We Come Together as One to Create Loving and Safe Communities
Statement from First 5 Contra Costa Executive Director
To our Asian, Asian American, and Pacific Islander friends, neighbors and families: we stand with you in your grief, rage, and calls for justice in response to the anti-Asian violence we’ve recently witnessed, from Atlanta to closer to home in San Francisco and Oakland. Many of us and the families we serve see ourselves and the people we love in the lives that racism and white supremacy have stolen. On behalf of First 5 Contra Costa, I extend our support and solidarity to all those who have experienced loss and trauma as a result of the ongoing attacks on communities of color in this country.
It takes only looking at the past few weeks to recognize the pervasive systemic racism we’re up against, whether it is the shootings of six Asian American women in Atlanta and the mounting violence against the Asian American and Pacific Islander communities, the 1-year anniversary of Breonna Taylor’s murder, or the deplorable outlook thousands of migrant children and families currently face at the southern border.
These events are all part of a system of white supremacy and oppression, whose chief aim is to strip us of our humanity, divide us, and designate some of us as less worthy of safety, a home, dignity, and care. This aim is 1) morally wrong and 2) a threat to our vision that all of Contra Costa’s children are healthy, ready to learn, and supported in safe, nurturing families and communities.
This moment calls on us to heighten our efforts to root out systems of oppression and dismantle them, and to join, shoulder to shoulder with families and our partners, in working toward policies, systems, and services rooted in justice and a celebration of our common humanity. Only by acknowledging our shared struggles and working together will we build a world where all children thrive.
In solidarity,
Ruth Fernández, Ed.D.
Executive Director
First 5 Contra Costa
How to Talk to Children About Racism
- The Conscious Kid, an education, research, and policy organization dedicated to equity and promoting healthy racial identity development in youth: https://www.theconsciouskid.org/
- Embrace Race, raising a generation of children who are thoughtful, informed, and brave about race: https://www.embracerace.org/
- Raising Race Conscious Children, a resource for talking about race with young children: http://www.raceconscious.org/
- Teaching Tolerance, to help teachers and schools educate children and youth to be active participants in a diverse democracy: https://www.tolerance.org/
How to Find Support with Trauma and Mental Health
- BEAM, to remove the barriers that Black people experience getting access to or staying connected with emotional health care and healing. https://www.beam.community
- Contra Costa Crisis Center, if you are in need of someone to speak with or listen, dial 2-1-1 to access the Contra Costa Crisis Center, available 24-7 to help people through crisis, and provide or connect them with culturally relevant resources in the community. https://www.crisis-center.org/
- RYSE Center, a safe space building youth power for young people to love, heal, and lead. https://rysecenter.org/
Additional Ways to Support Our Community
- Asian Americans Advancing Justice, is fighting for civil rights and empowering Asian Americans to create a more just America for all: https://www.advancingjustice-aajc.org/
- Black Lives Matter, builds power to bring justice, healing, and freedom to Black people across the globe. https://blacklivesmatter.com/
- Change.org, to sign or start a petition: https://www.change.org/
- Color of Change, to help people respond effectively to injustice in the world around us: https://colorofchange.org/
- Hollaback!, is on a mission to end harassment—in all its forms: https://www.ihollaback.org/
- Moms Rising, where moms and people who love them go to change the world: https://www.momsrising.org/
- Stand Together Contra Costa, ensures that all immigrant families in Contra Costa are afforded free immigration due-process rights: https://standtogethercontracosta.org/
Together We Can Make a Change
At First 5 Contra Costa, our work is grounded in our commitment to diversity and inclusion, equity, cultural humility, and community partnerships. These core values drive our work and our conviction that Black Lives Matter.
Over the weekend, our communities exploded in grief, pain, and outrage over the horrifying killing of George Floyd in Minnesota, and the callous way a white woman used her privilege to weaponize the police against a black man in New York. Both of these events are compounded by the COVID-19 global pandemic, which has placed a disproportionate burden of illness, death and hardship on racial and ethnic minority groups.
Racism has a deep and lasting impact that terrorizes and traumatizes children and families, creating a sense of hopelessness and despair. Our community should not have to fear that they will be treated differently and harmed because of the color of their skin.
Together, we must dismantle and eradicate cultural, systemic and institutional racism. Every African-American child has the human right to grow up in a just society with access to quality education, equitable health care, and a criminal justice system that is fair.
All leaders must stand in solidarity with the African-American community. Those with influence and privilege must use it to address inequitable systems and hold one another accountable.
In this moment, all of us are called to live our values, to stand together, to work together, and to be courageous together, because all young children deserve better.
First 5 Contra Costa envisions that all young children will be healthy, ready to learn, and supported in safe, nurturing families and communities. We are committed to creating a space with community to listen, to learn, and to act in support of our children. Together we can create the change we want to see.
I stand for love and justice for myself and for all others.
In solidarity,
Ruth Fernández, Ed.D.
Executive Director
First 5 Contra Costa
Resources that can be shared widely with community:
How to Talk to Children About Racism
- Embrace Race, raising a generation of children who are thoughtful, informed, and brave about race: https://www.embracerace.org/
- Raising Race Conscious Children, a resource for talking about race with young children: http://www.raceconscious.org/
- Teaching Tolerance, to help teachers and schools educate children and youth to be active participants in a diverse democracy: https://www.tolerance.org/
How to Find Support with Trauma and Mental Health
- BEAM, to remove the barriers that Black people experience getting access to or staying connected with emotional health care and healing. https://www.beam.community
- Zero To Three, Racism and Violence: Using Your Power as a Parent to Support Children Aged Two to Five. https://www.zerotothree.org/resources/1598-racism-and-violence-using-your-power-as-a-parent-to-support-children-aged-two-to-five
- Contra Costa Crisis Center, if you are in need of someone to speak with or listen, dial 2-1-1 to access the Contra Costa Crisis Center, available 24-7 to help people through crisis, and provide or connect them with culturally relevant resources in the community. https://www.crisis-center.org/
Additional Ways to Support Our Community
- Black Lives Matter, builds power to bring justice, healing, and freedom to Black people across the globe. https://blacklivesmatter.com/
- Change.org, to sign or start a petition: https://www.change.org/
- Color of Change, to help people respond effectively to injustice in the world around us: https://colorofchange.org/
- Moms Rising, where moms and people who love them go to change the world: https://www.momsrising.org/
COVID-19 Further Accelerating Disparities in Housing, Income, and Race
COVID-19 has laid bare many flaws in our social safety net. In communities of color, the virus has thrown into sharp focus the many ways in which systems contribute to the increased vulnerability of Black and Brown children and families, particularly the lack of affordable housing and the constant threat of eviction.
Eviction pushes families deeper into poverty, disturbs the stability of their daily lives and lowers parents’ capacity to help their children weather those challenges. For children, the level of stress, anxiety and fear that eviction can cause can adversely affect their development and overall health. 15% of children in Contra Costa County have experienced 2 or more Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs), which increase their risk for chronic diseases, as well as their capacity for developing healthy social and emotional skills. Young children depend on stable, responsive, and nurturing relationships to buffer sustained toxic stress endured in the home environment when “basic” necessities such as food and housing are threatened.
Race and place defines who does well and who does not. A new report by Bay Area Equity Atlas shows that essential workers are disproportionately people of color, women, and immigrants. In Contra Costa, 40% of frontline workers have children at home, and 42% pay more than a of third of their income on rent.
The initial eviction moratorium enacted by the Contra Costa Board of Supervisors was a good first step, but there is more to do to protect our most vulnerable families in Contra Costa County.
Here are four actions the Board can take to combat this crisis that threatens the health and economic well-being of our community.
- Extend the Eviction and Rent Moratorium Beyond May 31st: tie the moratorium to 30 days beyond the lifting of the County’s Health Emergency Order. As these orders are preventing many renters and tenants from working, this timeframe will allow renters breathing room to get back on their feet and find employment. The extension will also further protect low-income families and essential workers, allowing them to stay in their homes.
- Equitable Relief Funds: Provide economic assistance through local, state, and federal resources to cash-strapped tenants, homeowners, and small property owners. Without this assistance, tenants’ inability to pay rent will cause a ripple effect in the economy, including threatening the livelihoods of many local landlords.
- Extend the Grace Period: Cuts in federal and state funding, including elimination of State Redevelopment, have reduced investment in affordable housing production, and the resulting housing shortage has led to Contra Costa residents paying an average rent of $2,731. Currently, the County’s grace period only allows a total of four months for repayment. Under the current moratorium, tenants would be expected to pay up to double their usual rent for four consecutive months in order to avoid eviction during a crisis that has prevented people from earning a check through no fault of their own. The County must implement policies to keep people from being evicted as our community recovers from the pandemic.
- Tenant Education: Expand public education, hotlines, and other strategies. It is imperative to widely disseminate tenant protection information. There’s ample evidence from tenant community organizations that the County hasn’t done enough to spread the word, especially in economically and linguistically marginalized communities.
The time to act is now. If nothing further is done, COVID-19 will continue to burn through our communities, causing more residents and their children to risk being pushed into homelessness. Immediate action today will pay dividends for the entire county tomorrow.
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Dr. Ruth Fernández, Ed.D. is Executive Director at First 5 Contra Costa with over 20 years of knowledge and experience working in early childhood, with diverse communities in project management, and strategic planning and system services coordination in the education and social services sectors. Previously she spent over 12 years at the Contra Costa County Office of Education and helped to identify and coordinate educational services for educators working in early childhood education throughout the county.
Alma (last name not disclosed due to fear of retaliation) lives in Concord and is a recently single mother, having escaped an abusive relationship. She works cleaning houses to pay rent on her apartment for her and her seven year old child. Alma has now lost all her clients as a result of COVID 19 and Shelter in Place, and has also recently received a notice of a rent increase from her landlord effective June 1.
How the Public Charge Ruling Adversely Affects Our Families and Young Children
As an organization dedicated to the well-being of all families and their young children, we were appalled by the “public charge” ruling that adversely affects immigrant families in our community. We are deeply concerned that this rule expansion will inhibit families from applying for programs and services—or stop receiving them entirely—even if they are eligible or needed.
On Monday, the Supreme Court ruled (5-4) to allow the Trump administration to move forward with the public charge restriction unveiled last August, which disproportionately targets immigrant families by making it more difficult for immigrants seeking to come or those trying to obtain lawful permanent statuses in the United States.
This decision will have life-altering implications for families needing access to services for themselves, or their children. By depriving immigrants of basic needs such as food and housing, the expansion continues to deepen and amplify the climate of fear and deprivation that has become prevalent within immigrant communities and communities of color. It will continue to threaten the health, nutrition, housing, and well-being of young children everywhere.
“This is yet another inequitable attack on our families. The ramifications of the Supreme Court’s ruling will have a chilling effect on our community’s health and education as families continue to live in fear, and chose to seclude and withdraw from essential health services,” said Dr. Ruth Fernández, Executive Director of First 5 Contra Costa.
First 5 Contra Costa believes that it is our shared responsibility to ensure the safety and healthy development of all children. We will continue our unwavering commitment to support, advocate, and partner with immigrant families, continue to fight for equitable access to needed services, and strive towards a future in which every family can thrive.
Although the rule is limited to individuals actively applying for lawful permanent status in the United States, not their families or children, we anticipate a continued wave of drop-off in services that has been reported nation-wide since last fall.
“This will continue to have a direct and devastating impact on the lives of our most vulnerable children and their families. It is a dehumanizing act impacting the wellbeing of immigrant families who contribute greatly to our communities,” added Dr. Ruth Fernández. “As leaders in Contra Costa County, and as a community, we must continue to speak up, advocate, and take action against this injustice.”
In an effort to combat the fear and misinformation, we encourage our communities, our county, and our state to join us in our commitment and movement for united, safe and loving communities.
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For more information on First 5 Contra Costa’s efforts towards a safer, healthier, and more equitable Contra Costa County, please reach out to our Community Engagement and Advocacy Program: http://www.first5coco.org/funded-programs/regional-groupsparent-advocacy/
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To learn more about how Northern California communities are impacted by the public charge rule, below is a partial list of organizations from the California Immigrant Policy Center that can help answer questions and concerns:
- California Immigrant Policy Center
(213) 250-0880 - Services, Immigrant Rights, and Education Network (SIREN)
408-453-3017 - East Bay Community Law Center
510-548-4040 - Immigration Institute of the Bay Area
415 538-8100 ext. 206 - Safe Passages
510-238-4914
For additional immigration services providers:
bit.ly/immigrationhelp
For additional information and resources:
https://protectingimmigrantfamilies.org/
Congressman Mark DeSaulnier Visits East County First 5 Center to Discuss Early Screening and Intervention with Parents
Last week, First 5 Contra Costa was thrilled to meet with Congressman Mark DeSaulnier for a tour of the East County First 5 Center in Pittsburg, and a discussion of our “Help Me Grow” program to improve early screening and intervention. Rep. DeSaulnier is carrying a bill this year that would significantly increase federal funding for developmental services, so children in our counties and others who need help are identified sooner, and helped faster.
Far too often, children arrive at their first day of kindergarten with signs of obvious developmental, behavioral or social challenges. In many cases, this can be prevented through timely developmental screening and early intervention, one of the most important things we can do to promote children’s health in their first years. Yet only 29% of California children receive timely developmental screenings.
First 5 Contra Costa has worked hard to ensure every pediatric provider in our county uses a standard developmental screening tool at recommended intervals. The County’s 211 information and referral service now has trained developmental specialists available to navigate parents to the programs and resources their child needs. And each of our five First 5 Centers—including the one Rep. DeSaulnier visited–has regular developmental playgroups for children with mild to moderate delays and their parents.
But children with more intensive conditions need more intensive services, and those remain harder to access. California’s Regional Center system and school districts are not sufficiently funded to meet the needs of children with autism and other significant developmental conditions. That’s why we’re so excited about Congressman DeSaulnier’s bill.
The bill—The Funding Early Intervention is the Right IDEA Act (HR4107)—would increase funding in two parts of existing law, the Individuals with Disabilities Education ACT (IDEA), over ten years. The IDEA makes free and appropriate education available to eligible children with disabilities from birth to 21 years of age. The DeSaulnier bill would increase funding for Part C of the IDEA, which gives states early intervention funds for infants and toddlers. It would also increase funding for preschool programs serving children with disabilities. Funding levels in both of these areas have eroded to the point that per-child spending is now only about 35% what it was more than two decades ago. Every year, 1 in 4 California children is at moderate or high risk for developmental, behavioral or social delays.
In Contra Costa we’re doing all we can to meet the needs of these children, their families and communities so that every child has their chance to develop to their full potential. But to do so, we’ll need help from our state and federal governments to ensure early childhood programs are fully funded. Congressman DeSaulnier’s bill is a strong step in the right direction.
For more information on Congressman Mark DeSaulnier, please visit:
https://desaulnier.house.gov/
For more information on the Help Me Grow program and early intervention and screening, please visit:
https://helpmegrowcoco.org/
For more information on your local First 5 Center and upcoming programs and activities, please visit:
http://www.first5coco.org/funded-programs/first-5-centers/
Early Childhood Mental Health Community Forum (SOLD OUT)
UPDATE:
The event is at capacity, but will be live-streamed here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6vb3ki-b6OE&feature=youtu.be
In partnership with the County’s Behavioral Health Division, First 5 Contra Costa is sponsoring an Early Childhood Mental Health Community Forum on Saturday, November 2 in Pittsburg. Not only will this be a great opportunity to hear about community needs for children with social and emotional challenges, but it marks an important step in our partnership with Behavioral Health in better understanding the prevention benefits of addressing children in the earliest years.
PERFECT FOR FAMILIES (AND PROVIDERS)
We invite you to lend your voice to the conversation on how to support positive mental health in young children and to learn about the importance of acting early to improve future mental health outcomes. Input gathered will be used in preparation for the Contra Costa County Mental Health Services Act (MHSA) Three Year Program and Expenditure Plan for fiscal years 2020-2023.
- Information on local resources
- Complimentary continental breakfast, light lunch, and refreshments to be provided
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Pittsburg Senior Center
300 Presidio Lane, Pittsburg
Saturday, November 2, 2019
10am to 1pm
On-site registration begins at 9:30am
Live-stream available: https://youtu.be/SJDOykDyl44
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Contact the MHSA Office in advance if you need language translation services, directions on how to access public transportation, or any other reasonable accommodations at (925) 957-2617.
Contact Daryn Nabeta at First 5 Contra Costa, for questions about food at dnabeta@first5coco.org.
Please arrive by 9:30am to allow time for check in and registration. The program will start promptly at 10am.
First 5 Contra Costa Stands With Early Childhood Advocates to Oppose Trump Administration’s “Public Charge” Rule
As advocates for young children and families, we at First 5 Contra Costa join our First 5 colleagues across the state, as well as Governor Gavin Newsom and other state leaders in strongly opposing the Trump Administration’s “public charge” rule expansion to take effect October 15, barring legal challenges. This rule, when fully enacted, will allow government officials to deny green cards to immigrant applicants who receive certain public benefits intended to help families meet basic living needs.
This rule change disproportionately targets immigrant families and their young children, depriving them of basic needs such as food and housing. It also comes on the heels of numerous similar attacks that directly affect the health and well-being of children.
For many months, we have seen ongoing, unspeakable acts of cruelty directed at children and their families on our southern border. Children have been separated from their families, kept in inhumane settings that none of us would wish for any child and their parents unable to find them.
More recently, we have seen white domestic terrorism and hate crimes targeting immigrants and people of color in El Paso, Dayton and in Gilroy—where a 6-year-old child was among those murdered. Only days later, we witnessed children traumatized after being separated from their parents in a large-scale Mississippi immigration raid, with many children still living without a parent.
The climate of fear and deprivation that now hangs over immigrant communities and communities of color threatens the health and wellbeing of young children everywhere. Parents are withdrawing children from preschools, avoiding public clinics, and even purchasing bulletproof backpacks.
Healthy child development is dependent on loving and supportive relationships with adults and caregivers of all kinds, in families, communities and society at large. It is our shared responsibility – and to our shared benefit – that we ensure children grow up surrounded by love, compassion and support.
First 5 Contra Costa joins the many community leaders and elected officials who are taking action to oppose these attacks on our communities and families. We encourage our communities, our county, and our state to join us in our commitment that all children are raised in safe, nurturing families and communities.
For more information and resources:
First 5 Contra Costa: Immigration Resources
Congressman Mark DeSaulnier, California’s 11th Congressional District
Statement Regarding Recent Government Actions to Separate Immigrant Children from Their Families
As advocates for the healthy growth and development of young children, we at First 5 Contra Costa are outraged by the horrifying reports and images of the separation of children from their families at our southern border. Our work is based on the scientific knowledge that a healthy childhood is the essential foundation for lifelong growth and development. We know that to build that foundation, every child needs and deserves loving, safe and secure relationships with their parents and caregivers.
Separating children from their parents, especially those who are escaping the stress and trauma of unsafe home communities, introduces needless and unacceptable trauma into their young lives. Severely traumatic childhood events such as these are linked to adult addiction, chronic disease, cancer and heart disease.
We cannot escape the conclusion that a federal policy to remove children from their families is akin to willful child abuse. At times throughout this country’s history, government has unjustly, yet legally separated countless children of color from their families. We recognize the relationship between this dark chapter and others in our history in which young people of color have been traumatized and oppressed.
We condemn these inhumane actions and urge our elected officials and all who stand for families to bring this terrible practice immediately to an end. The children who remain separated from their parents must be immediately reunited. There is no justification for the actions that have occurred in the past several weeks and we hope they will never be replicated.
AB11 Would Expand Developmental Screening
Seventy percent of children with developmental delays go undetected until kindergarten. Developmental screening can help detect delays much earlier, but too few California children receive them. AB11 will change that.
Introduced by Assembly Members Kevin McCarty and Rob Bonta and co-sponsored by the First 5 Association, AB11 would require pediatricians to provide babies and toddlers with routine developmental screening using a validated screening tool. The requirement would apply to children who receive health coverage through Medi-Cal.
According to Children Now, which graded California’s developmental screening practices a “C-“ in their 2018 California Children‘s Report Card, California ranks near the bottom among states for the rate of young kids who receive screening. Screening rates are even lower for children of color.
The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) recommends that children receive developmental screening when they reach 9, 18, and 30 months old. California’s MediCal program has adopted these recommendations, but there is confusion in the medical field about developmental screening practices. Pediatricians often do not use a validated screening tool to identify children at risk for developmental delays, or use screening tools inconsistently.
First 5 Contra Costa has expanded developmental screening services locally in the last few years, screening about 3,000 low-income children every year. We’ve helped community and county health clinics and other pediatricians serving low-income kids adopt screening practices in line with AAP recommendations.
This is a great start, but ensuring all children get the screening and developmental services they need requires policy change. AB11 would provide explicit language requiring how and when pediatricians conduct developmental screening. This will help more young children access timely and effective intervention services and reach their greatest potential.