First 5 Contra Costa is leading a project focused on creating more inclusive early care and education environments for children with disabilities, developmental concerns, and social-emotional delays.
Through this effort, we will create more inclusive early care and education spaces that provide children, families and providers with the support they need to be healthy and ready to learn. The process will include interviews and focus groups with parents of children, early learning educators, and community organizations who work with children with disabilities, delays or concerns. Information will also be drawn from the 2020 Inclusion Blueprint developed by the Contra Costa County Office of Education in collaboration with other early childhood agencies. The community input will result in a plan with recommendations on how to build the capacity of early childhood education programs by increasing their knowledge, skills, and resources to better include children with disabilities, delays or concerns.
Celebrating our Inclusion Convening on Neurodiversity
Thank you to everyone who attended the Inclusion Convening on Neurodiversity on Saturday, May 17, and to the wonderful speakers and partners who shared their stories, knowledge, and experiences with the attendees. We had more than 100 people attend the event designed for child care providers that offered inspiration, approaches and resources to serve neurodiverse children ages 0–5. The event included a keynote speaker, two workshops, and a panel discussion with families that include children with neurodiversity, in addition to a resource fair with local early intervention providers and community organizations.
Click here to learn more about the event, including downloading the presentations from each session.
Coming soon: Be sure to keep an eye out for fully recorded videos of each sessions in the next couple of weeks.
Read the report!
We are pleased to share a report summarizing the findings of a community engagement process, led by First 5 Contra Costa, that aimed to gather input on ways to improve early childhood programs’ ability to effectively include children with disabilities (diagnosed or undiagnosed), developmental delays, and social-emotional concerns, and their families.
Between March 2024 and July 2024, First 5 Contra Costa and Cardea, conducted interviews, focus groups, and meaning making sessions to understand ways to support inclusive spaces for children with disabilities. In August 2024, we held two community convenings to share findings from the community engagement process, unveil emerging recommendations, and gather community perspectives and priorities related to the recommendations.
The report outlines a summary of themes from the community input and recommendations for making early learning programs in our county more inclusive of all children.
Click here to download the full report and executive summary in English.
Click here to download the full report and executive summary in Spanish.
Click here to download the executive summary in Chinese.
Video: Promoting Inclusive Learning Environments
First 5 Contra Costa is committed to supporting early childhood educators to build inclusive early learning environments. We’ve created a video and landing page that highlights some commonly used tools and strategies for how to adapt your current environment and curriculum to support all children in your care. Click here to learn more about these tools and resources for Early Learning Providers
Inclusion-Focused Trainings
In addition to our community engagement efforts, First 5 Contra Costa recently offered a series of trainings to early care and education providers on inclusion strategies. These trainings were designed to promote children’s learning, development, and sense of belonging in inclusive, accessible early care and education environments.
Through this effort, we are helping to create more inclusive early care and education spaces that provide children, families and providers with the support they need to be healthy and ready to learn.
Thank you to all who participated and contributed to making these no-cost professional development opportunities a success. Stay tuned for future trainings and resources.
Background
This project is supported by local county Measure X funding and state Proposition 10 funding that First 5 Contra Costa pledged to add to the project.
First 5 Contra Costa was charged with leading a community engagement process to identify ways to improve early childhood programs’ ability to effectively include children with disabilities (diagnosed or undiagnosed), developmental concerns, and social-emotional delays, and their families. The process included interviews and focus groups with parents of children, early learning educators, and community organizations who work with children with disabilities, delays or concerns. Information was also drawn from the 2020 Inclusion Blueprint developed by the Contra Costa County Office of Education in collaboration with other early childhood agencies. The community engagement process resulted in recommendations to support early childhood education programs’ ability to include children of all abilities.
Measure X is a countywide 20-year, ½ cent sales tax approved by Contra Costa County voters on November 3, 2020. The ballot measure language included an intent to invest in early childhood services, and First 5 Contra Costa is excited that the Board of Supervisors allocated these local funds to address this early childhood need in the county. The Board of Supervisors initially allocated $450,000 per year of Measure X funds to the effort, and in FY 2024 and FY 2025 First 5 Contra Costa pledged $200,000 per year in Proposition 10 funding.
If you are interested in learning more about this effort, please reach out to Emily Hampshire (she/they), Program Coordinator at ehampshire@first5coco.hyperarts.com.
