City of PasadenaTask Force on Early Child Development and Early LearningFinal Report and Recommendations to City CouncilNovember 14, 2022 1 POLICY GOAL•Reflects the current understanding of what best promotes positive child outcomes: A Child-centered Policy•Creates an opportunity to bridge and focus the efforts of multiple sectors, including early childhood education, child welfare, health, law enforcement and community building •Creates the conditions for a more comprehensive and effective approach to improve children’s life and life-long health and well- being 2 TASK FORCE ROLE: THE WORK PLAN1. Review the status of implementing the Plan.2. Develop 5-year goals and benchmarks for each of the Eight Building Blocks in the adopted Plan.3. Consider reinstatement of the Early Child Development Committee of the Human Services Commission.4. Recommend strategies for the integration of the Early Child Development Policy into city departments and services.5. Assess local, county and state funding policies and early childhood priorities and strategies.6. Review opportunities for Pasadena to receive funding from the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 and the upcoming infrastructure bill for early childhood development.7. Recommend opportunities to align the work of a broad coalition of partners who are engaged in ensuring the success of the City’s youngest children and their families.8. Recommend next steps and the path forward for Pasadena becoming an Early Learning City by 2025 and assuring the continuation of community involvement in the early learning initiative.9. Review the effectiveness of the Office of the Young Child and its systematic integration across the community.3
OUR LOCAL CONTEXT
4 5
6 7
8 Children vulnerable on one or more domains (2013 vs. 2020 comparison) 9 20202013
COMMUNITY WIDE CHANGE OVER TIME (2013 & 2020)BY NEIGHBORHOOD 10 The MID-TERM REPORT TO CITY COUNCILJULY 18, 2022The Task Force Reported on the Progress To Date:•Reviewed the implementation of the 2015 Policy and the existing data on Pasadena’s young children and families•Maintained the Systems Approach and Revised the Eight Building Blocks into Three Core Elements•Reached consensusothat building and sustaining partnerships is critical to working towards a shared vision for children and familiesoon the role of the City as convenor of the larger community and as catalyst for new ideas and approaches to take rootothat the City should work to share what is being done and learned throughout the City stakeholders•Emphasized that the design and implementation of the policy MASTER PLAN must ensure that all of our children and families experience the following:oAnti-RacismoSocial JusticeoEconomic StabilityoHealth EquityoCulturally Relevant Programs for All Learners11 SUMMARY OF TASK FORCE FOCUS SINCE MID-TERM REPORT, JULY 18, 2022•Reviewed local, county, and state funding and early childhood priorities•Reviewed the role of the Office of the Young Child and its priorities in order to recommend improved systematic integration across the community•Reviewed the status of implementation of the 2015 Policy 12 SUMMARY OF TASK FORCE FOCUS SINCE MID-TERM REPORT, JULY 18, 2022•Met with Early Childhood Policy and Funding Experts re: the Current Funding & Resource Landscape•Met with the City of Pasadena Department Directors•Met with the Leadership Team of the Pasadena Public Health Department•Met with the Leadership Team of the Office of the Young Child (OYC)•Met with Early Childhood Partners: Pasadena Unified School District; Options for Learning, including the Director’s Alliance; and Collaborate PASadena 13 SUMMARY OF TASK FORCE FOCUS SINCE MID-TERM REPORT, JULY 18, 2022•Revised the VISION Statement•Revised the MASTER PLAN for the YOUNG CHILD Statement•Developed the Areas of Recommendation•Developed the KEY INITIAL ACTIVITIES 14 THE POLICY: The 2022 REVISION•Areas of the Policy: Streamlined for focus and ease of implementation•Maintains the systemic approach of the 2015 Policy•Revised the Eight Building Blocks as THREE CORE ELEMENTSoAligned In Vision, Linked In Action: Building & Sustaining PartnershipsoData Collection and Measures of SuccessoStrengthening Families, including Transition from Pre-School to Kindergarten•Developed Three Key Areas of Recommendation•FINANCING STRATEGIES FOR PROGRAMMING & SUPPORT•STRENGTHENING DATA COLLECTION RELATED TO YOUNG FAMILIES•STRUCTURE AND SUPPORT FOR THE OFFICE OF THE YOUNG CHILD (OYC) and IMPLEMENTATION OF THE POLICY•Developed Key Initial Activities – Per City Council Recommendation on July 18, 2022, for specific, measurable activities 15 KEY INITIAL ACTIVITIES1. Analyze funds through Measure J and explore ways in which a portion of the funds could be re-directed to the early childhood initiative.Secure support and financial investment in EDI data collection for 2022-2023. 16 KEY INITIAL ACTIVITIES2. Create a meaningful partnership with Pasadena Unified School District (PUSD),Options for Learning, Collaborate PASadena, in convening a working group ofrepresentatives from PUSD, City staff, Parents and early childhood providersand professionals•to assist with the design and support of early childhood programs, includingUPK (Universal Pre-Kindergarten)•to assist in developing a District-wide campaign to introduce the District inbeginning a relationship with new families•to create the design of a mixed delivery system responsive to the needs of adiverse population with families of young children. 17 KEY INITIAL ACTIVITIES3. Through the partnership, initiate the following:A “Welcome Baby” Campaign for families of each newborn inPasadena. Include in the Campaign, the “baby passport” (a concept currently being explored by the OYC and the Pasadena Public HealthDepartment) and the “Big Little Mornings” program of Pasadena’s KidspaceMuseum.Establish a plan with set goal targets, utilizing birth to 5 population data to fillall of the unfilled seats in high-quality early childhood programs. Thegoal of this effort is to have a mixed use early childhood system wherebyeach of our youngest children is enrolled in a public, private, or in-homeearly development program. 18 KEY INITIAL ACTIVITIES4. Hold a Launch of the 2022 Policy, with commitment from significant entities, including Pasadena Unified School District (PUSD), Pasadena City College (PCC), KPCC, local media, local fraternal/service organizations, and local foundations supporting children and families. Campaign elements might include billboards, a logo for aligned agencies, a Pasadena “Welcome Baby” flyer, and a digital companion. 19 TASK FORCE RECOMMENDATIONS
We respectfully request that the City Council accept the StaffReport, and Policy Revisions, including the Three Areas ofRecommendation and the Key Initial Activities. 20