First 5 California School Readiness

Technical Assistance

Sponsored by the First 5 California Children and Families Commission

CHCFC has been closely involved in the development and implementation of the First 5 California School Readiness Initiative. This Initiative, which is a collaborative effort among the First 5 California Children and Families Commission (First 5 CA) and the 58 county Children and Families Commissions, provides over $400 million in state and county funds to operate School Readiness Programs that enhance the capacity of schools and communities to serve young children and promote their success in school.

Prior to the launch of the Initiative, CHCFC conducted a series of interviews and site visits with counties across California to obtain a perspective on school readiness and determine their technical assistance needs regarding the development of School Readiness Programs. CHCFC's report based on these findings was circulated to all 58 county commissions. From 2002-2004, CHCFC provided technical assistance on developing and launching School Readiness Programs to all 58 county commissions. As part of this work, a multidisciplinary team conducted research on various School Readiness-related topics, including the five "Essential and Coordinated Elements" of School Readiness; Collaboration; Finance; Early Literacy; Systems Change; Children with Disabilities and Other Special Needs; and Transition to Kindergarten. CHCFC published several brief reports, collected tools, and held a series of regional meetings on these topics. Reports, tools, and materials from the regional meetings are still available on our website; to access them, please follow the links on the right side of this page.

CHCFC also provided technical assistance to First 5 by maintaining a School Readiness e-mail list, which provided recipients with information about and links to School Readiness-related research, news, funding, conferences, and other relevant sources. Messages were sent every two weeks and recipients include Executive Directors, School Readiness Coordinators, and other partners involved in the School Readiness Initiative. Archives of previous listserv messages are available at http://lists.ucla.edu/pipermail/prop10ta-l/.