Using Community Data to Support Kindergarten Readiness
Oakland has a great new data source -- the Early Development Instrument (EDI). This instrument gives us a way to explore, from a neighborhood level, children’s strengths and the challenges they face both pre-kindergarten and once they enter school.
Narrow Loss for Alameda County's Child Care Measure
Over 215,000 Alameda County residents voted in support of a sales tax for child care in June 2018. However, the votes were less than half a percentage point from the ⅔ needed, at 66.2%.
Family separations and family detention are of grave concern to all of us who care about the safety, development, and health of young children. First 5 Alameda County recently adopted a resolution opposing the presidential administration’s “zero tolerance” policy.
From February to June 2018, Oakland Unified School District piloted a weekly playgroup at the Central Family Resource Center for families with children ages birth to 5.
Recently, OUSD Senior Program Coordinator Jackie Portillo and Lotus Bloom Parent Leader Autry Willis shared their thoughts on the pilot playgroup, which will renew in the fall.
Oakland Starting Smart and Strong is working to ensure that every adult in a child’s life has the tools they need to support that child’s development every day.
One of the steps we’ve recently taken towards this goal is to develop a shared framework to strengthen our city’s early childhood community hubs, known as Family Resource Centers (FRCs), that provide multiple services for families and informal caregivers in one location.