To support the work of the Community Partnerships and provide essential services for young children and their families, FIRST 5 funds an array of services, supports and activities. Many of these services are available to children prenatal through age five Countywide. Others are reserved for children and their families who live in designated school attendance areas, are enrolled in one of the pilot projects, and/or families who meet other eligibility criteria (e.g. Mental Health MediCal criteria.)

Family Partners

The Family Partner Program is the centerpiece of the System of Care. Family Partners are paraprofessionals trained to engage and assist parents and caregivers of children prenatal through age 5 to identify family strengths, unique concerns and priorities. Family Partners provide support in accessing and coordinating needed services.

The FIRST 5 Family Partner Program is based on the Cornell University Family Development Model. Partner agencies throughout Santa Clara County will employ Family Partners to provide support and advocacy to identified families. The primary role of the Family Partner is to help identify the family’s strengths, wants and needs, and to assist in securing appropriate services.

Family Partners perform preliminary assessments for developmental delays (using the ASQ and ASQ-SE) and refer children to further assessment and services as needed. Consent forms are used to obtain and share information about participating family members in order to provide comprehensive, coordinated care. Family Partners also assist families with health insurance needs and preschool enrollment as appropriate.

Health Care

FIRST 5 understands and actively supports programs that help provide universal access to quality, timely and consistent health care. The primary goal of these programs is to ensure that children are born healthy and experience optimal physical, social, emotional and cognitive health and development. Programs under the Health Care umbrella include health insurance (through Healthy Kids) and oral health services.

Healthy Kids is a low-cost comprehensive health, dental, and vision insurance with monthly premiums ranging from $4 per child to a maximum of $18 per family. This program is available to families with children age 19 and under. Healthy Kids was created by a public-private partnership and is administered by the Santa Clara Family Health Plan. FIRST 5 Santa Clara County funds are used to cover children prenatal through age five enrolled in Healthy Kids.

Additionally, FIRST 5 Program Specialists and AmeriCorps members utilize a community canvassing campaign known as Knock and Talk to provide health insurance information to families who may be experiencing isolation and/or barriers to accessing needed services.

For more information: www.chikids.org
Administration Office: 408-874-1999
Enrollment Assistance: 1-888-244-5222

FIRST 5’s Oral Health program includes oral health education and training, simple restorative care and intensive intervention and treatment (e.g. sedation dental services as needed).

Therapeutic Services

Through a partnership with the Santa Clara County Department of Mental Health, FIRST 5 supports a continuum of child and family interventions and treatment services. Services include consultations for a child’s behavior, structured behavioral programs, dyadic and triadic therapy, and other services that are appropriate for high-risk children birth through age five and their families. Therapeutic services will be implemented first in the pilot project areas, and then will be expanded to serve MediCal eligible young children and families throughout the County.

Home Visitation

FIRST 5’s Home Visitation Program provides support, guidance and coaching to parents and caregivers in the pilot projects. Using the Parent Infant Toddler Caregiver (PITC) Model, home visitors will work with parents/caregivers of identified four year olds in the child’s home environment. They will provide support on a range of child development issues including health and nutrition, coping with special needs and effective parenting. Public Health Nurses will provide specialized Home Visitation services for medically fragile infants and toddlers in the High Risk Infant Follow-Up Program.

Kit for New Parents

The California Children and Families Commission (First 5 California) produces and distributes the Kit for New Parents. First 5 works with local hospitals and agencies to promote distribution, as well as distributing the kits at community events. The free Kit for New Parents is a comprehensive resource for new and expecting parents. The kit is based on scientific knowledge about the importance of the early years. It translates these concepts into practical information parents and caregivers can incorporate into daily life with their child. The kit includes:

1. Six celebrity-hosted videos about a child’s early years. These videos provide a wealth of information on raising healthy, self-confident, happy children who are learning and ready to reach their greatest potential.
2. Eight pamphlets that provide more information about the topics in the videos
3. A Parents Guide that provides information, local resources, phone numbers, and useful web sites
4. A children’s book

Kits are currently available in English and Spanish, and will soon be available in Chinese, Vietnamese and Korean. Expectant parents and families who have children up to five years old can order free by calling:

New Parent Kit in English: 800-KIDS 025 (800-543-7025)
New Parent Kit in Spanish: 800-50 NINOS (800-506-4667)

Parent Workshops

Workshops and classes will be offered to parents and caregivers throughout the County. Programs will utilize the Parent Services Project model of family engagement. Content may include a range of topics for parents and caregivers of young children, from dealing with high conflict issues, to understanding the joys and challenges of the first five years, and supporting families with special needs children.

Early Care and Education

FIRST 5 understands the importance of the first five years and knows that success in school leads to success in life. That is why FIRST 5 Santa Clara County is working with the statewide School Readiness Initiative to support programs that demonstrate a coordinated, research-based approach to early care and education. The goal is not only to have children and families ready for school—but to make sure schools are ready for all children.

The FIRST 5 funded Comprehensive Approaches to Raising Education Standards (CARES) program is designed to promote, reward, and encourage educational attainment among early education professionals in the County. Caregivers may receive stipends for continued professional growth and development. The CARES program is implemented by the E3 Institute in partnership with four community-based agencies and community colleges throughout the County.

Safe Surrender Baby Project

Safe Surrender allows a parent who is unwilling or unable to care for an infant to surrender the baby confidentially to a Safe Haven Site without fear of arrest or prosecution for child abandonment. FIRST 5 funds this broad public education campaign in collaboration with the Social Services Agency, targeting both the general public as well as high-risk areas. The campaign is designed to create awareness of the Safe Surrender Program through advertisements in ethnic newspapers, public signage (e.g. buses), coordination with FIRST 5 outreach and education programs, and training videos.

Arts Enrichment

FIRST 5 supports community programs and events across the County that are specifically designed to bring the arts to life for young children. With a focus on arts education, accessibility, and an investment in arts programming for children 0 through age 5, the FIRST 5 Arts Enrichment programs will include:

1. Sponsorship of Artsopoliskids.org, an online resource for parents seeking artistic and cultural activities for young children
2. Support for Art Summits and a series of community art events
3. Research, development and distribution of appropriate art education materials and experiences
4. In-service training in art education for parents, early care providers and young artists
5. Special exhibits at the Children’s Discovery Museum including the Woodland Puppet Forest, the Giant Dragon, the Science Laboratory, the Crawl through Tunnel, and the Child-Sized Kaleidoscope.