First 5 Santa Cruz County

First 5 Santa Cruz County was established by the Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisors on December 8, 1998 by urgency ordinance to ensure that family-friendly services and education are available so that each child reaches the fifth year of life healthy, ready and able to learn, and emotionally well developed.

The Board appointed nine Commission members between January and November 1999. Since then, the Commission has been engaged in an intensive planning process icluding dozens of community discussions, focus groups, task forces, surveys, analysis of existing data and review of literature on best and promising practices. We are committed to involving community members as well as professionals working with young children and their families.