CARECEN SF builds community power through advocacy to defend the rights and forge the aspirations of ALL immigrants—people in the United States and in our countries of origin.
Here are some examples of how CARECEN SF’s advocacy work:
Immigration
CARECEN SF worked on the “Due Process for All” advocacy campaign. Through joint advocacy, we have contributed to policy wins that increase protections for immigrants in San Francisco over the past 5 years. These policy wins include:
- Due Process for All Ordinance more
- No Detainer Ordinance more
- Amendment of 1989 Sanctuary City Policy to Strengthen and Expand Protection for Immigrants in San Francisco more
- San Francisco government allocation of funding to expand access to legal representation for unaccompanied children and Central Americans detained at the U.S./Mexico border. This advocacy effort led to the birth of the San Francisco Immigrant Legal Defense Collaborative (SFILDC), comprised of 15 partner agencies ensuring access to council in San Francisco Immigration Court. more
Juvenile Justice
- Working closely with Latino based youth violence prevention programs/partners, we successfully advocated with local government to secure funding for the Roadmap To Peace restorative justice initiative. A city wide collective impact partnership targeting San Francisco’s most disconnected Latino youth in risk of violence and/or system touched.
- CARECEN SF successfully renegotiated our partnership with the San Francisco Department of Public Health to continue providing laser tattoo removal services. This is the only FREE community based laser tattoo removal clinic in San Francisco. Our Tattoo Removal Clinic is one of our busiest programs, welcoming young people ages 13-25 years-old on the last two Tuesdays of the month. The benefits of removing gang or trauma related tattoos are many. Visible tattoos can further stigmatize, isolate and prevent youth from gaining employment.
Latino Health
CARECEN SF’s Health Promotion Program was a key partner and active member of the 2016 San Francisco Soda Tax Campaign. Proposition V, which taxes distributors of soda and other sugary drinks, was passed in the November 2016 election to overwhelming support by the public. Sugary drinks have been directly linked to obesity and chronic diseases such as diabetes, heart and liver diseases. CARECEN SF is actively engaged in planning for the implementation of the ordinance.