The Office of Early Care and Education, First 5 opened its doors February 2001.
It was established by the Santa Barbara County Child Care Planning Council
(SBCCCPC), the County of Santa Barbara, the Santa Barbara County Education
Office, and the Santa Barbara Program Improvement Consortium. In July 2004 the office became a program of Santa
Barbara County FIRST 5 Children and Families Commission. The Office of Early Care and Education, First 5 provides the support and structure
needed for parents, professionals, and community members to attain quality,
accessible early care and education services for children in Santa Barbara
County. Along with the coordination and integration of early care and
education services, the office provides support in program accreditation,
program improvement, and staff retention and training. The office also
serves as a clearinghouse of information, expertise, and resources on
early care and education issues.
Early Care & Education Coordinator
The Early Care & Education Coordinator will provide the leadership and continuity needed to attain the goal of quality, affordable, and accessible care for young children, with a special focus on under-served or high-need populations, including socially and geographically isolated areas and children with special needs. The Coordinator will facilitate the collection of data to support efforts to reach this goal, act as a clearinghouse of information on early care and education, and work with government, business, providers and the community to expand the county's early care and education capacity.
Inform the community about Early Care and Education-
A clearinghouse of information about early care and education issues has been collected, with new and updated information continually being added, including:
Data - a comprehensive collection of essential local, state and national early care and education facts and figures.
Child care capacity development - concrete information on how to start up or expand child care programs, what financing is available, and how to navigate the zoning and planning permit maze.
Trends and research - the latest on brain development, quality early care and education environments, building community child care capacity, the child care subsidy funding outlook, and more.
Corporate-sponsored child care - numerous resources to help employers implement family-friendly policies and benefits, start a child care program for employees, and reap the tax benefits of many of these practices. Also available are step-by-step instructions for employers who wish to strengthen the economic health of the community by partnering with others to support child care.
Early care and education providers, employers, parents, policy makers and the community at large will be able to access the information they need to support initiatives and make informed decisions regarding early care and education in Santa Barbara County.
The Clearinghouse can be accessed through:
resource libraries at both our north and south county offices,
this website, or
by calling, emailing or writing to the Office of Early Care and Education
Work with employers to implement child care and family-friendly policies for their employees -
through workshops, newsletters, access to clearinghouse materials, and one-on-one technical assistance, employers can learn how to support their employees, increase loyalty and reduce absenteeism by establishing:
Dependent Care Assistance Plans
Cafeteria-style benefit options
Child care resource and referral services
Flex-Time and leave policies
Child care benefits, vouchers or scholarships
Employer sponsored child care
Other policies that create a work/life balance for employees
Reduce land-use barriers to child care capacity development -
the Early Care and Education Child Care Permit Assistance Project provides information, clear directions and an advocate to guide those committed to opening or expanding a child care center or family child care home through the planning permit process. Funded by a planning grant from the Santa Barbara County Children and Families Commission, the project will also work with city and county planners to streamline the process and create a plan to mitigate arduous regulations and fees.
The Program Quality Improvement Project is a program of the Office of Early Care and Education, First 5. The project focuses on improving the quality of
early care and education programs throughout Santa Barbara County.
The project has two focus areas: Training and Retention
Stipends and Pilot Accreditation.
The Program Quality Improvement Project has two major activities:
1. The Accreditation Facilitation Project
Selected early care and education centers and family child care homes
will receive support to gain national accreditation through the National
Association for the Education of Young Children or the National Association
of Family Child Care. Accreditation is a voluntary system of self study and evaluation that ensures high standards of care and education. Support to these programs is available in the form of training,
mentoring, and financial resources to implement improvements.
2. Provider Training and Retention Stipends
Each year stipends are awarded to family child care providers and
center staff to encourage increased training and retention in the field
of early care and education. The goal of the STAR Project is to support providers in earning A.A. and B.A. degrees in ECE.
Santa Barbara County Child Care Planning Council (SBCCCPC)
The Santa Barbara County Child Care Planning Council (SBCCCPC) plans, coordinates,
and advocates high quality, affordable early care and education services
for all children and families countywide. The council was instituted in
1991 to oversee the distribution of Federal Child Care Block Grants. In
1998 it was designated by the State as a local child Care Planning Council,
responsible for planning the delivery of quality early care and education
services in Santa Barbara County.
Membership in the council is by appointment but is open to individuals
interested in promoting the availability of high quality, affordable early
care and education services. Currently it includes early care and education
professionals, consumers (parents), public and private agency representatives
and early care and education advocates. If you would like information about
becoming a member, please contact:
Valerie Kolstad
SBCCCPC Coordinator
3970 La Colina Road, Room 6
P.O. Box 6307
Santa Barbara, CA 93160
(805) 964-4710 ext. 4473 sbcccpc@sbceo.org
THE SBCCCPC Strategic Plan
In 1998 local child care planning councils
were charged with the task of developing a comprehensive countywide child
care plan designed to mobilize public and private resources to address
identified child care needs. The Santa Barbara County Strategic Plan for
Early Care and Education proposes ten "Desired Results" to address local
needs. A plan of action to achieve each of the "Desired Results" has been
developed and appropriate strategics and players are identified to enact
the plan. The SBCCCPC Strategic Plan is available online in Adobe PDF
format. The link to the plan can be found below.
