Parents Place in San Francisco, CA 94115

Parents Place, a non-sectarian program of Jewish Family and Children's Services, may well be the best parenting resource in town. It offers a number of helpful services for parents mind-boggling in their breadth. Among them, parent workshops, playgroups, parent support groups, resource and referral services, counseling services, parenting advice, annual open house nights for local preschools, and groups and workshops with resources on searching for preschools and kindergartens.

Its central goal is to not only support parents, but to bring parents together. Its resource and referral system is an example of how it succeeds on the grass roots level. The "system" is nothing more than a couple of big old bulletin boards hung just outside the offices. On them you can find slips of paper listing nannies, babysitters, and housecleaners looking for work. You can also put up your own advertisement.

The service is free to nannies who wish to list (there is a $20 fee for parents to put up a listing for four weeks) and widely used; Parents Place was named "Best Place to Find a Nanny in San Francisco" by the Bay Guardian in 2001 and "Best Resource for Overwhelmed Parents" by the SF Weekly in 2003. There's no screening whatsoever of individuals who post listings. But the staff can provide guidelines on how to find the right nanny if you need help.

Classes & workshops: Offers a huge range of parenting classes, seminars, and workshops from New Mother, New Baby, to Look! I Can Cook!. Parent/child activity groups are held during the day; most classes and workshops are held in the late afternoon/early evening.

Afterschool classes: Parents Place's On The Mark mentor/tutor program matches volunteers with students ages eight to 18 who are looking for guidance and assistance with school subjects and other issues. [Contact Taylor Epstein, 415.359.2463 or email TaylorE@jfcs.org]

Services:
* Parents Place Express speakers bureau.
* Quarterly newsletter/calendar.
* Counseling services to families with children up to age 18.(Sliding scale, MediCal accepted.)
* Age-specific play activity groups for children with socialization difficulties.
* Mentor/tutor program for students ages eight to 18.
* Community service programs for teens.
* Bulletin board for parents seeking caregivers/caregivers seeking employment.
* Coaching and consultation for parents.