First 5 San Francisco, the Office of Early Care and Education, and the Department of Children, Youth and Their Families recently launched the Help Me Grow Early Care and Education Initiative, a joint City-funded initiative seeking to establish a system within early care and education settings that:
- Supports alignment with the national framework of Help Me Grow across several states;
- Promotes how to effectively manage and track early developmental screening across multiple settings;
- Engages families and early care and education settings on how to use developmental screening results;
- Encourages a coordinated response to identified concerns; and
- Offers vital information for family support when there are high-risk developmental concerns.
The City allocated $1,000,000 annually to establish this critical system of early identification. First 5 will soon review funding proposals for the recently closed Request for Qualifications.