Monday, June 20, 2005
CCTV to air “Bringing the Community Together” Summit
 
4:00 p.m.
Click here for CCTV Channel Line-Up
The Contra Costa Child Care Council hosted a Summit in May about improving child care for children with special needs and behavioral problems. Tune in for highlights and noted attorney and keynote speaker Jean Murell-Adams’ presentation on disability rights and responsibilities.

Monday, June 20, 2005
Car Seat Giveaway
 
6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.
Oakley Preschool is providing free car seats for Oakley residents with young children. Recipients must attend a two-hour car seat education class and car seat installation inspection. Recipients will be selected by lottery. To register, contact Julie Linder (925) 625-5084.

Wednesday, June 22, 2005
CCTV to air “Bringing the Community Together” Summit
 
9:00 p.m.
See program description above.

Saturday, June 25, 2005
Learning Together Multicultural Family Fair
 
10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.
Ellis Lake Park
Between Clayton and Ellis, Concord
First 5’s Central County Regional Group presents their second annual Fair for young children. Enjoy games, prizes and entertainment, arts and crafts, parent information booths, and more. Call (925) 335-9991 ext. 38 for more information.

Monday, June 27, 2005
Preschool for All Planning:
Governance Work Group
 
10:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.
Contra Costa Child Care Council
1035 Detroit Avenue, Suite 200, Concord

Wednesday, June 29, 2005
Preschool for All Planning:
Work Force Development Work Group
 
9:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m.
County Office of Education
77 Santa Barbara Road, Pleasant Hill

Thursday, June 30, 2005
Preschool for All Planning:
Access/Facilities Work Group
 
9:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m.
Conference room, 1350 Arnold Dr., Martinez

Monday, July 11, 2005
Commission Meeting
 
50 Douglas Drive, Martinez
Visit our site for an agenda.

Wednesday, July 13, 2005
Preschool for All Planning:
Program Standards Work Group
 
12:30 p.m. to 4:00 p.m.
Contra Costa Child Care Council
1035 Detroit Avenue, Suite 200, Concord

Childhood Matters schedule
 
Tune in to Childhood Matters Sundays from 9:00 a.m. to 10:00 a.m. on 98.1 KISS-FM
for parenting information and advice. Visit
www.childhoodmatters.org
to learn more and listen to past shows.

6/12/05:
Sibling Rivalry with Dr. T. Berry Brazelton

6/19/05:
Involving Fathers

6/26/05:
Performing Arts & The Developing Child

7/03/05:
Fun Things To Do With Your Kids

7/10/05:
Children of Alcoholics

7/17/05:
Media Matters: The Impact of Media on Children & Pre-Teens

Nuestros Niños Topics
 
Childhood Matters’ Spanish-language counterpart, Nuestros Niños, airs every Sunday at 8:00 a.m. on KLOK Cumbia 1170 AM and KBBF, La Nuestra 89.1 FM.

6/12/05:
Foster Parenting.

6/19/05:
Celebrating Father's Day.

6/26/05:
Performing Arts and the Developing Child.

Today is Abused Women and Children’s Awareness Day, which draws attention to the rising incidence of abuse that women face and the devastating consequences for them and their children. We know that children who live in homes where there is domestic violence are more likely to be victimized or to experience child abuse and neglect. Witnessing domestic violence also affects the way a baby’s brain works and grows.

First 5 Contra Costa has joined forces with Zero Tolerance for Domestic Violence and the Child Abuse Prevention Council to help children who have been exposed to domestic violence grow up safe, healthy, and nurtured. We’re sponsoring a Summit on July 15th featuring national experts on this subject. See the article in this newsletter for more information. We hope you’ll join us!

-- Brenda Blasingame, Executive Director

• The Antioch, Bay Point, and Delta First 5 Centers’ June program calendar is now available!
• We’re hiring! First 5 Contra Costa has two job openings: Administrative Assistant and Early Childhood Development Specialist.
• We selected 27 family child care homes and child care centers to implement Raising a Reader, an award-winning take home book bag program that promotes daily lap-sit reading between parents and young children. We allocated a total of $30,000 to implement the program countywide.
• Applications for $500 Ready, Set, Read Literacy Fair grants are due June 17, 2005. Only licensed child care programs are eligible. Click here for the application.
• Follow this link to view a new made-for-television Public Service Announcement developed by the Contra Costa Health Services' Promoting Smoke-Free Families Project. The PSA stars local children and aims to decrease children's exposure to secondhand tobacco smoke.

As Brenda mentioned, we have partnered with Zero Tolerance for Domestic Violence and the Child Abuse Prevention Council to sponsor an interactive Summit focused on children exposed to domestic violence.

The Summit, called “Creating Safe and Bright Futures for Children Exposed to Domestic Violence,” will feature three prominent national experts who will provide information on the impact of domestic violence on a child’s early brain development and promising intervention and prevention strategies.

The Summit will take place on July 15, 2005 from 8:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. at the Pleasant Hill Community Center. Pre-registration is required. Click here for the registration form. Contact Danielle Fokkema (925) 335-1017 for more information.

Zero Tolerance for Domestic Violence has received a federal planning grant from the United States Department of Health and Human Services to develop a coordinated system of prevention, intervention, and treatment programs for children who have witnessed or been exposed to domestic violence. The Summit is a critical first step in the planning process.

Our Commission recently awarded a total of $147,000 to 29 community groups and nonprofit organizations to conduct local projects for children five and younger. Family-Friendly Community Grants were awarded up to $5,000 for health and safety projects, environmental clean ups, or community festivals, and up to $10,000 to refurbish public playgrounds.

11 grants were awarded both in West and East County followed by five in Central County and two in South County. Funded projects included a nutrition fair to reduce childhood obesity in West County, free swim lessons for children in Pittsburg, and infant CPR training for parents living in Lamorinda.

Family-Friendly Community Grants are available annually. Sign-up for our mailing list to receive a funding alert.

It’s official! The West County First 5 Center has found a new home in San Pablo. Formerly a preschool, the new site is an ideal location for programs focused on children during their first five years.

The West County First 5 Center has purchased the building and will start renovations soon. Programs will begin once renovations to the site are completed this summer.

For more information about the West County First 5 Center, contact Stephanie Hochman at Bay Area Community Resources (510) 559-3031 ext. 4000.

The Home Visiting Consultation and Response Team (CRT) is celebrating its two-year anniversary this month. Launched in 2003, the CRT has provided 420 consultations to home visitors working with high-risk children and families.

The CRT, which is made up of a public health nurse, a social worker, an early childhood mental health professional and a child development specialist, provides home visitors with support, referrals, resources and new ways to think about their important work with families.

Families in these cases benefit from a more coordinated provision of services, decreasing the chances of even more expensive intervention, such as out-of-home placement.

The CRT recently welcomed a new member, Rita Lang, M.S., MFTI, who is the team's new Mental Health Specialist. Prior to accepting her current position, Rita worked as the Lead Case Manager/Supervisor for Alameda County Medical Center-Highland Substance Abuse Department.

For more information about the CRT, contact (925) 313-6978.

Our Preschool for All (PFA) planning process continues to build momentum. Last week, 80 early care and education providers, representatives from K-12 and higher education, and parents joined us as we kicked off our PFA planning process.

Attendees signed up to participate on one of four work groups established to develop our county’s PFA plan. Work groups were formed on governance, workforce development, program standards, and access/facilities. They will meet over the next several months so it is not too late to join a work group.

Contact Fran Biderman at (925) 335-9991 for more information or to join. Meeting dates and minutes from the work groups will be posted on our Web site.

Last month, researchers at Yale University released a new study called Pre-Kindergartners Left Behind: Expulsion Rates in State Pre-Kindergarten Systems, the first research ever conducted on expulsion rates in preschool programs.

The study found that 3-and 4-year-old children in preschool programs are expelled more than three times that of older children in K-12 grades. California had the 16th highest expulsion rate among the 40 surveyed states. Researchers suggest that a teacher’s access to a psychologist or behavioral specialist may help keep expulsion rates down. More information about the study is available here.

For information about programs we fund that may help reduce preschool expulsion rates, read more about Child Care Solutions and the Contra Costa Child Care Council’s Inclusion program.

This year’s “Earn It! Keep It! Save It! Contra Costa” campaign helped 1,700 low-income families and workers claim more than $2 million in federal tax returns. Trained volunteers provided free help to taxpayers at 12 Volunteer Tax Assistance (VITA) centers throughout the County.

The Earn It! Keep It! Save It! campaign, a project of the Family Economic Security Partnership, is sponsored by a coalition of public and private organizations to get the word out to low-income workers about significant tax benefits.

We will be working on this effort again next year, so keep an eye out for volunteer opportunities and information about where families can get tax assistance.