As we welcome the fresh start of a new year, I am filled with hope and excitement for the opportunities to strengthen our connections in support of families with young children in Contra Costa County. At First 5 Contra Costa, we are continually evolving to meet the needs of young children and families, and while we plan for the future, we must also reflect on our efforts and their impact:
- Celebrating 25 years: Last year, we celebrated 25 years of a shared commitment that Contra Costa’s children ages 0 to 5 will be healthy, ready to learn, and supported in safe, nurturing families and communities.
- Serving more families: We are happy to share that our First 5 Centers continue to serve more families each year, remain committed to providing culturally affirming programing, and are developing strategies to attract families that have traditionally been underserved.
- Increase in children screened: We continue to build the capacity of professionals and the systems they work within to adopt proven prevention and early intervention approaches. In our Help Me Grow System, this commitment has contributed to an increase in the number of children screened with the Ages & Stages Questionnaire tools over the last two years.
- Improving inclusion in early care & education: In FY 2023-2024, we began a multi-year effort to improve early childhood education programs’ ability to effectively include children with disabilities (diagnosed or undiagnosed), developmental concerns, and social-emotional delays.
If you would like to learn more about our agency-wide efforts in FY 2023-24 and their collective impact on families with young children, click here to download our Community Impact Report.
Looking forward, we aspire to continue to strengthen our efforts to eliminate disparities and create equitable opportunities and outcomes for people of color and low-income families in our county. Through our continued partnership with the Dean & Margaret Lesher Foundation on our Ready Kids East County Initiative, we will begin the next phase of our systems-change effort to improve the school-readiness of African American and Black children living in East Contra Costa. Thanks to securing state funding through the Children and Youth Behavioral Initiative, we will also continue our efforts to expand access to the Positive Parenting Program (Triple P) to further our engagement with Latinx, African American and Black, and unstably housed families.
To advance these efforts and achieve our shared vision, we must increase our investments in children’s most critical years. I invite you to join us in working hand-in-hand with our county and community partners to better integrate funding and resources to support families and foster the development and well-being of Contra Costa’s youngest children.
Thank you to all our Commissioners, friends, partners, families, and staff, as we continue to build bridges and advance our vision that all of Contra Costa’s children are healthy and ready to learn in safe, nurturing environments. I look forward to working with all of you in the new year and I am excited and hopeful about the future for our children, families, and community.
On behalf of the team at First 5 Contra Costa and yours truly,
Ruth Fernández, Ed.D.
Executive Director
First 5 Contra Costa


Funding Opportunity to Address Mental Health Needs for Children Ages 0 to 5

First 5 Contra Costa is excited to share that its partner Contra Costa Health has released a Request for Proposals funding opportunity for nonprofits in our county to deliver services that support the mental health of children ages 0 to 5 and their families. This RFP is the result of the early childhood advocates and other service providers advocating to the Board of Supervisors and other leaders about the many unmet mental health needs of our county’s youngest children.
We would like to thank all who voiced these needs of our families with young children, and we appreciate our County Board of Supervisors who allocated a total of $1.4 million per year of Measure X funding (our county’s new sales tax measure) to begin to address these unmet mental health needs among young children and other populations.
Through this RFP there will be up to $700,000 per year awarded for services such as:
- Infant and Early Childhood Mental Health Consultation
- Navigation support, outreach and engagement of parents/caregivers, including educational events about child development and early prevention, as well as transportation support
- Developmental and mental health screenings
- Pre-treatment engagement visits
Note: Provider types may include a combination of qualified peer providers, BA- and Master-level providers as well as supervisors who can guide and support the work of the team.
Those interested in applying are required to attend a bidder’s conference on Monday, January 6, 2025 at 3pm:
https://cchealth.zoom.us/j/5830624772
Click here for more information and to view the full RFP


Effort Launches to Boost Child Care Wages in Our County
The Child Care Boost Initiative, a wage enhancement program for early childhood educators in Contra Costa County will be launching in early 2025 thanks to the advocacy and stakeholder input of our local child care workforce and leaders! CocoKids will be implementing the program using county Measure X sales tax funding allocated by the Board of Supervisors. The initial pilot program, designed through a stakeholder engagement process led by First 5 Contra Costa, will provide approximately $1,000 per month for 18 months to 120 child care professionals in direct care roles. The program aims to retain child care professionals who work in child care deserts, or areas of our county where families have too few options for child care. By supporting child care professionals, this program will also be providing stability for the hundreds of families who depend on those child care programs to go to work. First 5 Contra Costa will lead the evaluation efforts for this pilot.
Help spread the word to child care professionals about the upcoming information sessions to learn more and how they can apply for the program:
To learn more about how the pilot program was developed with child care provider input and based on research, and the many supporters of this pilot effort, visit our Early Learning Workforce web page.


Promoting Early Intervention Through Training on Developmental Screenings
Routine, evidence-based developmental screenings support early identification and interventions that foster children’s optimal development and families’ connection to resources. As part of First 5 Contra Costa’s Help Me Grow effort to promote such screenings, staff led trainings on how to use these tools in early care and education programs to 26 providers on December 7.
The training day at the First 5 Contra Costa Conference Center consisted of two trainings – both focused on an evidence-based developmental screening tool called the Ages & Stages Questionnaire. The morning session focused on a version of the tool that addresses all aspects of a child’s development – known as the ASQ-3. The afternoon session focused on a version of the tool that focuses on social emotional development specifically – the ASQ:SE-2. Some participants took one training while others took both. Participants received hands-on practice administering and interpreting these developmental screening tools, how to discuss results with families, and how to determine next steps in response to screening.


Lincoln Families and an East County First 5 Center Family Highlighted in Share the Spirit Campaign
“I feel as though the center is my home away from home,” shares Okeena Dickson, a mother from Antioch. “As soon as I get to the center and see the friendly, smiling faces of the staff and even other parents, I immediately feel relieved and I am able to live and be in the moment with my children as they experience life.”
Lincoln Families, who operate the East County First 5 Center in partnership with First 5 Contra Costa, was recently highlighted by the East Bay Times as a part of their Share the Spirit Campaign—a special annual drive during the holiday season. In the article, Okeena and George Dickson, immigrants from Guyana who have a 22-month-old son and a 6-month-old son, share how the center in Pittsburg offers a place for families with young children to gather, provides parent/child learning opportunities, and serves as a resource where families can have access to a helping hand for basic care or concrete supports in times of need.
George and Okeena moved from the east coast to Antioch three years ago, and were challenged balancing their jobs and family demands without any extended family close by. Okeena was pregnant with her second son when she discovered the East County First 5 Center. Okeena reflected on her experience being interviewed: “It felt great to be able to share my experience at the First 5 centers and potentially influence others to participate in the center.” For Okeena and George, the First 5 Center has become a vital support network for their young family.
Click here to read the full article


First 5 Contra Costa Welcomes Dr. Arash Daneshzadeh as the new Early Childhood Program Officer
First 5 Contra Costa is pleased to announce and welcome Dr. Arash Daneshzadeh as the new Early Childhood Program Officer.
Dr. Daneshzadeh has 20+ years of experience advancing educational equity and public health and brings a strong commitment to addressing social inequities and education access. He is a certified organizational coach, a trauma-informed systems specialist, and in his most recent role, provided capacity-building strategies and tools for agencies that serve historically-marginalized children and families.
Over the last 10+ years he has taught classes on early childhood, creating equitable organizational leadership, and inclusive campus environments across Bay Area universities, including at the Graduate School of Education at the University of San Francisco and Stanford. He serves as chair or co-chair for numerous Bay Area community and advocacy organizations and coalitions with his focus on school sanctioned inequities, healing-centered pedagogy, and supporting traumatized children grappling with systemic violence.
Please join us in welcoming Dr. Arash Daneshzadeh, who began his new role on December 16. His knowledge of trauma-informed systems and strong academic background in education and restorative justice, and vast experience working in partnership with BIPOC and marginalized groups, including the refugee community, will help us further our mission to ensure our county’s young children are healthy, ready to learn, and supported in safe, nurturing families and communities.