1. family and parenting
2. children

MAY 2015
A Message from the ED
The First 5 San Bernardino
Commission is gearing up to adjust,
prioritize and plan future investments
to continue to promote the health
and well-being of children ages
prenatal through age 5, that they be
eager to lear n and ready to
succeed, even as the Prop 10
revenue realizes significant decline.
Research has proven and public sentiment is growing in
acknowledgement that the key to improving not only
educational attainment in children but the economic
condition of our nation as a whole is through “quality”
education and support at the earliest years, birth – age
5, where brain development occurs more rapidly than
any other time in life, creating a platform that can
support and ensure future success. Taking a proactive
approach to cognitive and social skill development
through investments in quality early childhood
programs, especially for disadvantaged children is
more effective and economically efficient than trying to
close the gap later on. The rate of return for
investments in quality early childhood development for
these children is 7-10% per annum through better
outcomes in education, health, sociability, economic
productivity and reduced crime.
Nearly every state in the nation is engaged in
improving the quality of early learning and education
programs through Quality Rating Improvement Systems
or QRIS.
These are generally statewide systems.
California, on the other hand, is one of only a couple
of states that is using a regional approach, i.e. creating
and implementing as individual counties by First 5’s or
local school districts, or by other collaborative
partnerships such as the Bay Area Regional QRIS or
LAUP- Los Angeles Universal Preschool.
On April 30th, the first QRIS Strategic Planning
convening hosted by First 5 San Bernardino was held at
our office. This convening was led by VIVA Consulting
whom the Commission contracted with in April 2015.
The Commission should be applauded for having the
foresight to partner with VIVA as a consultant, to help
guide the Strategic Planning for QRIS. VIVA is very
well experienced and “we are in good hands.”
One of the first goals for this meeting was to
May
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2015
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Potter the Otter Day Contest: And the winner is…
Updates
Fiscal Update
F5SB received the monthly revenue from Prop 10
funds in the amount of $1,541,622 for February
2015. This revenue funds First 5 San Bernardino
programs and services.
2,000,000
1,500,000
1,000,000
500,000
0
Prop 10 Funds
R THE OT T
T TE
ER
PO
November - $1,290,674
December - $1,565,465
January - $1,931,958
February - $1,541,622
L A NU
TRIA POT TER
Potter the Otter is our
healthy mascot, that
teaches children about
eating healthy, drinking
water and exercising
with his friends and
family. Access Potter’s
books any time for FREE
at
www.pottertheotter.com
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Healthy Rialto!
On April 1, 2015, three agencies stepped up to show
us how they stay healthy like Potter the Otter. After 30
days of voting, a total campaign reach of almost
17,000 and over 9,500 views on all three of our
participant’s videos, Healthy Rialto pulled out a total
of 546 ”Likes” on their Potter the Otter video!
Healthy Rialto says about their video: “…Along with exercising, we expose the children to
healthy habits such as gardening and visiting the
Farmers’ Market. Through gardening they learn how to
grow their own fruits and vegetables and it opens the
world of gardening and fun in the sun that they
otherwise would not know. We are Healthy Rialto and
these are some of the activities we are doing to stay
healthy like Potter the Otter!”
Healthy Rialto will receive a fun-filled Potter the Otter
Day at their location, with a healthy lunch, activities
and recognition for their healthy efforts and
participation in the video contest.
For more information on this campaign and to read
about Potter the Otter, visit our website at http://bit.ly/
f5sbpottertheotter or Potter the Otter’s official website
at www.pottertheotter.com.
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First 5 San Bernardino is an official Help Me Grow Affiliate!
First 5 San Bernardino received notification
of our official affiliate status in California to
the national network of Help Me Grow!
Help Me Grow is a system that develops a
healthy network of existing resources to
support at-risk children with the services they
need. The system seeks to reduce missed
detection for developmental and behavioral
risks in children during their early stages.
First 5 San Bernardino joins First 5 Alameda,
First 5 Contra Costa, First 5 San Joaquin and
other child care providers in supporting the
statewide network’s vision to see “all
children in California achieve their optimal
development and are supported by a system
of developmental and behavioral resources
in their communities”. First 5 Association
leads coordination across the state.
Help Me Grow’s four core components to
the system include child care provider
outreach, community outreach, a centralized
telephone access point and data collection. Fostering Help Me Grow’s model in San
Bernardino County can benefit communities,
providers, parents and children looking for
guided assistance to access care in the vast
landscape of child development needs and
quality supportive resources.
To learn more about Help Me Grow, visit
www.helpmegrownational.org
All Aboard the Reading Railroad
performer highlights First 5 San
Bernardino on 102.7 KIIS FM
Friday, June 5, 2015
Twinkle Time and Friends has been a must
see attraction at First 5 San Bernardino’s All
Aboard the Reading Railroad events.
Recently Twinkle Time had the opportunity to
promote her new single with 102.7 KIIS FM,
and highlighted First 5 San Bernardino’s
work and our signature event throughout her
interview. Take a listen: http://
www.kiisfm.com/onair/kiis-cares-54184/
twinkle-time-and-mista-cookie-jar-13519377/.
(909) 386-7706
www.first5sanbernardino.org
Two Free Swim Sessions sponsored by Kaiser Permanente and City of San Bernardino at 12:00PM-2:30PM
3:00PM-5:30PM
Play Zone, Community Resource Fair,
Activities and more presented by First 5 San Bernardino
831 East Highland Avenue, San Bernardino,
CA 92404
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ED Report (continued from front page)
differentiate and gain the levels of “buy-in” needed to
move forward in planning. We discussed the “what’s
in it for me” as it relates to our kids, our parents,
families, business, the economy and the future.
Although the First 5 mission has always been to
promote, support and enhance the health and early
development of children prenatal through age 5, the
Commission is at a pivotal point to look at alternative
ways to ensure that children are healthy, safe,
nurtured, eager to learn and ready to enter and
succeed in school.
After 17 years of supporting mostly “direct service
programs, and with seeing the Prop 10 revenue
decline, the Commission is forced to look at new ways
to accomplish the mission and innovative ways to
leverage and extend the reach to support children.
This does not always have to be with funding.
The current Strategic Plan, Goal 1.2 for Early Learning
commits the First 5 Commission to ensure that Children
birth through age 5 benefit from “high quality” care
and education, family engagement, and support that
prepares all children to reach their optimal potential in
school and in life.
As we began to explore the value and implementation
of a QRIS – Quality Rating Improvement System or
Quality Improvement System in San Bernardino
County, it was important to share that First 5 San
Bernardino is unable to take complete ownership or
the role of defining, implementing and funding the
QRIS effort alone in San Bernardino County. A lesson
learned from other F5 Commissions that have tried to
do so is that it is just not sustainable. F5 is operating
from its Strategic Priority Area 2 goal which is to
support Systems and Networks, providing leadership
as a convener and partner working with the community
and stakeholders from multiple sectors in support of
the countywide goal of supporting children from
“cradle-to-career.” First 5 San Bernardino is able to
assist with identifying available resources and how
they can work together for maximum benefit.
The “quality’ issue is important to the Commission,
• And may be the key to building capacity
throughout the County
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• To optimally develop the Early Care and Education
workforce
• And to systematically improving the lives of all
children if it is embedded in every aspect of a
child’s early learning from birth – 3rd grade, and
especially in all types of early care and
education settings.
VIVA Consulting led the group of stakeholders to gain
familiarity with QRIS as a framework for early learning
supports, to develop a common understanding of
strategic planning & QRIS design timeline, to revisit &
build upon desired outcomes for a local QRIS, to
explore opportunities, barriers, vision and values for
the system, emphasizing the importance of collective
impact. Small groups were formed and brainstormed
how the QRIS would impact children, families,
educators, the business community, funders, and policy
makers. The key points reported out from the groups
will be compiled to guide future discussions.
Preliminary project teams and process were identified
and will be expanded in the coming months. A QRIS
Strategic Planning & Design Process Map was
distributed to the group.
The next steps include meetings of the Implementation
Team and Data Gathering on May 26th, and efforts to
recruit and engage more partners to ready the County
of San Bernardino for future funding opportunities such
as the $190 million IMPACT initiative being offered by
First 5 CA.
Following the research of Professor Heckman and
colleagues, as I have shared many times over the past
several years, there are at least 4 compelling benefits
to investing in Early Childhood Development:
•
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•
•
It
It
It
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can prevent the achievement gap.
can improve health outcomes. can boost earnings.
makes dollars and sense. Quality early learning and development programs can
foster valuable skills, strengthen our workforce, grow
our economy and reduce social spending. All of these
issues would be significantly improved by implementing
a Quality Improvement or Quality Rating System to
markedly expand access to quality early childhood
development programs. Such a system is fundamental
to making sure all kids get a solid start in life.
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