Member Sought to Fill Vacancy on Cambridge’s Family Policy Council (Application Deadline Extended to 10-27-21)

Cambridge City Manager Louis A. DePasquale is seeking to fill a vacancy on The Family Policy Council, officially known as the Coordinating Council for Children, Youth and Families. The Family Policy Council is dedicated to developing policy and program recommendations aimed at ensuring all children, youth, and their families have access to what they need to be successful, engaged residents who are prepared for life in our community and in the world.

The Family Policy Council meets approximately six times per year on the 3rd Thursday of the month, from 5:15-7:15 p.m. The current vacancy to be filled for a community-at-large representative consists of a 3-year term. The Mayor of Cambridge serves as the Chair of the Family Policy Council, and membership is comprised of key stakeholders in local government and in the community, which includes the following:

• Elected Officials (City Councilor and School Committee Member)
• City Department Heads (Assistant City Manager for Human Services, Assistant City Manager for Finance, Chief Public Health Officer, Police Commissioner, Cambridge Public Library Director, Superintendent of Schools)
• Community Representatives (business, community-at-large, early childhood, school age, philanthropy, state agency, university, and youth representatives)

Examples of Adopted Policy and Program Recommendations:

• Center for Families (1993)
• Agenda for Children Literacy and Out of School Time Initiatives (2000)
• Inclusion of Individuals with Disabilities in Out of School Time Programs Policy (2005)
• Citywide Family Engagement Policy (2013)
• Making Connections: A Community Engagement Training Program for Cambridge (2014)
• Find It Cambridge (2015)
• Math Matters for Equity (2019)

Current Project: Language Justice (The right everyone has to communicate, to understand, and to be understood in the language(s) in which they feel most comfortable.)

The Family Policy Council is developing recommendations to ensure language justice and provide language access resources to families and providers. This includes the communication rights of individuals with preferred languages other than English as well as persons with communication-related disabilities. By focusing on language justice as a City, we believe we will see an increase in the number and ways in which people in Cambridge interact with and are connected to their local government, schools, health systems, nonprofits and other essential services.

For more information about the Family Policy Council, please contact Nancy Tauber, Executive Director, at 617-349-6239 or ntauber@cambridgema.gov. Also visit Cambridgema.gov/kidscouncil.

The deadline for submitting an application has been extended to Wednesday, October 27, 2021. Applications can be submitted to City Manager Louis A. DePasquale using the City’s online application system at Cambridgema.gov/apply.  A cover letter and resume, or an overview of relevant experience, can also be submitted during the online application process.  Paper applications are available in the City Manager’s Office at Cambridge City Hall, 795 Massachusetts Avenue.