Saturday, October 8, 2005
Super Saturday Family Fest
 
11:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.
Richmond Civic Center
2600 Barrett Avenue
First 5 Contra Costa’s West County Regional Group is hosting its fourth annual Super Saturday,
a free fun-filled event that offers valuable information for parents on health and safety, parenting, finding child care, nutrition and more. Free children’s activities include arts and crafts, a petting zoo, prizes, children’s entertainment, face painting, a jumpee structure, carnival games, and storytelling. Last year’s event drew nearly 2,000 attendees.

Tuesday, October 11, 2005
Preschool for All Planning:
Workforce Development
 
4:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m.
Contra Costa Child Care Council Learning Institute
1035 Detroit Avenue, Concord

Wednesday, October 12, 2005
Program and Evaluation Committee
 
Noon
1340 Arnold Drive, Suite 125 Martinez.
E-mail mnevarez @firstfivecc.org for an agenda.

Wednesday, October 12, 2005
Preschool for All Planning:
Governance Work Group
 
4:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m.
Contra Costa Child Care Council Learning Institute
1035 Detroit Avenue, Concord

Sunday, October 30, 2005
Rona’s Book Club: The Baby Sleep Book
 
9:00 a.m. to 10 a.m.
98.1 KISS FM
When babies don’t sleep the whole family is affected. This month, Rona’s Book Club will discuss the The Baby Sleep Book: The Complete Guide to a Good Night's Rest for the Whole Family with author Dr. William Sears, well-known writer and pediatrician, and Dr. Rafael Pelayo, sleep disorders specialist at Lucille Packard Children’s Hospital and Assistant Professor at Stanford School of Medicine.

Tuesday, November 1, 2005
Preschool for All Planning:
Governance Work Group
 
4:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m.
Contra Costa Child Care Council Learning Institute
1035 Detroit Avenue, Concord

Monday, November 7, 2005
3rd Annual Volunteer and Grantee Celebration
 
6:00 p.m.
Pleasant Hill Community Center
320 Civic Drive
Join First 5 us we celebrate our grantees and volunteers and thank them for their hard work to create a brighter future for Contra Costa’s youngest children.

Tuesday, November 8, 2005
Preschool for All Planning:
Access/Facilities Work Group
 
9:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m.
First 5 Contra Costa Conference Room
1340 Arnold Drive, Suite 125 Martinez

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.

10/09/05:
Reducing and Responding to Family and Community Violence

10/16/05:
Parents Engagement in Our Schools

10/23/05:
Preparing Your Family for a Natural Disaster

10/30/05:
Rona’s Book Club: The Baby Sleep Book

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.

10/09/05:
How to Help Young Nuestros Niños Overcome the Effects of Violence

10/16/05:
Nuestros Niños and Books: A Recipe for Achieving Present and Future Success

10/23/05:
How to Protect Nuestros Niños from Natural Disasters: How to Prepare for Earthquakes

10/30/05:
Teaching Nuestros Niños Traditions which Celebrate Life and Honor the Memory of our Deceased

Recently, I’ve had the privilege of working with a group of Commissioners and community stakeholders to develop the Commission’s Equity Action Plan. This plan is a tool to help us be even more responsive to the diverse communities of our county.

It will help assure that children from diverse backgrounds and with diverse abilities have access to high quality and culturally competent services. It also will help us to ensure that all diverse groups, particularly those who have been traditionally underserved, are actively engaged and involved in defining their needs and finding solutions.

I hope the plan will inspire thoughtful discussion by the community and key stakeholders so that First 5 Contra Costa and future generations will embrace one another across such differences as income, education, and ethnicity and work together for the well being of all children in Contra Costa. We will post the plan on our Web site once its completed.

-- Brenda Blasingame, Executive Director

• Find out the latest on our Preschool for All strategic planning efforts by clicking here.
• Our fall print newsletter is now available.
• The California Budget Project just released a new study called Making Ends Meet: How Much Does It Cost to Raise a Family in California? The study estimates what it costs to support a family with two children or to live as a single adult - allowing only for the basic costs of housing, utilities, child care, transportation, food, health coverage, taxes, and miscellaneous expenses - in 10 regions of the state.

In 2004-2005, First 5 Contra Costa invested approximately $8.4 million in programs and services designed to improve the lives of young children and their families. We recently received a presentation from our evaluators highlighting the impact of this investment on children, families, providers, and our community. The following are some highlights:

• Home visitors served 1,334 families, averaging seven visits per family. As a result, virtually every child was up-to-date on immunizations and well-child visits and had health insurance.
• Twenty women and their children were served by the 12-bed Rosemary Corbin House, a residential substance abuse recovery program in which mothers reside with their children, receiving treatment, counseling, and parenting education while their children receive mental health services. Mothers showed distinct improvement at discharge on the addiction severity index and on assessment of their bonding behaviors; children showed developmental improvement as well, even resolving delays that were evident at admission.
• 94 children who have experienced uncontrollable behavior or severe problems caused by abuse, neglect, or trauma and their families participated in mental health therapeutic services. Of these, 46 parents and children participated in wraparound services, a process that organizes a family’s formal and informal resources into a team to identify needs and provide necessary services. Therapists reported improvement for most children, with the greatest improvement among wraparound participants.
• Inclusion facilitators worked with 76 children with special needs in child care settings, providing over 1,300 hours of direct classroom assistance and observation. Parents and providers both reported universal satisfaction with the service.

Click here to print a set of First 5 Contra Costa 2004-2005 highlights cards. The final evaluation report for 2004-2005 will be available on www.firstfivecc.org by the end of the year.

Last month, First 5 Contra Costa approved using $3.5 million from our Special Reserve Fund to support perinatal substance abuse services, family homeless shelters, support services for abused and neglected children, home visiting for medically fragile infants, and comprehensive prenatal care services. Funding for these services will begin in 2006 and end in 2008. It is only short-term funding.

The Special Reserve Fund was created in 2003 after the Commission set aside $6 million to respond to the budget crisis at the local, state and federal levels. The money is specifically to address the changing services landscape that may compromise the success of our overall vision and six funding areas that serve high-risk families. Our Commission previously allocated Reserve Funds to help keep two family homeless shelters open.

Over the last ten months, we convened the Special Funds Task Force made up of Commissioners, staff, and representatives from public and private organizations. The Task Force was charged with developing recommendations for how Special Reserve Funds should be allocated.

Our Program and Evaluation Committee will be working on implementing these recommendations. Committee meeting dates are posted on the home page of our Web site and we’ll also keep you posted on our progress in future e-newsletters.

Beginning this fall, child care providers can apply for mini-grants to be used for books and tuition. To be eligible, providers need to have worked in the same center or family child care home for at least nine months between July 2004 and June 2005 and must still be employed there. Providers also must care for children ages birth to five for at least 15 hours per week.

Click here for the mini-grant application and a schedule of countywide information and technical assistance workshops.

Paid, part-time leadership opportunities are also available for interested providers who have a BA or are at the Site Supervisor level of the Child Development Permit Matrix. Click here for an application or contact Debi Silverman for more information, (925) 335-9991 ext. 33.

We’re bringing our Tigo Early Learning Kit to life and looking for parent and child “actors” to star in the new Tigo DVD. Sign-up if you:

• Have at least one child 5 and younger
• Are comfortable and confident in front of the camera
• Want to inspire other parents to engage with their children and help them learn

Participating parents will receive a $40 Target voucher and three copies of the DVD to share with family and friends. Filming will take place on Saturdays in October. Call Tracy Irwin now to sign up: (925) 335-9991 ext. 13.

	First 5 Center volunteers were honored at last year’s celebration

Limited child care is available so please RSVP to (925) 335-9991.

Young children who have not been exposed to arts enrichment and education activities can soon participate in visual arts, theater and music classes offered by the East Bay Center for the Performing Arts, Richmond Art Center, YMCA and the Fine Arts Preschool. The free arts programs, made possible by a $100,000 grant from First 5 Contra Costa, will help parents engage their children in fun and positive early learning experiences as they prepare to enter kindergarten.

The East Bay Center for the Performing Arts and the Richmond Art Center’s new six-week session begins October 14, 2005. In this program, professional artists provide two hours of dance, music, and visual arts instruction while early childhood learning specialists provide workshops for parents on fostering creative development in young children. West County families should call (510) 620-6770 to reserve a space.

New classes offered by the YMCA and the Fine Arts Preschool for children ages 2 to 5 begin October 28, 2005. Registration will be held on-site the first day of each new session or over the phone: (925) 887-4535, by fax: (925) 609-9639 or on-line: vcoster@mdrymca.org. For additional information, contact Susie or Vicki: (925) 887-4535. Classes will take place at the following sites:

Martinez:First Congregational Church, 1229 Court Street
Mondays from 9:00 – 11:00 a.m. (first session begins 10/24/05)
Antioch:Sutter Elementary School, 3410 Longview Rd.
Tuesdays from 9:00 – 11:00 a.m. (first session begins 10/25/05)
Brentwood:Delta First 5 Center, 760 First Street
Wednesdays from 9:00 – 11:00 a.m. (first session begins 10/26/05)
Concord:Meadow Home Elementary School, 1371 Detroit Ave.
Thursdays from 9:00 – 11:00 a.m. (first session begins 10/27/05)
Danville:Hap Magee Park, 1029 La Gonda Way
Fridays from 9:00 – 11:00 a.m. (first session begins 10/28/05)

That pleasant voice you hear when you call our office belongs to Ryan Lyons, our new Administrative Assistant. Ryan made a big career change when he joined First 5, having been a mechanic for the last ten years. Ryan is a youth minister at his church and volunteers at the Souper Center in Richmond. His favorite book as a child was Green Eggs and Ham.

Denece Dodson is our new Evaluation Coordinator. Many of our grantees already know Denece since she has been working with them as a member of our evaluation team for the last four years. Denece will continue to coordinate the collection of data that looks at long-term outcomes for providers of First 5 services, as well as children and families served by First 5 funded programs.

Lisa Morrell is our new Early Childhood Development Program Specialist and will be overseeing the First 5 Centers, Home Visiting, Substance Abuse Services and Mental Health Strategies. She has an extensive background in social work, specializing in child welfare, domestic violence, immigrant and refugee populations, and children’s issues. Lisa most recently was the district administrator at Aspira Foster and Family Services. She is the mother of a four-year-old daughter.