LAKEPORT, Calif. – The First 5 Lake Commission announced Friday the award of more than $1 million in grants for three community projects proposed by Easterseals Bay Area, Lake County Office of Education and Sutter Lakeside Hospital.

Grants were awarded through a competitive request-for-proposal process and proposals were scored based on agency/staff qualifications, proposed program implementation, accountability, collaborative planning process, evaluation methods, fiscal management and controls, budget and cost effectiveness and the likelihood of sustainability.

The commission received five proposals totaling nearly $2 million.

Qualifying proposals addressed one or more of First 5 Lake’s five goals:

1. Increased access to parenting education, meeting the diverse needs of all Lake County parents of children 0-to-5.

2. Family networks of support are strengthened and enriching social connections are increased for all Lake County families with children 0-to-5.

3. Increased access to high-quality, developmentally appropriate, trauma-informed child care and early education for all children 0-to-5.

4. Increased access to health and therapeutic services benefitting all children prenatally through age 5.

5. Increased access to an integrated, strategic and user-friendly service delivery system that is continually adapting to enable our community to give all Lake County children the best possible start in life.

Qualifying proposals also demonstrated alignment with the Strengthening Families Protective Factors Framework which prioritizes parental resilience, social connections, knowledge of parenting and child development, concrete support in times of need, and the social and emotional competence of children.

Project funding will begin July 1, 2019, for a period of three years.

Grant awards include:

– $316,000 to Easterseals Bay Area for the “Childfind Linkages Project.”
– $671,644 to Lake County Office of Education for “Lake County Blooms Healthy Together.”
– $111,600 to Sutter Lakeside Hospital for the “Smart Start – Family Support Program.”

The Childfind Linkages Project

Included in First 5’s partnership with Easterseals Bay Area is a critical phone line for Lake County (the “Healthline,” 707-413-6920) providing a vital link for parents, caregivers and service providers seeking information or referrals related to early childhood developmental issues and concerns.

Also included in the grant are the First 5 Early Learning Center located at 14085-2 Lakeshore Drive in Clearlake, and Legacy Playroom located at 1173 Eleventh Street in Lakeport – two free playroom locations easily accessible by parents/caregivers as walk-in ready, flexible, exploratory environments designed for adult-child play experiences, and facilitated using play-based early intervention strategies.

At the playrooms, parents are encouraged to increase their capacity to meet the developmental interests, strengths and needs of their children, learn to actively engage in developmentally appropriate practices, and have opportunities to meet and connect with other parents and caregivers of young children.

The playrooms will continue to be facilitated by knowledgeable staff, as well as provide parents access to developmental screenings, consultations and trainings.

The grant will enable Easterseals Bay Area to increase staffing to expand the number of open days/hours for the playrooms to meet the needs of more of Lake County’s children and families.

Lake County Blooms Healthy Together

The First 5 Lake grant to Lake County Office of Education for this program will help to fund a multitude of unique services for children and families.

AmeriCorps members will provide lessons to students enrolled in LCOE preschools that encompass literacy, health and social-emotional development.

Healthy Start will provide oral health services including lessons, dental screenings, referrals, case management and transportation for dental care to preschool and kindergarten students and will also provide free community parenting classes using the evidence-based Nurturing Parenting curriculum.

Lake Bloom will promote at-home literacy and kindergarten readiness activities and community connections.

Imagination Library will provide free books each month delivered to Lake County children’s homes from birth through their fifth birthdays.

LCOE is also exploring the idea of providing parent cafés to connect families to each other and to community resources and information.

Smart Start – Family Support Program

This grant to Sutter Lakeside Hospital will involve the expansion of its existing Safe Sleep Seminars which are offered monthly to Lake County residents in their third trimester of pregnancy.

Currently the program provides the free classes about safe sleep practices to reduce the risk of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome along with a Smart Start Baby Bundle for each participant to help them put the safe sleep lessons into practice when their baby arrives (a Pack-n-Play, a thermometer, safe sleep clothing, a First 5 New Parent Kit, and more).

The expansion of the program funded by this grant will include a bilingual Family Resource Navigator to be assigned to each family that opts-in from the Safe Sleep Seminars.

The Family Resource Navigator will contact new mothers at predetermined intervals in the first year of their baby’s life to assess overall progress with a special focus on the following areas: symptoms of postpartum depression, retained knowledge and use of safe sleep practices, needs for assistance or referrals to additional community resources.

Each grantee has a successful record of prioritizing and meeting the needs of Lake County’s youngest children and their families and First 5 Lake is proud to partner with them in expanding their efforts.

More information about First 5 Lake County, including its five-year strategic plan, can be found at www.firstfivelake.org .

Using funds derived from CA Proposition 10’s voter-mandated tax on tobacco products, the First 5 Lake County Commission funds programs and services that benefit the health and development of young children and educate parents, grandparents, caregivers and teachers about the critical role they play during a child’s first five years.

Since its inception in 2000, First 5 Lake has supported thousands of families with programs and services designed to help Lake County children grow up healthy and ready to succeed in school and life.

The executive director for First 5 Lake is Carla Ritz and current First 5 Lake Commissioners are Dr. Derrick Barnes, vice chief of staff and obstetrician, Sutter Lakeside Hospital; Lake County Superintendent of Schools Brock Falkenberg; Health Leadership Network Director Susan Jen; Pam Klier, retired kindergarten teacher; Crystal Markytan, Lake County Social Services director; Allison Panella, Hope Rising executive director; Denise Pomeroy, Lake County Health Services director; Lake County District 4 Supervisor Tina Scott; and Carly Swatosh, Lake County Office of Education, education specialist.