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Upcoming Commission Meetings

May Commission Meeting

 May 23, 2024 - Commission Meeting

This meeting will be held at:

- TBD
- Zoom

Commission Members

Commission Ex Officio Members

  • Dr. Mark Ghaly, Ex Officio Member
    Health and Human Services Agency
  • Vacant

Policy & Advocacy

First 5 California advocates directly to state and federal policy makers for the strong start all children deserve, with an emphasis on children prenatal through age 5 and their families, to optimize early childhood development and reduce childhood poverty. F5CA’s Strategic Plan and authority granted under Proposition 10 require First 5 California to be a policy leader and partner in order to bring innovation in children’s policy to scale throughout California.

First 5 California’s state and federal policy work is guided by its Children’s Policy Agenda and the latest in research and innovations by its First 5 partners.

In this section you will find First 5 California’s Children’s Policy Agenda, Legislation of Interest, State Legislation & Advocacy, Policy Recommendations including the Transforming the Workforce for Children Birth through Age 8 report, Child Care Provider Stipend Recommendations, and Developing a Single-Rate System Reimbursement Structure for California white paper.

First 5 California 2023-24 Young Children's Policy Agenda

First 5 California annually adopts a Young Children’s Policy Agenda to guide and prioritize all Commission state and federal legislative and regulatory advocacy, aligned to our three Strategic Plan areas.

2023-2024 Young Children’s Policy Agenda
First 5 California’s 2022 Children’s Policy Agenda

First 5 California annually adopts a Children’s Policy Agenda to guide and prioritize all Commission state and federal legislative and regulatory advocacy, aligned to our three Strategic Plan areas.

2022 Children’s Policy Agenda
2021-22 Legislation of Interest

First 5 California takes active positions on prioritized state and federal legislation and policy implementation to achieve the goals of our Children’s Policy Agenda.

2021-22 Legislative Bills of Interest
State Legislation & Advocacy
2021-22 ECE Coalition Budget Letter
2021-22 Joint Budget Letter on Protecting and Increasing Paid Family Leave Wage Replacement
2021-22 Joint Budget Letter on Investing in Early Childhood Mental Health Supports
2021-22 Children’s Health Advocates’ Joint Budget Letter on Improving Health Outcomes for Children
Policy Recommendations

First 5 California Mixed-Delivery Position Paper-2023

To ensure the inclusion of ECE implementers and stakeholders across the mixed-delivery system, this position paper includes insights from a brief survey and two virtual focus groups conducted by First 5 California. Importantly, the reach of the survey and focus groups was not exhaustive, and ECE implementers would likely offer an array of perspectives on the essential assets of each setting that goes beyond what is called out in this report.


Child Care Provider Stipend Recommendations

As the state looks to provide more high-quality early learning opportunities for its young children, the pivotal role of a qualified, professional workforce is amplified. California must create and enhance a coordinated system of support around the ECE workforce. The AB 212 program is an important piece of that system and policies and practices around AB 212 must evolve in order to achieve a comprehensive and equitable system of support. The evolution of AB 212 and the principles and recommendations that follow have been envisioned within a context of expanded investment in both AB 212 and other ECE workforce support across all provider types.


Developing a Single-Rate System Reimbursement Structure for California

California needs a single, regionalized reimbursement rate system for child care, preschool, and early learning services that achieves the following vision:

  • Compensates all teachers and providers for the true cost of providing care by reimbursing them at rates that reflect the economic diversity of California,
  • Recognizes the costs of meeting varying quality standards and regulations, and
  • Strengthens the ability of the state’s mixed delivery system to provide quality early learning options.


First 5 California supports the development of short and long term state policy recommendations, in partnership with other organizations, in order to achieve the goals of our Children’s Policy Agenda. First 5 California is a partner in a statewide systems change effort based on recommendations from the Institutes of Medicine and National Research Council’s report: Transforming the Workforce for Children Birth through Age 8: A Unifying Foundation.

For more information, visit http://twb8-ca.net/.


Employment Opportunities

There are no employment opportunities at this time.