Rally Family Visitation Services

Rally Family Visitation Services of UCSF Health Saint Francis Hospital

Rally provides supervised visitation and monitored exchange services for children who are separated from one of their parents. Launched by San Francisco Unified Family Court in 1991, Rally was adopted by Saint Francis Memorial Hospital in 1997. In 2024, Rally became a program of UCSF Health and Hyde (previously Saint Francis) 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 professional staff and secure environment ensure safety for children and the opportunity to experience healthy connections with both parents.

Rally provides five kinds of services: Supervised Visitation—a noncustodial parent visits their child on site, usually for 1 to 2 hours in the presence of staff. Therapeutic Session—a supervised visit where the skills of a licensed professional are also employed. Facilitated Supervised Visitation—staff provide support to the visiting parent in order to promote positive communication between parent and child when needed. Monitored Exchange—the visiting parent picks up and returns the child at Rally for an unsupervised visit that may last hours or days. Book End Vists—combine a Supervised Visit and Monitored Exchange—to observe noncustodial parent with children before and/or after an unsupervised visit.

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 need. 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 per 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 $250 donation covers one hour of visitation to a family.