First 5 Santa Barbara County’s Early Care & Education Division
Children get their best start in life when they have stable, nurturing and stimulating environments that foster their development. Research shows that these kinds of high quality early learning experiences lead to greater success in school and in life.
The First 5 Santa Barbara County Early Care and Education Division is dedicated to increasing the availability of high quality early care and education experiences for children in Santa Barbara County by developing:
- a stable, well-trained and well compensated child care workforce
- the best learning environments and experiences for young children
- effective policies that support children and child care
- supports for parents as a child’s first teacher
- new child care spaces
- awareness of the importance of early care and education to our community’s economic and social well-being.
To accomplish these goals, the Early Care & Education Division works with community partners to provide programming in the following areas:
- Workforce Development: stipends, scholarships and training for child care providers
- Program Quality Improvement: support for national accreditation
- Child Care Start Up: assistance to increase the number of child care spaces
- Business and Public Policy: partnerships to support the child care system
- Parent Support: coordination of early learning services for parents across all First 5 initiatives
- School Readiness: programs that help prepare children for success in kindergarten
We invite you to learn more about our programs and how you can become involved in helping to make high quality child care available to all children in our community.
