Monday, November 7, 2005
3rd Annual Volunteer and Grantee Celebration
 
6:00 p.m.
Pleasant Hill Community Center
320 Civic Drive
Join First 5 as 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

Monday, November 14, 2005
Preschool for All Planning:
Workforce Development Work Group
 
6:30 p.m. - 9:00 p.m.
Contra Costa Child Care Council Learning Institute
1035 Detroit Avenue, Concord

Tuesday, November 15, 2005
Program and Evaluation Committee

12:00 p.m.
1340 Arnold Dr., Suite 125, Conference Room, Martinez.

Wednesday, November 16, 2005
Story Time
 
11:00 a.m.
Barnes & Noble Bookstore
4000 Klose Way, Richmond
The West Contra Costa School Readiness Program is offering a free story time for parents with children five and younger.

Thursday, December 1, 2005
Preschool for All Planning:
Access/Facilities Work Group
 
6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.
Contra Costa Child Care Council Learning Institute
1035 Detroit Avenue, Concord

Wednesday, December 7, 2005
Preschool for All Planning: Program Standards Work Group
 
12:30 p.m. to 3:30 p.m.
Contra Costa Child Care Council Learning Institute
1035 Detroit Avenue, Concord

Monday, December 5, 2005
Commission Meeting
 
6:00 p.m.
50 Douglas Drive, Second Floor Conference Room

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.

11/03/05:
Deciding What’s Right For Your Child’s Health

11/20/05:
Talking to Your Kids About Race and Diversity

11/27/05:
The Challenges of Divorce

12/04/05:
Dyslexia

12/11/05:
Avoiding Neglect: How To Give Children The Attention They Need

12/18/05:
Family Values During the Holidays

12/25/05:
Christmas Day-no show scheduled

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.

11/03/05:
Diabetes: An Illness Threatening Nuestros Niños Latinos

11/20/05:
Miscarriages: Grief that Touches Nuestros Niños’ and Families’ Lives

11/27/05:
Good Food for Nuestros Niños: Resources Available in Our Community

• Find out the latest on our Preschool for All strategic planning efforts by clicking here.
• Free arts and sports classes for children ages two to five are being offered throughout the county. There’s still room for classes taking place in Martinez, Concord, and Danville. Please contact the YMCA at (925) 755-9622 to sign-up or for more information.
• Job opportunities for child care providers! We are looking for child care providers to serve as CARES Professional Development Program Advisors. Qualified applicants can earn up to $1,500 per year providing outreach and information about professional development opportunities for child care workers. Click here for the application.
• November calendars for the Delta, Bay Point, and Antioch First 5 Centers are now available.

After six years as executive director of First 5 Contra Costa, Brenda Blasingame has relocated to Seattle to start a new position at Talaris Research Institute, a research firm focused on early childhood education issues.

“Brenda’s leadership will be missed. She nurtured First 5 Contra Costa from a start-up organization to a recognized public agency addressing local needs of children by funding health, early education and parenting programs,” said Dr. William Walker, Chair, First 5 Contra Costa. “She built a solid foundation of programs to help children grow up healthy and enter school learning.”

The Contra Costa County Board of Supervisors honored Brenda at the November 1, 2005 board meeting and declared the day “Brenda Blasingame Day” for her many contributions to improving the lives of children ages 0 to 5.

“It has been an honor to work with the parents, caregivers and service providers of Contra Costa County,” said Blasingame. “Together we built a strong agency, expanded services and created more effective programs to help Contra Costa’s youngest children get the best possible start.”

Sean Casey, deputy director of First 5 Contra Costa, has been named the Acting Executive Director until a permanent director is selected.

Approximately 3,000 people attended the West County Regional Group’s fourth annual Super Saturday Family Fest in Richmond last month. Parents had more than 50 booths to visit on topics such as locating quality child care, parent education, and child safety. This year’s festival also included a farmer’s market to promote healthy eating habits. Among the fun activities for children were a petting zoo, arts and crafts, face painting, pony rides, a giant slide, and raffle prizes.

First 5 Contra Costa’s West County Regional Group is made up of parents, child care providers and others who want to make West County a safer and more family-friendly place. The Group partnered with the City of Richmond and the Greater Richmond Interfaith Program to coordinate the festival.

“The City of Richmond offered us tremendous support this year,” said Alice Axel, chair of the West County Regional Group. “Many of the city’s major departments – police, operations, and park and recreation – were very generous in offering us their time and support to help make this event a success.”

Richmond Mayor Irma Anderson spoke at Super Saturday, thanking the Regional Group members for making a difference for children.

The West County Regional Group always welcomes new members! Please contact Rhea Elina Laughlin for more information: (925) 335-9991 ext. 12.

Scholarships up to $350 are now available for child care providers taking classes this Spring at Diablo Valley, Los Medanos, and Contra Costa Community Colleges. Scholarships pay for books, tuition, parking, and educational materials.

To qualify, providers must have worked in the same center or family child care home for the last nine months and are currently working in that program. They must also provide care at least 15 hours each week for children between the ages of 0 to 5.

Click here for the application. Scholarship applications are due November 18, 2005.

First 5 Contra Costa recently funded a new home visiting program to reach out to incarcerated pregnant women and teens. Contra Costa Health Services’ Family Maternal Child Health (FMCH) program coordinates this first-of-its kind service in the county.

“It is believed that this group of women may account for a portion of those who don’t receive prenatal care or enter it during their third trimester,” said Jeannie Cummings, the program’s Home Visiting Liaison. “Working with incarcerated women is very challenging work, but now we are better able to serve this very high-risk group.”

Cummings typically visits up to 20 pregnant women at a time, often meeting with them twice a week. She works with women to alleviate stress and serves as the link between the mothers and their family, social services, substance abuse treatment programs, or probation officers. Once a mother is released from jail, Cummings visits her until she can facilitate the mother’s enrollment in another home visiting program to ensure the mother continues to receive support.

For more information about the program, contact Jeannie Cummings (925) 313-6313.

The Emergency Family Shelter Task Force, a coalition of housing advocates and nonprofit homeless service providers, is close to raising the $700,000 needed to keep two family homeless shelters open this year. Task Force members worked tirelessly over the summer on the “Save Our Shelters Campaign.” Their fundraising efforts have been aided by a First 5 Contra Costa challenge grant, which matches one-dollar for every dollar raised up to $335,000.

Individuals, private corporations, cities and foundations have all donated. One of the most notable contributions was from a group of Stanley Middle School students who live in Lafayette.
The students, members of an on-campus group called Global Relief Outreach, took up the cause after reading about the plight of the shelters over the summer. By September 24, they had already organized 150 students to participate in a walk-a-thon and collected over $10,000 in pledges.

“Stanley Middle School’s efforts have brought us to within $40,000 of reaching our goal to keep the emergency shelters open.” said Task Force Co-Chair and SHELTER, Inc.’s interim Executive Director, Vince Olson. “The students of Global Relief Outreach have clearly demonstrated what good can be done when you ‘think globally and act locally.’ Thanks to Stanley Middle School, I am confident of reaching our goal.”

Stanley Students were awarded the “People Who Care Award” by the County Board of Supervisors for their efforts. Individuals interested in making a donation should contact SHELTER, Inc., at 925-335-0698 ext.107.

The study revealed that children who took part in early childhood education programs performed better than those who did not attend such programs. The results also showed that children whose parents read to them regularly achieved relatively higher levels of competency in the areas identified by the study.

Conducted as part of the First 5 California School Readiness (SR) Initiative, the study reinforced the relationship between overall health and school readiness, finding that children in fair or poor health had mastered fewer developmental skills when compared to healthier peers. The study also found that the SR Initiative, which has provided more than $400 million to prepare children to enter school, is targeting the communities that need it most.

A summary of the results can be accessed online by clicking the 2004 link of the Kindergarten Entry Profile section of http://first5eval.com/index.asp?pg=8.

Tigo parties are springing up all over Pittsburg!

Pittsburg’s School Readiness (SR) program has implemented a Parent Ambassador program to help distribute First 5 Contra Costa’s early learning kit Tigo. Tigo was designed for children who are not enrolled in preschool and who live in communities with low-performing elementary schools (e.g., schools with low standardized test scores).

Tigo contains high-quality children’s books, learning materials, and fun, engaging activities that encourage parents to talk, play, and read with their young children. All contents are bilingual, in English and Spanish.

As soon as Tigo became available, SR outreach workers in Pittsburg started receiving requests for kits from parents whose children were enrolled in preschool. And the calls kept coming.

“One day, we told a parent who wasn’t eligible for the kit that she could have one if she recruited five eligible parents from her neighborhood,” said outreach worker Vernon Long. “That was the beginning of our Parent Ambassador program.”

Over the last three months, more than 125 Tigos have been distributed because of Parent Ambassador recruitment efforts. SR outreach workers lead Tigo parent education groups, providing information about the importance of parent-child interaction and tips for using Tigo with their child. Groups take place in schools or in a Parent Ambassador’s home or front yard.

“The Ambassador Program is truly a grassroots effort,” said Long. “It is helping us to provide valuable parenting information and resources to hard-to-reach families. Many of the parents have formed informal playgroups and continue to support one another. It’s beyond our wildest expectations.”

Contact Vernon Long (925) 473-4094 or Celia Medina (925) 473-4093 for more information.