First 5 Santa Cruz County consistently works to strengthen coordination and integration among organizations and sectors serving young children and families in Santa Cruz County. First 5 also works to ensure that prevention, early intervention, and equity for young children and their families are priorities in local, state and federal policy.  

 

First 5 supports all young children and their families in Santa Cruz County by prioritizing efforts that are responsive to the community’s diverse needs. Shaped by community voice, these efforts focus on eliminating disparities based on race, ethnicity, language, or income. In this context, First 5 seeks to strengthen the early childhood system of care by:

• Leveraging Prop 10 resources to create, strengthen, or fill gaps in service delivery systems

• Supporting community initiatives, training, data sharing, community events, and capacity-building projects

• Implementing and evaluating evidence-based and research-informed programs and practices

• Facilitating collaboration among public, nonprofit, and private partners in order to connect siloed systems and services

• Serving as the backbone for collective impact collaboratives, such as Quality Counts Santa Cruz County and Thrive by 5

• Advocating for policies and budgets that prioritize early childhood

• Convening partners to implement local solutions to systems and policy changes initiated at the local, state, and federal levels.

 

Over the last 25 years, these service integration and system building functions have become a cornerstone of First 5’s strategy to create an equitable and sustainable early childhood system of care in Santa Cruz County.