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Community leaders urge planning as First 5 funding shrinks; supervisors file hearing record
Summary
Supervisors heard from First 5, OECE and DCYF about programs supporting children 0–5 and the threat posed by declining Proposition 10 tobacco‑tax revenue. Community providers and parents urged sustained investment in family resource centers and early‑childhood supports; the committee filed the hearing for the record.
Supervisor Feuer convened a hearing on First 5 San Francisco to review the program’s history, current services and the funding pressures that come as Proposition 10 tobacco‑tax revenue declines. First 5 Executive Director Ingrid Mesquita, OECE Director September Jarrett and DCYF Executive Director Maria Sue presented data, described service models and called for planning to preserve core services.
Mesquita said First 5’s mandate (created by Prop 10) is to support prenatal through age‑5 services and cross‑sector coordination. She cited local indicators discussed in the record: roughly 25% growth in children born in San Francisco from 2000 to 2017; a reported kindergarten‑readiness figure of about 62%; a finding that only 44% of children received all recommended screenings; and that just 21% of families reported having informal supports to lean on. Mesquita also highlighted First 5 achievements including support for dual‑language immersion, universal preschool access and the Multidisciplinary Assessment Center at Zuckerberg San Francisco General.
September Jarrett of the Office of Early Care and Education described OECE’s role coordinating the city’s birth‑to‑5 strategy, noting efforts to scale quality supports across family childcare homes (the transcript cites a shift from roughly 20 to more than 240 supported family childcare homes) and said the office moves roughly $7,000,000 into First 5 budgets for shared objectives.
Maria Sue of the Department of Children, Youth and Families emphasized DCYF’s funding and partnership role, telling the committee DCYF allocates nearly $17,000,000 to early care and education partners and about $5,200,000 to the Family Resource Center initiative.
More than two dozen community providers, nonprofit directors and parents described how First 5 and Family Resource Centers (FRCs) provide parenting supports, early intervention, mental‑health consultation in early learning settings and culturally responsive services for immigrants and LGBTQ families. Speakers included representatives from Our Family Coalition, Edgewood Center for Children and Families, Safe and Sound, Mission Neighborhood Centers, Instituto Familiar de la Raza and multiple FRC leaders. Testimony emphasized that FRCs provide low‑barrier access to services and urged the city to plan for sustainable funding as tobacco‑tax revenues decline.
After remarks from supervisors and presenters, the committee voted to file the hearing record so the discussion is available to the full Board and city departments for planning and budgeting.
