2023 Policy Priorities
First 5 Association of California (F5AC) advocates for California’s youngest children and their families to ensure that they have the supports to thrive in school and life. Grounded in a whole child / whole family framework with an intentional focus on children prenatal to 3-years-old, First 5 is a conduit for change during this critical stage of development — building comprehensive and integrated early childhood systems of care that advance equity, prevention strategies and systems coordination.
F5AC works to advance state and federal policies that support the First 5 Network and infrastructure and cultivate opportunity for all of California’s young children and families. 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 natural disasters.
Click the policy areas below to learn more.
Sustainability and Scale
Policy Goals:
- Secure funding to offset the impact of Proposition 31 flavored tobacco ban and declining tobacco tax revenue. This declining revenue is a threat to First 5’s infrastructure and service provision for early childhood health, learning and prevention strategies.
- Promote local First 5 commissions as foundational community implementers, intermediaries, fiscal agents and thought partners for programs, policies and state initiatives that seek to improve child and family outcomes.
- Preserve existing First 5 funding.
- Preserve recent California policy achievements and state investments that will improve outcomes for young children (e.g., continuous eligibility for Medi-Cal from birth through age 5, investments in home visiting and child care).
Resilient Families
Policy Goals:
- Ensure California families have access to relevant and effective supports in a timely manner.
- Increase family economic supports, so that families can provide stable, thriving homes in which to raise children.