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Agenda Report
DATE: October 30, 2023
TO:
FROM:
SUBJECT:
Honorable City Council
Early Child Development Task Force Transition Team
UPDATE ON THE WORK OF THE TRANSITION TEAM AND
IMPLEMENTATION PLAN FOR THE 2022 CITY OF PASADENA
EARLY CHILD DEVELOPMENT POLICY
BACKGROUND:
At the City Council meeting of November 14, 2022, the City Council adopted the Revised 2022 Early Child Development Policy. In adopting the Policy the City Council also approved the formation of a transition team comprised of a subset of the Task Force to assist the City with evaluating the Policy's Areas of Recommendation, the Key Initial Activities, and to assist Staff with formulating an implementation plan for the policy.
The initial work of the transition team was completed in May of 2023. The purpose of this report and presentation is to provide an update on the tasks, reports and recommendations of the transition team.
THE TASK FORCE and THE 2022 EARLY CHILD DEVELOPMENT POLICY The Early Child Development and Early Learning Task Force, a Brown Act body, convened for a period of six months from April, 2022, through September, 2022. The Task Force had a prescribed work plan with a focus on updating the City's 2015 Early Child Development Policy.
In November of 2022 the Task Force presented to the City Council the Revised 2022 Early Child Development Policy to reflect the current state of the City's youngest children and families, to streamline the 2015 Policy and its component parts for focus and ease of implementation, to consider the post-pandemic local context through the lens of data regarding children and families, to maintain a systems approach, and to clarify the City's role as convener of the larger community in building and sustaining partnerships in this effort while serving as a catalyst for new approaches and ideas to take root.
Specific and action-oriented recommendations and revisions are contained within the 2022 Early Child Development Policy ("2022 Policy"). These recommendations and revisions serve to create a roadmap to inform the work of the City and the Office of the I
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MEETING OF.10/30/2023AGENDA ITEM NO.A
Update and Implementation Plan for the 2022 City of Pasadena Early Child Development Policy
October 30, 2023
Young Child (OYC) to continue as a convener and catalyst in achieving a shared vision whereby all stakeholders are linked in action.
The areas of recommendation contained within the 2022 Policy include:
1. Financing strategies for programming and support.
2. Strengthening data collection related to young families.
3. Enhancements to structure and support for the Office of the Young Child and implementation of the policy.
The 2022 Policy goes into greater detail with the above recommendations. The policy also provides specific key initial activities to create immediate alignment amongst stakeholders for immediate, impactful and visible results:
1. Analyze funds through Measure J and explore ways in which a portion of the funds could be re-directed to early childhood initiatives. This includes securing support and funding for EDI data collection for the years 2022-2023 to provide a more accurate snapshot of children post-pandemic.
2. Create a meaningful partnership with PUSD and others to assist with the design and support of early childhood programs, a campaign to introduce the District in beginning a relationship with new families, and the design of a mixed-delivery system responsive to the needs of a diverse population with families of young children.
3. Initiate a "Welcome Baby" Campaign for families of each newborn in Pasadena and establish a plan with set goal targets, utilizing birth to 5 population data, to fill all unfilled seats in high-quality early childhood programs.
4. Hold a launch of the 2022 Policy to reintroduce the community to the numerous resources and service providers that support children and families.
In December of 2022 and January of 2023, the transition team met with Michelle Garrett, the Assistant to the City Manager. The team was charged with assisting the City in evaluating the key Policy components and with creating a roadmap that will assist Staff in formulating an implementation plan - i.e., a working plan - for each element of the Policy. Other tasks were requested of the transition team in an effort to "jump start" the Policy implementation process.
A ROAD MAP FOR CREATING A WORK PLAN FOR IMPLEMENTATION OF THE 2022 POLICY
The initial task was to create a Road Map that lists the key implementation tasks for the Areas of Recommendation and Key Initial Strategies. The purpose of the Road Map is to create a document that provides a simple outline of the key elements of the Policy - an outline that provides a delineation of outcomes, goals, action steps, tasks, a timeline, an identification of who is responsible, and budget/ notes. In providing this outline The Update and Implementation Plan for the 2022 City of Pasadena Early Child Development Policy
October 30, 2023
Road Map intends that all who are identified as the responsible staff for implementing a particular element will have the foundation for creating a simple Work Plan for each outcome.
To simplify further, the Road Map creates 3 Phases of implementation:
Phase 1: July 1, 2023-December 31, 2023
Phase II: January 1, 2024 - June 30, 2024
Phase III: July 1, 2024 - December 31, 2024
Phase I identifies the immediate implementation tasks/plan that will be accomplished, a few of which have already been completed. In addition, the Road Map is organized based on the three Areas of Recommendation and the Key Initial Strategies of the Policy. The Road Map is attached.
AN ANALYSIS OF THE PASADENA HUB NETWORK AND HUB LOCATIONS The heart of the 2022 Policy is focused on the "Strengthening Families" umbrella which requires organizing the work around the key areas of health and emotional well-being, and quality early childhood settings and neighborhood supports. Hence, the key implementation strategies involve pulling together health services, neighborhood services, city services, pre-school related services, and using these as key touchpoints offering the opportunity to extend the reach of the full array of available services and supports to effectively work with children and families. These become the key implementation strategies. (2022 Policy, Page 6)
At the center of these key implementation strategies are highly visible and easily accessible locations within the community that serve as sites where families with children ages 0-5 can connect to early childhood information and services. These locations are known as Hubs.
In 2019, as a critical component in implementing the 2015 policy, seven sites were established as Hubs. The full implementation, development, and effectiveness of these sites designated as Hubs were greatly hindered in 2020 as a result of the pandemic and its effects on all segments of the community, with critical impacts on our youngest children - babies, toddlers, preschoolers, and kindergartners. Also greatly impacted by the pandemic and its effects were staff shortages and staff turn over with in the city and across partner organizations and the inability of city and community staff to provide in- person service delivery at designated Hub sites.
The transition team was asked to evaluate the Hubs and the Hub network as they currently exist and function, the purpose being to get a baseline of the Hub implementation and to make recommendations in support of the Hub sites going forward. The process for learning about the current Hub sites involved visits to the sites, conversations, obsen/ations, analysis based on a designed matrix, and a clear set of findings and recommendations. The Report, Visits to the Hub Sites: A Report on the Process, Findings and Recommendations, is attached.
Update and Implementation Plan for the 2022 City of Pasadena Early Child Development Policy
October 30, 2023
In addition to the recommendations contained within the Report, the transition team also developed a draft Description of "The Hub Site and the Pasadena Early Childhood Hub Network." This description is attached.
LAYING THE GROUND WORK FOR CREATING MEANINGFUL PARTNERSHIPS One of the policy's Key Initial Activities is to develop a partnership, an advisory group, composed of PUSD staff, Options for Learning, City staff, Parents, and Early Childhood Representatives. The purposes are to assist with the design and support of early childhood programs including UPK (Universal Pre-Kindergarten), to create the design of a mixed delivery system responsive to the needs of a diverse population with families of young children whereby each of our youngest children is enrolled in a public, private, or in-home early development program that is aligned with desired ED1 outcomes as well as the study of new funding streams and funding models available through the Universal Pre-K allocations.
A second strategy of Phase I is to explore opportunities for funding in support of our early childhood initiatives and key activities through coordination and collaboration with partners and stakeholders as noted above but also through outreach and partnering with local, state, and national Early Childhood interest groups and organizations, public and private.
The transition team was asked to assist in laying the initial groundwork for developing these partnerships. The following actions were initiated and carried out by the team:
A series of meetings with former Superintendent Dr. McDonald and Interim Superintendent Dr. Blanco, to develop common understanding and commitments to the 2022 Policy and PUSD's partnership with the City in this early childhood initiative, including the Superintendent's Enrollment Committee.
A Transition Team/City meeting involving PUSD Early Childhood Director, Early Childhood leaders from Options for Learning and the Child Care Center Directors (the Director's Alliance).
• Outreach to the Executive Director of the LA Partnership for Early Childhood Investment who, during the Task Force process, extended an invitation to explore the possibility of aligning the City Policy with that of private foundations in proposing new innovative approaches to improving early childhood systems and early childhood outcomes.
The primary purpose of these meetings and communications is to lay the groundwork for creating the working plans that will achieve the Vision, Master Plan and Recommendations of the Policy going forward - to ensure that Pasadena will become an Early Learning City by 2025.
Update and Implementation Plan for the 2022 City of Pasadena Early Child Development Policy
October 30, 2023
FINAL THOUGHT
In presenting this report to the City Council, the transition team members express their appreciation for having the opportunity to lay the groundwork for this most important initiative on behalf of our youngest children and families. The work of the Task Force and the transition team is based on the 2022 Policy "core values of a 'shared vision, linked in action,' achieved through integration and partnering of health services, neighborhood sen/ices, city services, early childhood supports, and pre-kindergarten related supports." (Page 4).
FISCAL IMPACT:
There is no anticipated fiscal impact to the proposed action.
Respectfully submitted,
/s/ Dr. Vera Vignes
Dr. Vera Vignes
Chair
Attachment A- Road Map for Creating a Working Plan: Early Child Development 2022 Policy Implementation
Attachment B - The Early Childhood Hub Sites and Network - Visit to the Hub Sites: A Report on the Process, Findings and Recommendations
Attachment C - The HUB Site and the Pasadena Early Childhood Hub Network: A Description