 Children and Families First funding, Shelter Network launched a multi-faceted collaborative project to provide a comprehensive array of services to parents and children ages 0-5 years old. LFA is conducting a three-year evaluation to assess comprehensively the entire set of Children's Program services and service recipients— including families with children of all ages. LFA provides Shelter Network with assessment and technical assistance services to evaluate progress on process and outcome objectives as well as to build program capacity to collect, analyze, and report on information in an ongoing way for external requirements and internal program reflection and development.

With the reconstruction of its First Step for Families emergency shelter, Shelter Network of San Mateo County will incorporate a new, licensed child care center for children of homeless families into the facility. To assist planning for this new center, LFA conducted an assessment of the Haven Child Development Center and background research on best practices among child care centers serving homeless families. We are preparing a program and staffing plan, services integration plan, projected operating expenses, and list of long-term funding prospects for the new center.