FIRST 5 Santa Clara County and Santa Clara County Office of Education serve as the co-lead organizations for QUALITY MATTERS, an initiative of Quality Counts California. FIRST 5 serves as a funder using Prop 10 funds for a variety of programs and initiatives that support Santa Clara County’s mixed-delivery early learning and care system including building partnerships with the public libraries, family resource centers, and parks and recreational programs. FIRST 5 staff participate in the coordination and alignment of local, regional, and state Quality Counts California efforts.

As the convening organization for quality improvement efforts in Santa Clara County, QUALITY MATTERS defines and measures quality, supports providers through training and professional development opportunities, clearly and simply educates families about quality, and catalyzes the entire community to prioritize investments in early education and health.

The QUALITY MATTERS initiative has a vision that all children in Santa Clara County are engaged in high-quality early learning programs. QUALITY MATTERS brings Santa Clara County partners together around quality early learning, inspiring early educators, strengthening families, and uniting the community around the critical goal of ensuring high-quality early learning and health outcomes for all children birth through age 8 so that they can achieve success in the future.