Rally Family Visitation Services

Rally Family Visitation Services of Saint Francis Memorial Hospital

Rally provides supervised visitation and monitored exchange services for children who are separated from one of their parents. Launced by San Francisco Unified Family Court in 1991, Rally was adopted by Saint Francis Memorial Hospital in 1997. In 2024, Rally will be transitioning to UCSF, as UCSF has purchased Saint Francis Memorial Hospital.

The Family Court refers families to Rally when there are threats or allegations of abuse or when family members need re-introduction. Rally's secure environment ensures a safe environment for children to experince health relationships with their parents.

Rally provides five kinds of services: Supervised Visitation--a noncustodial parent visit their child on site, usually for 1-2 hours in the presence of a staff member. Therapeutic Sessions--a supervised visit where the skills of a licensed professional are required. Facilited Supervised Visitation--a staff member provides support to the visiting parent in order to promote positive communication between parent and child when needed. Off-Site Visits--a supervised visit outside the center. Monitored Exchanges--the visiting parent picks up and returns the child at Rally for an unsupervised visit that may last hours or days.

Rally is the only program of its kind providing services in Marin, San Francisco and San Mateo Counties. Rally provides a safe environment allowing separated parents to visit their children. At the same time, it ensures the safety of children and adults at risk of emotional or physical harm due to conflict, domestic violence, and abuse. Rally provides services to parents and children, who are primarily low-income families with no safe alternatives for maintaining relationships with their children in times of stree. More then eighty percent (80%) of cases have one or more parent that self-identify as having experienced domestic violence in their relationship prior to starting services. In a sample of the parents served by Rally, sixty-nine percent (69%) of parents earned less than $30,000 oer year and fifty-four percent (54%) under $20,000 per year or had no income at all (including being homeless).

Rally receives funding from a variety of private and public sources, in addition to the number of hours contributed by volunteers and interns. This support allows Rally to continue to expand its services. Every dollar raised through all these sources and our annual event goes to support direct services to families. Every $150 donation covers one hour of visitation to a family.