People Helping People (PHP) has received a two year, $60,000 grant, from the Santa Barbara First 5 Commission to develop a system of education to produce a significant improvement in the quality of early childhood care furnished by the caregiver population known as Family, Friends, and Neighbors (FFN).
First 5, established in 1999 when California voters approved the Proposition 10 Tobacco Tax Initiative, uses revenue from the initiative to support programs focused on early childhood development. Locally, Santa Barbara County currently receives approximately $3.7 million annually to fund projects, conduct evaluation, and advocate for improvements so that “all children are healthy, safe, and ready for kindergarten.” Funds are distributed locally by a County Commission with members appointed from the community by the Board of Supervisors.
The primary focus of First 5’s recent request for proposals was to solicit small grant requests from non-profit organizations that would result in “changes to the way major parts of the community service systems that serve children 0-5 and their families….function. The goal is to make programs more effective by reducing costs and improving results for participants.”
PHP had one of only two requests approved by the First 5 Commission for funding. The request, known as Educating Caregivers to Improve Quality (EC2IQ), establishes a collaborative comprised of 8 non-profit agencies with expertise in family support and early childhood development and learning, two FFN caregivers, and a parent/consumer.
Partner agencies include Family Service Agency, Main Family Resource Center of Carpinteria, Isla Vista Youth Projects, Bethania Preschool, Santa Barbara Unified School District Preschools, Alpha Resource Center, and Santa Barbara County Education Office, Child Development and Health Linkages Programs.
The role of the Collaborative is to establish learning/development objectives for children 0-36 months, develop a curriculum for FFN caregivers, and pilot test the training so that results achieved can be evaluated. Arcelia Sencion, PHP’s Project Coordinator stated that the ultimate goal is to create a program that can be exported around the County.
According to Sencion, First 5 estimates that nearly one-half of children 0-36 months in the County are under the daily supervision of FFN caregivers. “These caregivers do not have licenses and are not required to have training or specific education. They are often used by lower income families that cannot afford licensed care.
Dean Palius, PHP’s C.E.O and EC2IQ Project Director, said that “our work at PHP and at other agencies’ Family Resource Centers around the County is designed to support and strengthen families and is built upon research based proven principles regarding how to help children overcome the risk factors that may be roadblocks to their development and success. These risk factors include child abuse or neglect, exposure to domestic violence, abuse of drugs or alcohol by parents, parental mental illness, food insecurity, and low educational achievement of parents.”
Palius continued, “Our objective is to strengthen the skills of everyone who interacts with children and in the case of EC2IQ, to build the capacity of the caregivers who work all day long with a large segment of infants and toddlers 0-36 months. Evidence clearly shows that building a strong developmental and educational foundation for children is essential to children’s lifelong learning, health, and behavior.
People Helping People is a 501 c-3 non-profit organization dedicated to improving the lives of men, women and children in the Santa Ynez Valley, Los Alamos and surrounding areas by addressing emergency and basic needs and furnishing comprehensive integrated family and individual support services. To learn more about EC2IQ program please contact Arcelia Sencion at 688-7353. To learn more about PHP, its programs, and ways that you can help, please visit the PHP web site at www.syvphp.org or call 686-0295.
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