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Mayor’s office outlines plan to form an independent Office of Early Care and Education
Summary
The mayor’s office proposed consolidating seven existing, budgeted positions from First 5, DCYF and HSA into a new independent Office of Early Care and Education; the office would prioritize 0–5 low‑income and high‑need children while using existing staff and space to limit new costs.
The mayor’s office presented a plan on June 25 to create an independent Office of Early Care and Education (OECE) by consolidating existing, budgeted positions now spread across multiple departments.
Hydro Mendoza, speaking for the mayor’s office, said the proposal would bring together seven funded positions from the Department of Children, Youth and Their Families, First 5 and the Human Services Agency under a new director appointed by the mayor. "All seven of the positions that are coming over are already requisitions that exist and are budgeted for," Mendoza said; HSA would provide back‑office services (HR, contracting, IT and accounting) to avoid creating new city administrative overhead.
The office’s work would focus on system areas including access to early care, workforce development, and increasing system capacity, and would prioritize children 0–5 with attention to low‑income families, English language learners, undocumented children, foster youth and children with special needs. Mendoza said departments are jointly funding the director and the plan anticipates recruiting a director with community input and bringing staff together in existing city space to avoid new rent costs; a director selection and onboarding timeline aims for an August selection and a September–October office opening.
Supervisors expressed conditional support but asked the mayor’s office and departments to finalize oversight mechanics, fiscal responsibilities and community advisory arrangements. Supervisor Avalos praised the collaborative process and noted remaining details around oversight and funding. Supervisor Kim asked the new office to prioritize a response to pending state early‑care funding cuts and to engage on land‑use strategies to secure childcare capacity in large developments.
What’s next: the departments will continue technical work on job descriptions, management oversight and space, with the mayor to name finalists for director in August and an operational office expected in the early fall. The committee did not take a formal vote on the creation package at this hearing.
