The Sacramento County Children's Coalition is an advisory body to the Sacramento County Board of Supervisors. Established in 1994, the Children's Coalition is comprised of up to 25 volunteer members and paid staff. The Children's Coalition works on behalf of all children living in Sacramento County and their families. Each volunteer member serves a three-year term and fills a seat in one of the following interest areas.

Child and Family Health Out-of-Home Care Education Mental Health Economic Development Public Assistance Community Service Organizations Sports and Recreation Public Consumer Child Care Services

Child Abuse Prevention & Treatment Child Justice Housing Drug & Alcohol Prevention & Treatment Neighborhood Organizations Religious Community Violence Prevention & Treatment Youth

 

The Children's Coalition mission is: 

To assess community needs, evaluate existing services, and make recommendations to the Board of Supervisors and other policy-making bodies in order to promote the health and well being of children and families in Sacramento County. The Children's Coalition is an advocate for children's issues and provides policy oversight and community education about the needs of children and families.

The Children's Coalition receives funding from Sacramento County's Department of Health and Human Services and grant-making foundations such as the Sierra Health Foundation and the California Healthcare Foundation. 

In the year 2000, the Children's Coalition released the first Sacramento County Children's Report Card, released a Request For Proposal to award grant money from the Sacramento County Children's Trust Fund, and hosted a Children's Summit to rally the community around improving children's lives in Sacramento County. In 2001, we will begin work on the second children's report card, award grants from the Children's Trust Fund, monitor the granted programs, and continue to develop momentum for improving children's lives.

The Children's Coalition continuously recruits people to serve as members and/or to work on one of its committees. Please consider donating your time as a member of the Children's Coalition or to work on one of its committees. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact the Children's Coalition program manager:

The Sacramento County Children’s Coalition is a volunteer advisory body to the Sacramento County Board of Supervisors. Vacancies exist on the Children’s Coalition that need to be filled with qualified, dedicated, and interested people. 

The next two pages answer many questions about the Children’s Coalition. Please read these pages, and if you are still interested or have other questions, please call us at 447-7063 x358.

FAQ's

WHAT DOES A COALITION MEMBER DO?

Members develop short- and long-term work plans for the Coalition that support its mission and build on previous Coalition work. The Coalition then strives to meet the goals of these work plans. A partial list of Children’s Coalition responsibilities and activities are:

Ø     Develop the Sacramento County Children’s Report Card;

Ø     Administer the Sacramento County Children’s Trust Fund;

Ø     Serve as a forum for raising community concerns on child & family issues; and

Ø     Serve as an oversight body to the Sacramento County Child Protective Services Division

The Children’s Coalition meets on the third Monday of each month (In January and February it meets on the fourth Monday.) from 4:00 - 6:00 p.m.. In addition, the Coalition meets once a year for a full day to develop and refine its annual work plan. Throughout the year, the Coalition may hold special events, such as the Children’s Summit, that members are encouraged to attend.

Each Coalition member is expected to work on at least one committee, attend at least 75% of the monthly Coalition meetings each year, and come to meetings prepared and ready to participate. The expected minimum commitment per month per member is 6 hours.

ARE COALITION MEMBERS PAID?

Coalition members do not get a salary for their work with the Coalition. They do, however, reap many benefits. Some of these benefits are:

Ø     The satisfaction of helping your community;

Ø     Developing new skills;

Ø     Influencing policy for children and families; and

Ø     Meeting and working with new people with similar professional interests.

WOULD I HAVE TO MAKE SPEECHES?

Some Coalition members make formal presentations on behalf of the organization; most do not. One responsibility of each Coalition member is to report to his or her constituent group regarding Coalition activities and to bring forth relevant information from his or her constituent group to the Coalition. In essence, members are liaisons to the larger community.

WHAT IF I HAVE TO MISS A MEETING ONCE IN AWHILE?

Coalition members are busy people and many cannot make every meeting. Therefore, attendance requirements for monthly Coalition meetings were developed. Coalition bylaws state that a member must attend 75% of all monthly meetings held per year, or 9 of 12 meetings. Additionally, members should not miss three consecutive meetings.

Member attendance at meetings is crucial to conduct the business of the Coalition. As a body operating under the Brown Act, a quorum must be reached at meetings before action can be taken. The work of the Coalition should be a product of all members. Each member is important to the success of the Coalition.

I AM INTERESTED IN BECOMING A COALITION MEMBER, BUT I DON’T KNOW MUCH ABOUT THE ORGANIZATION. IF I BECOME A MEMBER, WHAT IS THE BEST WAY TO "GET UP TO SPEED" WITH THE COALITION?

When you become a Coalition member a basic orientation and manual will be provided to you, and an experienced Coalition member will be appointed to you as a mentor. However, the best way for you to “get up to speed” with the Coalition is to consistently participate at the committee level, carefully read materials sent to you, be very attentive at Coalition meetings, and ask questions of either staff or other members.

You may also join a working committee of the Coalition before you become a Coalition member. This is an excellent way to begin understanding the Coalition’s work.

ARE COALITION MEETINGS VERY FORMAL?

Coalition meetings occur to conduct business, receive reports from committees, provide education to Coalition members, and to receive public comment on issues of concern to the Coalition. However, they are also interesting and fun. Coalition members are professional, but also relaxed and casual.

The best way for you to see what we mean is to attend a Coalition meeting. Most meetings are held the third Monday of each month. Please call staff to determine the location of the meeting you wish to attend. We would enjoy having you visit us.

WHOM SHOULD I CALL IF I HAVE MORE QUESTIONS?

Please call Bev Lamb, Program Manager at 447-7063 x358 or e-mail her at cc@communitycouncil.org.

Coalition Home Page