2025 Policy Priorities
First 5 Association works to advance state and federal public policies and funding that support California’s young children and families. Our policy work is informed by local communities and local First 5 Commissions and is grounded in a whole child / whole family lens. We do this while centering the fact that low-income communities, communities of color, and historically marginalized Californians face disproportionate impacts due to systemic racism, wealth inequality, and environmental hazards.
Our goal is to have public policies and investments in place that center equity, prevention, systems building, and coordination to build comprehensive and integrated early childhood systems of care.
Click the policy areas below to learn more.
Thriving First 5 Commissions and System of Care
Policy Goals:
- Protect and leverage health, family, and child development investments with a shared goal of removing barriers to accessing systems of care; ensure First 5s are identified and prioritized as fund administrators, intermediaries, and systems partners in the securing and safeguarding of dedicated funding for early childhood systems.
- Secure stabilization and ongoing funding sources for First 5 Commissions, prioritizing counties that need financial support most, to ensure continued positive child outcomes.
Economically Secure Families
Policy Goals:
- Increase access to culturally responsive and trauma-informed family support services that promote resiliency and build parents’ capacity to support their children’s optimal development.
- Increase access to economic supports that empower families to meet the basic needs of children.
Click the button below to read First 5 Association's Home Visiting Policy Framework
Comprehensive Care and Development
Policy Goals:
- Improve prevention, care coordination, screenings, navigation, and re-certification supports for Medi-Cal and other systems of care.
- Advocate for increased access to and timeliness of early intervention and infant and early childhood mental health (IECMH) services, including assessments and validated developmental screening tools.
- Seek to improve outcomes in maternal and infant health in communities of color impacted by disparate outcomes* by dismantling racist practices and developing culturally safe systems in partnership with health providers and systems of care.
*Black, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, Indigenous, and multiracial
Click the button below to read stories from families served by programs funded by First 5s
Early Care and Education
Policy Goals:
- Prioritize and scale early care and education mixed-delivery opportunities, with a focus on infant and toddler care.
- Support quality training and professional growth pathways for early educators and childcare providers, with a focus on infant and toddler care.
- Promote recruitment and retention of the early educator and childcare workforce by uniting with statewide partners to advocate for increased benefits and true cost of care wages.
