Strategic Plan
2024-2027
FIRST 5 Santa Clara County Strategic Plan
The 2024-2027 FIRST 5 Santa Clara County Strategic Plan is the culmination of a journey where our dedicated FIRST 5 Commissioners, FIRST 5 staff, community organizations and county system partners, as well as parents and caregivers contributed their knowledge, time, feedback, and support to inform and develop a strategic vision and plan that guides our collective work.

Parent/Caregiver Survey
FIRST 5 launched this effort with a community-wide family survey, which aimed to elevate the top concerns of families with young children, prenatal through five years. In addition, the survey asked families what helps them feel safe and welcomed in health, childcare, and other service-centered environments, as well as the barriers they encounter to accessing critical services and supports in our community. Families’ most important concerns included access to healthy food and nutrition, child safety at home and in the community, connecting with a doctor, dentist, and other health provider, and how to access parenting programs, trainings, and support.
Focus Areas
Together with the parent/caregiver survey results and feedback from FIRST 5 Commissioners, staff and community partners, we identified four primary strategic focus areas that address community needs:
- Connect families to affordable, quality support and services that address children’s basic needs, safety, and healthy development.
- Engage families and community in our work, including advocacy and leadership opportunities.
- Promote diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging at the center of our work at FIRST 5.
- Strengthen the diverse workforce that serves the needs of young children and their families, including early educators, home visitors, and community workers, among other critical care providers.
Priority Populations
FIRST 5 has identified five priority populations to focus support on and recognizes that any one family can be experiencing many of these impacts at once.
- Families who have children with disabilities and behavioral health needs.
- Immigrant families, prioritizing new arrivals and those with no or mixed documentation.
- Under-resourced families including low-income and "gap" families not eligible for government-funded programs. FIRST 5 defines “gap” families as those who earn too much to qualify for federal and state-subsidies, but not enough to pay the full cost for services.
- Court-impacted families affected by justice and child welfare systems, incarceration, court-monitored programs (including probation and parole), and child and family reunification processes.
- Families with unstable housing.
Financial Sustainability
In the face of declining revenue from Proposition 10, the tobacco tax that supports the work of FIRST 5 entities across 58 counties in California, and to support successful implementation of this strategic plan, FIRST 5 is committed to key financial sustainability priorities that ensure continuation of our critical mission and vision, including:
- Seeking and obtaining sustainable funding sources, including public and private investments.
- Reducing spending in alignment with budgeted priorities.
- Support partners and grantees in the identification of alternative funding sources that contribute to the sustainability of their work.
- Prioritize equitable community investment decisions throughout all of FIRST 5’s efforts to better serve Santa Clara County’s most vulnerable families and caregivers.