The Pasadena Office of the Young Child is a foundational investment by the City of Pasadena to bring direction and a comprehensive approach to early childhood policies and services in Pasadena. How well children are prepared for school is directly related to their early experiences within the home and within their community at large, which influence overall success in school and in life.
This office was born out of an Early Child Development Policy that was passed by the City of Pasadena’s Human Services Commission and adopted by the City Council on March 23, 2015. The 5 Year Master Plan for the Young Child is a five-year plan to unite diverse programs and services in the City of Pasadena and to meld them into a cohesive coordinated family centered system that focuses on policy, service and pursuit of public and private funding options to improve the lives of young children, ages birth to 5.
The Pasadena Public Library is the City Department that hosts the Office of the Young Child. It is both symbolic and significant that the Office is located in our Library – a place that seeks to nurture every child and creates an environment where young children are healthy, safe, and find early success in school and life. The Early Child Development Coordinator, staff of the Office of the Young Child, supports the on-going design, planning and implementation of the 5 year Master Plan and develops a comprehensive roadmap setting the direction, pace of the office, and implementing the Eight Building Blocks of assessing early childhood needs.
City Council Resolution 9419 – Support of Developing an Early Learning City
Contact Us
Carla Hegwood
Early Development Coordinator
Office of the Young Child
chegwood@cityofpasadena.net
Initial Actions
- Engage Leadership
- Campaign
- Wellness Policy
- Early Childhood Hubs
- Early Learning and Transition to Kindergarten
- Data/Research: Early Development Instrument
Engage Leadership
September 23, 2017 Launch Pasadena Becoming and Early Learning City 2025:
- The Launch on September 23rd will officially kick off the Young Child movement in the City of Pasadena. This will be a free family day with multiple resources, activities for parents/caregivers, children, grandparents, child care providers and early childhood teachers, advocates and community residents.
- The follow up will include the staging of multiple events and activities throughout the City over a period of six to nine months.
- Through the planning stages for the launch, create and establish partnerships throughout the City – with every Department within the City, – with every department within the Pasadena Unified School District, Pasadena Educational Foundation, Collaborate PASadena, with community-based organizations, hospitals, child-care centers, family service agencies, the churches and Faith-based organizations, Los Angeles County, the State of California, agencies throughout our country and foundations and agencies involved in work in support of the Young Child.
- Through this launch, begin the work of the Master Plan for the Young Child: The 1st step in the 5-year Master Plan begin to “unite diverse programs and services in the City of Pasadena and to meld them into a cohesive coordinated family-centered system that focuses policy, services and pursuit of public and private funding options to improve the lives of young children, ages birth to five.”
- To create the foundation for achieving the vision of the City of Pasadena becoming an Early Learning City by the Year 2025.
Campaign
Determine the key early childhood messages, branding and marketing themes to engage the Pasadena community and partner agencies about the Early Childhood Movement in Pasadena. Develop flyers, brochures, educational materials, videos and a wed presence. The first steps will be public screening events of The Raising of America to begin a community-wide dialogue on improving early childhood outcomes, share the goals and vision of the Council for the Young Child and introduce the Office of the Young Child and the initial actions that will be undertaken.
Wellness Policy: Preconception to age 5
Work with Pasadena Health Department to integrate the practice goals of the Council of the Young Child into an early childhood wellness policy. The wellness policy will provide the opportunity to tie technical assistance with early childhood education centers and staff practitioners to the key practices promoted by the Council to improve the health and wellbeing of young children and their families.
Early Childhood Hubs
Partner with neighborhood based hubs to connect families with young children to one another, foster protective factors and any necessary services and supports. Developmental screening and linkage and referral to services and supports are key areas of focus in the design of the early childhood hubs. Libraries, schools recreation centers, WIC and Huntington Hospital are also critical as touchpoints for families and will be used to develop a network of hubs that cover all areas of the city. Initial testing of Early Childhood Hub strategies and actions
Early Learning & Transition to Kindergarten
Promote meaningful engagement practices that help families foster home early language and literacy development. Develop an improvement strategy to improve children and the family’s experience of the transition from preschool to Kindergarten. Families will have access to the information necessary to navigate this critical transition point in the lives of their young children.
Data/Research
Convene a Data/Research Committee to develop the measurement strategy. The Committee will determine baseline measures, key benchmarks, and an advocacy strategy to maintain Early Development Instrument (EDI) as the long-term measure of success. A priority for this group will be the development of a data display on efforts and children’s outcomes and ensuring citywide EDI data is collected again in 2017.
Sharing the 2017 EDI results will serve as a catalyst, bringing together individuals, organizations and community leaders who work to improve school readiness and create better environments for our children. By putting this data and information directly in the hands of the community, it is positioned to develop strategies and informed actions that build resiliency of children, their families, and the community, while helping to develop self-efficacy, capacity for self-directed learning, and ties to networks of mutual support.
The EDI is useful not only in describing how children are developing, but also as a predictor of health, education, and social outcomes. In hundreds of communities, this tool, along with other data sources, has been instrumental in the development of neighborhood-level, citizen-driven activities, such as community outreach to parents, development of parenting groups, and physical resources such as early childhood asset mapping. EDI results help community stakeholders and partnerships direct their planning, promote and increase awareness of child development concerns in specific neighborhoods and populations. Community Conversations
Long Term Goals
- All parents able to readily access information, needed services and supports that will enable their children to thrive.
- City Departments along with School District, County and other locally-based service providers employing cross-sector integrated approaches to promote healthy development and mitigate risks for young children and their families.
- Parents able to experience an easy transition as their children move from early childhood and enter in the more formal K-12 structure.
- The establishment of an infrastructure that efficiently supports and sustains progress toward the vision of improved outcomes for all Pasadena’s young children.