Funding Alert: First 5 Centers

Improving Services to Reach Families Most in Need

First 5 Contra Costa is issuing a Request for Qualifications (RFQ) for community-based organizations to operate a First 5 Center. A total of $5,534,033 will be awarded for a two-and-a-half year period starting January 1, 2018.

It’s been five years since we’ve conducted a procurement process for the First 5 Centers. The need to engage in this routine bidding process provided an opportunity to carefully assess the centers, the populations they serve, and demographic changes throughout Contra Costa County. The results of this assessment informed how we’ll be funding First 5 Centers going forward, particularly in East County.

Instead of funding three small First 5 Centers as we do now in East County, we plan to fund two large regional centers in order to serve more families and reach families most in need. The regional sites will be located in Pittsburg and Antioch to address the demographic shifts and growing needs for families with young children in these cities.

The Monument and West County First 5 Center locations will not change.

As you’ll see from the RFQ, operating either location in East County will require willingness to transition from the current East County configuration to the new one. Families will continue to be served during the transition. Overall, funding for the First 5 Centers will increase under the new plan.

Funding is available for four First 5 Center sites:

  • Delta First 5 Center: new site (tbd) in Antioch, serving Antioch and far east county
  • East County First 5 Center: new site in Pittsburg, serving Bay Point and Pittsburg
  • Monument First 5 Center: same site, serving Concord
  • West County First 5 Center: same site, serving San Pablo and Richmond

See these links for more information and to apply: