Title
Recommendation to Authorize the City Manager to Execute a Contract in the Amount of $135,000 with First 5 Alameda County for Receipt of a Grant to Implement the Alameda Early Learning Community Network (ELCN) Action Plan. (Community Development)
Body
To: Honorable Mayor and Members of the City Council
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
In 2019, First 5 Alameda County invited city and unincorporated area leaders to join the Early Learning Community Network (ELCN). Participants met throughout the year to develop an “Action Plan” using the Early Learning Community guide developed by the National League of Cities and the Center for the Study of Social Policy. Representatives from the City of Alameda’s (City) Recreation and Park Department, Community Development Department, and Alameda Free Library, joined staff from the Alameda Unified School District (AUSD) and local nonprofit organizations to develop Alameda’s ELCN Action Plan. Funds to implement Action Plan activities became available through First 5 Alameda County in November 2019. The City submitted a proposal and was awarded $135,000 to implement its ELCN Action Plan, known as “Year of the Young Child: Supporting Young Children to be Successful.”
Staff is recommending that the City Council authorize the City Manager to execute a contract with First 5 Alameda County to implement Alameda’s ELCN Action Plan. The Action Plan provides a framework for developing the building blocks for success of children ages 0-5 years.
BACKGROUND
The Alameda Collaborative for Children, Youth, and their Families (ACCYF) is a consortium of public, non-profit, school district, and community leaders co-facilitated by the Mayor, Supervisor Wilma Chan, and President of the Board of Trustees of the Alameda Unified School District (AUSD). ACCYF supported the ELCN initiative and encouraged the formation of a small workgroup to participate in the ELCN workshops organized by First 5 Alameda County. Representatives from AUSD, Child Unique Montessori, Head Start, LitLab, Supervisor Wilma Chan’s office, and the Alameda Free Library, Community Development Department, and Recreation and Parks Department formed the Alameda ELCN team.
Throughout 2019, the Alameda ELCN team attended the First 5 workshops and developed an early learning Action Plan that supports the building blocks for success and kindergarten readiness of Alameda’s children in their first five years of life. Teams with completed Action Plans were eligible to apply for an implementation grant. The City submitted a proposal on behalf of the Alameda ELCN team and ACCYF. First 5 Alameda County approved a grant totaling $135,000 to implement the City’s early learning Action Plan to be allocated as follows: $45,000 for fiscal year 2019-2020 and $90,000 for fiscal year 2020-2021.
DISCUSSION
The “Year of the Young Child: Supporting Young Children to be Successful” is Alameda’s early learning Action Plan. The Plan has four strategies to build the pipeline of Alameda children’s kindergarten readiness:
• Develop a Mobile Family Resource Center
• Support the health of families from the very start
• Provide early screening and assess children for kindergarten readiness
• Recognize and support early childhood education providers
The Mobile Family Resource Center (FRC) will bring out formal supports for families into the community. Rather than a place-based strategy, the mobile FRC alleviates transportation barriers for families to obtain information about resources and access services. Local businesses that host events frequented by targeted families with young children will be approached to allow the FRC’s presence, such as the Saturday Food Trucks at South Shore Shopping Center and the Farmer’s Market on the West End.
Early start is essential to supporting the health of children and families. During the Year of the Young Child, a network of informal parent meet-ups will be established, and existing groups will be connected to formal resources and the Mobile FRC. The Smart, Healthy Babies, which had a presence in Alameda, will be re-established and re-branded as Smart, Healthy Families. Through this program, new parents will be connected to visiting nurses, and information will be provided to these parents on what to expect in the first three years of a child’s life.
Central in the Alameda ELCN Action Plan are early screenings, which include health and behavioral health screenings, to facilitate kindergarten readiness. ELCN will work with early childhood education providers to conduct assessments prior to the child entering kindergarten. Children determined to be in need of support as they enter kindergarten will be connected to AUSD to develop a plan prior to starting school. Parents will also receive a “kindergarten readiness backpack” when the child is around age 4.
During this Year of the Young Child, Alameda’s children are getting set up for success through the ELCN Action Plan that supports families and provides the tools to facilitate kids’ readiness to enter kindergarten. Commitments from community leaders that make up the Alameda ELCN team and ACCYF will ensure that the implementation of the Year of the Young Child is both collaborative and robust.
ALTERNATIVES
Staff recommends that City Council authorize the execution of the contract with First 5 Alameda County.
Alternatively, City Council may:
• decline to approve the contract, or
• decline to receive the grant funds.
FINANCIAL IMPACT
Receipt of these grant funds was included in the mid-year budget adjustment approved by City Council on March 3, 2020.
MUNICIPAL CODE/POLICY DOCUMENT CROSS REFERENCE
This action is consistent with:
• Alameda Municipal Code 2-9.1, the purpose of the Social Service Human Relations Board is “to create an environment which will encourage and bring about mutual understanding, respect, and goodwill among groups of people in the community.”
• The 2020 work plan goal of the Social Service Human Relations Board approved by City Council on January 7, 2020 that “encourages the formation of private social welfare organizations to meet needs not already provided for and to foster all worthy philanthropic enterprises.”
ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW
This action is exempt from the California Environmental Quality Act (“CEQA”) pursuant to CEQA Guidelines section 15601(b)(3).
CLIMATE IMPACTS
There are no climate impacts to execute a contract to implement the ELCN Action Plan.
RECOMMENDATION
Staff recommends that City Council authorize the City Manager to execute a $135,000 contract with First 5 Alameda County for receipt of a grant to implement the Alameda Early Learning Community Network Action Plan.
CITY MANAGER RECOMMENDATION
I believe this contract with First 5 Alameda County to implement Alameda’s ELCN Action Plan provides high quality benefits to our residents. I have outlined the specific benefits of this partnership.
• Develop a Mobile Family Resource Center
• Support the health of families from the very start
• Provide early screening and assess children for kindergarten readiness
• Recognize and support early childhood education providers
Respectfully submitted,
Debbie Potter, Community Development Director
By,
Ana Bagtas, Community Development Analyst
Financial Impact section reviewed,
Nancy Bronstein, Human Resources Director and Interim Finance Director
Exhibit:
1. Contract
cc: Eric Levitt, City Manager