Annual Report
FY 2024-2025
Helping all children reach their full potential.
Message from Kim
I’m honored to lead the important work of First 5 Orange County. Every day, our mission is clear: we fund vital services, engage and empower families, and bring providers together to make systems more responsive so that every child in Orange County has the strongest start possible.
This past year, together with our partners, we supported more than 39,500 young children and 48,850 parents and caregivers through health, mental health, early learning, and family-strengthening programs. I’m proud to share a few of the highlights from 2024-2025.
We expanded home visiting services by welcoming four new providers, giving more new and expecting parents guidance for the early stages of raising a family and access to resources. Today, First 5 Orange County-funded home visiting programs provide more than 9,000 home visits annually, offered in eight of the most common languages spoken in Orange County. As the backbone agency of the countywide Home Visiting Collaborative, we convene 24 providers and funders to ensure families can be seamlessly connected to the support they need.
With CalOptima Health’s investment, we added seven new clinics to ZERO TO THREE’s HealthySteps program, now reaching 11 clinics across the county. HealthySteps specialists at these sites help families understand developmental milestones, connect to resources, and feel confident in their children’s growth and well-being. This year alone, children received nearly 12,000 well-child visits and more than 5,000 developmental screenings through this effort.
We also expanded the reach of Kid Builders, our free set of developmental activities for parents and caregivers. With a new staff member dedicated to community outreach, we brought Kid Builders to nearly 10,000 individuals at 49 community events. That’s a 70% increase and almost one event every week this year.
And this spring, with input from 926 teachers representing more than 22,000 children, we collected new Early Development Index data from every Orange County school district with a kindergarten population. This gives us an up-to-date view of how our youngest children are doing, including where they are thriving and where they need more support, so we and our partners can make smarter, more effective investments.
In Orange County, it’s estimated a child is born every 16 minutes. Each one deserves the opportunity to grow up healthy, supported, and ready to succeed. Our Board, staff, providers, and partners are committed to strengthening programs and improving systems so that every child and family can reach their full potential.
For all that we have achieved together, and for all that is yet to come, I am deeply grateful for your partnership and dedication.
With gratitude,
Kim Goll
President/CEO
children age 0-5 served
in Fiscal Year 2024-2025
primary caregivers served
in Fiscal Year 2024-2025
We deeply appreciate all the partners who helped deliver these services!
Who We Are
First 5 Orange County is a local public agency dedicated to helping children from prenatal to age five have the strongest start in life, by funding and improving access to essential services for children and their families. First 5 Orange County is funded by tobacco tax revenues.
What We Do
We fund direct services, engage and empower families, and bring providers together to make systems more responsive.
Measurable Impact and Progress
One million neural connections every second. That’s how rapidly a young child’s brain develops in the first few years of life. These early moments shape everything that follows, laying the foundation for health, learning, and well-being.
First 5 Orange County works in five essential areas, and the most exciting work of 2024-2025 is highlighted below.
1. Improving health for prenatal to age 5
At First 5 Orange County, we know that when families are connected to regular well-child visits and developmental screenings, children have the best chance to grow, thrive, and meet their milestones. In Fiscal Year 2024–2025, we partnered with providers, funders, and community leaders to expand access to well-child visits, increase developmental screenings, and connect families to critical services. The need is urgent: today, one in three children enrolled in Medi-Cal do not receive their recommended well-child visits, and less than half (45%) receive a developmental screening by age three, according to data from the California Department of Health Care Services. By helping to close these gaps, First 5 Orange County is ensuring that more children receive the earliest possible support. Because when developmental concerns are identified and addressed early, children and families are far more likely to succeed.
HealthySteps
This year, we expanded the reach of ZERO TO THREE’s HealthySteps program to seven additional Orange County clinics, made possible through a $1.88 million grant from CalOptima Health. These new sites build on the foundation we established three years ago, extending the program’s impact to even more families.
HealthySteps ensures that children in low-income communities receive timely well-child visits and developmental screenings, with timely connections to services when needed. Across all participating clinics, we saw meaningful increases in developmental screenings, along with greater attention to autism, maternal depression, social determinants of health, and social-emotional development, helping families get the right support at the right time.
7 new HealthySteps Clinics
5,395 children ages 0-3 served
11,894 well-child visits
5,048 developmental screenings
First 5 Orange County is partnering with CalOptima Health to expand the number of clinics offering HealthySteps, which is a proven, evidence-based model of care. HealthySteps supports both the child and caregiver together (known as dyadic care), ensuring timely well-child visits, developmental screenings, maternal depression screenings, and immediate connections to behavioral health services when needed. By helping clinics adopt this data-driven approach, First 5 Orange County is making it easier to deliver whole-family support that works. Because HealthySteps services are reimbursable through Medi-Cal, once clinics are up and running, the model is not only effective, it’s sustainable.
1,219 autism screenings
3,260 mothers
had a maternal depression screening
3,761 children and families screened
for Adverse Childhood Experiences and Related Life Events
Home visiting
Children thrive when they experience secure attachments and consistent, loving interactions. Home visiting brings this support directly to families by pairing trained professionals with pregnant women and new parents to provide personalized parenting guidance, health education, and connections to community resources, whether in the home, at a local meeting place, or virtually.
This year, First 5 Orange County expanded our home visiting capacity by onboarding four additional partners who are on their way to becoming their own affiliates with evidence-based programs. This also increased language access and culturally relevant support for families. Additionally, together with our partners, we celebrated Home Visiting Week by honoring staff whose commitment and care make this work possible — recognition that helps sustain and strengthen this essential workforce.
8 home visiting providers
funded by First 5 Orange County
49 home visitors
8 languages
spoken by staff and many more via translators
9,102 home visits
Kid Builders
Over the past year, we brought Kid Builders to families at 49 community events. Parents asked for practical, real-life demonstrations, so we created a series of videos featuring families using Kid Builder activities — filmed at Pretend City Children’s Museum in Irvine and La Habra Children’s Museum. We also partnered with Unlimited Possibilities in Santa Ana and Providence Speech and Hearing Center in Orange to add new speech and language videos. These resources give parents and caregivers a window into a session with a speech pathologist and offer simple tips to support their child’s communication skills.
To extend Kid Builders even further, we distributed posters to pediatric HealthySteps clinics and developed a guide for early educators, now in the hands of 40 service providers across the county. By meeting parents and providers where they are, Kid Builders continues to equip families with tools to help their children thrive.
49 community events
18 activity videos
20 speech & language videos
9,857 individuals
received Kid Builders at community events
We created Kid Builders with a simple truth in mind: parents are their child’s first and most important teachers. Kid Builders offers free, age-appropriate activities designed to help children reach key developmental milestones while strengthening their minds, language, bodies, relationships, safety, and health.
2. Deepening family and community engagement
First 5 Orange County invests in community and family engagement because lasting change for children starts with the voices of the families and communities we serve. If we want to improve children’s early development and kindergarten readiness, we must listen to parents, partner with neighborhoods, and work together to design solutions. When families lead, the result is more relevant, responsive, and effective services for young children.
Engaged Neighborhoods
We currently fund collaborative Engaged Neighborhood groups in Anaheim, Garden Grove, La Habra, and Santa Ana. While each is unique, all share a commitment to building parent leadership, using Kid Builders activities to support children’s development, and strengthening partnerships with local organizations that serve families with young children. The impact has been remarkable.
Anaheim Learn Well
This year, Anaheim Learn Well invested in developing strong local parent leaders, including graduates of the Resident Leadership Academy. These graduates formed Madres Activas de Miraloma, a group dedicated to building leadership and decision-making skills, hosting Kid Builders events, and meeting with local leaders to amplify the needs of young children and families.
Their efforts are paying off: in 2024, the City of Anaheim passed an Early Childhood City resolution, opening the door for deeper investment in early childhood programs and policies.
- 33 parent leaders engaged through a Resident Leadership Academy
- 13 active members of the Madres Activas de Miraloma (MAdM)
- 16 nonprofits supporting children in Anaheim, hosting EDI data presentations and discussions
- 580 families attending meetings, classes, or events focused on early childhood education
- Nearly $72,000 raised to support Anaheim Learn Well’s activities and events
- Since 2022, Kindergarten Readiness increased:
- from 38% to 42% in the Walnut Grove Park neighborhood
- from 34% to 53% in the Lampson neighborhood
- from 46% to 61% in the Juarez Park neighborhood
Santa Ana Early Learning Initiative (SAELI)
The Santa Ana Early Learning Initiative (SAELI) continues to deepen its work with families by offering training and capacity-building through the Neighborhood Leadership Training series, guided by EDI data. These sessions bring community members together to explore ways to strengthen early childhood supports and to design neighborhood-level projects that help ensure all children thrive.
This year, SAELI members also participated in the community health worker training and certification process. Newly trained community health workers are now leading developmental playgroups for infants and parents, weaving Kid Builders activities into their curriculum to promote healthy development.
In May, the City of Santa Ana issued a Proclamation for Early Childhood Month, recognizing both SAELI and First 5 Orange County as vital partners in advancing early childhood well-being.
- 1,045 families participated in the Neighborhood Leadership Training series to increase capacity and community voice around early childhood issues
- 67 presentations and outreach activities
- 2 staff trained and certified as community health workers
- 5 additional training agreements to support SAELI and resident capacity building
- Over $250,000 raised to support SAELI activities and events
Growing Up Garden Grove
This past year, Growing Up Garden Grove was hard at work creating opportunities for families to engage in early childhood workshops and activities, while deepening connections with the broader community. In partnership with 17 local organizations, the group has been strengthening relationships with residents and building parent leadership around early childhood issues and concerns.
Guided by the EDI, the Garden Grove Task Force focused its efforts on mental health and well-being, as well as the importance of social connection among families.
- 27 family workshops and activities
- 277 families participating in community activities and events
- 17 new partner organizations participating in the Grow Up Garden Grove Task Force meetings
- 4 off-site excursions with families to learn about local resources/activities and to create social engagement opportunities among families
- $25,000 raised to support Growing Up Garden Grove’s activities and events
- Since 2022, Kindergarten Readiness increased from 28% to 49% in the Rancho neighborhood
La Habra Little Learners
Through Readiness on the Road and Music and Movement activities, La Habra Little Learners helps families find meaningful opportunities to connect, learn, and support their children’s development close to home. This year, La Habra Little Learners also strengthened partnerships by engaging community champions and local businesses to support early childhood efforts.
In a powerful demonstration of citywide commitment, the City of La Habra passed an Early Childhood City resolution, building on its active role in the La Habra Little Learners Task Force and reinforcing the importance of investing in the community’s youngest residents.
- 8 presentations to engage support for early childhood
- 65 outreach events
- 728 parents engaged through workshops and activities
- 5 city leaders (city council, school superintendent, pastors, etc.) added to the La Habra Little Learners Collaborative
- $42,500 raised to support La Habra Little Learners activities and events
- Since 2022, Kindergarten Readiness increased:
- from 36% to 40% in the Museum neighborhood
- from 41% to 47% in the Central neighborhood
- from 43% to 54% in the North Hills neighborhood
Family Ambassadors
The First 5 Orange County Family Ambassador program engages parents as leaders, ensuring their voices shape our initiatives, inform our policies, and strengthen our decision-making. Ambassadors also represent First 5 Orange County in the community to share resources, support community events, and lift up the programs and services that matter most to families. Our goal is simple: to amplify the power of parents so they can influence the systems and services that directly impact their children.
This past year, five new Family Ambassadors joined the program while six transitioned out due to moves, children aging out, or other commitments. In total, 14 Family Ambassadors brought their unique perspectives and experiences to a range of workgroups and topics including child care, fatherhood engagement, maternal mental health, family wellness plans for pregnant women with substance use disorder, and family-centered resource fairs. They also volunteered at community outreach events, engaging families with Kid Builder activities.
3. Increasing access and quality of early learning
Kindergarten readiness is one of the strongest predictors of future school success. And yet data show that nearly half of Orange County’s young children are not developmentally ready when they start kindergarten. We are working to change that by addressing the child care crisis head-on and ensuring that every family has access to high-quality early learning opportunities.
To expand this access, we are developing new child care businesses, creating apprenticeship pathways for future providers, and strengthening the early care workforce.
New Child Care Businesses
In the past fiscal year, we trained 55 aspiring child care providers through our child care business incubator program. Participants gained critical business skills, received support in navigating licensing requirements, and built the foundation for successful operations. The result: 550 new child care slots for Orange County children ages birth to 5 years. This work is made possible through strong partnerships with the Small Business Development Center, CIELO (Community for Innovation, Entrepreneurship, Leadership and Opportunities), the Orange County Association for the Education of Young Children (OCAEYC), and others — all working together to meet the growing demand for child care.
55 business participants trained and licensed
550 child care slots overall
120 infant and toddler care slots
Child Care Workforce Development
This year, we secured a $250,000 grant from Jobs First to ensure child care is integrated into collaborative workforce development efforts across Orange County. We also received $75,000 from the Orange County Department of Education to expand an apprenticeship program, with six partners now engaged in preparing the next generation of child care providers.
Child care apprenticeships are critical because they create a pipeline of skilled educators, provide hands-on training, and open up career pathways for individuals who might otherwise face barriers to entering the field. In addition, through QualityStart OC, we are building the capacity of the early care workforce, strengthening skills, improving quality, and ensuring more children benefit from high-quality early learning environments.
6 apprenticeship partners
327 private child care
providers received quality improvement training
School District Partnerships
First 5 Orange County works with early learning teams across all 25 elementary school districts to elevate the importance of early childhood education and its lasting impact on student success. Together, we advocate for early learning and help make it a priority in district planning.
We help school districts implement strategies that increase family and community engagement, support families in navigating early learning opportunities, and be a community resource for families, child care, and resource providers in their district. This year, all districts participated in collecting new EDI data, which will help us, together, target needed interventions to improve kindergarten readiness across the county.
25 school districts
participate in EDI data collection
17 school districts
with early childhood education funded in their Local Control and Accountability Plans
49 active Learning Links
serving 9,248 children
887 child care providers
partnered with districts
4. Collecting and Leveraging Data
At First 5 Orange County, we believe in the power of data to drive systems change. Data helps us identify where improvements are needed, guide targeted interventions and investments, and engage the community to better support early childhood development. Data also allows us to measure progress over time and hold ourselves accountable to our vision and goals.
Early Development Index
Over the past decade, First 5 Orange County has built a powerful foundation of knowledge through the EDI. Every three years, we collect and update EDI data to better understand how young children are doing across Orange County. In 2025, we once again achieved full participation from every school district and every district-run school with a kindergarten population. This milestone represents 10 years of comprehensive countywide data collection, giving us an unparalleled view of children’s developmental progress.
The results are encouraging. Kindergarten readiness among Orange County children has risen by five percentage points over the last decade, from 48% in 2015 to 53% in 2025. This progress matters because readiness at kindergarten is one of the strongest predictors of future success in third and sixth grades. By knowing whether children are on track, not on track, or at risk, we and our partners can make smarter, targeted investments and ensure more children start school ready to learn and thrive well into the future.
The Early Development Index (EDI) is a kindergarten readiness assessment that shows how children are developing across five key areas when they enter school: physical health and development, social competence, emotional maturity, language and cognitive development, and communication skills and general knowledge. Tracking these areas over time and by neighborhood, the EDI is a powerful tool for identifying inequities in early childhood development and guiding strategies to ensure all children have the strongest start.
New EDI data collected
5 percentage point
improvement in children’s readiness
100% district participation
926 teachers trained
22,000 student
records gathered
5. Building system efficiency
For children to thrive, the systems around them need to be strong. First 5 Orange County serves as a convener, bringing providers together to make systems more responsive, better connected, and easier for families to navigate. Our goal is simple: to ensure every child born in Orange County is positioned to reach their full potential.
Facilitating Countywide Collaboratives
We facilitate several countywide collaboratives that address critical system-wide challenges. This year, we stepped into the role of backbone agency for the Home Visiting Collaborative, ensuring coordination continues even as state funding for home visiting sunsets. In addition, we facilitate collaboratives focused on expanding access to well-child visits, developmental screenings, and related services; increasing infant and toddler child care; advancing fatherhood engagement; and strengthening early childhood mental health across Orange County.
Detect & Connect OC
20 partners
Home Visiting Collaborative
24 partners
Child Care Cross-Sector Task Force
48 partners
Child Care Systems Collaborative
17 partners
OC Fatherhood Coalition
26 partners
Family, Infant, Early Childhood Mental Health convenings
involved more than 240 community partners
Building Early Childhood Champions
We strengthened our role as a voice for young children and families by supporting early childhood legislation, hosting legislative site visits, partnering with cities to pass early childhood resolutions, and launching a new biweekly newsletter to keep our community informed and engaged.
Two city councils — La Habra and Anaheim — formally approved resolutions to become Early Childhood Friendly Cities, while Santa Ana issued a proclamation supporting early childhood.
We also hosted legislative site visits to HealthySteps locations with Senator Josh Newman, Senator Tom Umberg, and Assembly member Avelino Valencia, giving lawmakers a firsthand look at the impact of these services.
And at the federal level, we worked alongside CalOptima and Orange County Head Start to engage our congressional delegation and advocate for sustained funding for Medicaid and Head Start.
2 city resolutions
to be an Early Childhood Friendly City
3 legislative site visits
at HealthySteps locations
11 legislative site visits
in Sacramento for the First 5 Network Advocacy Day
1 city proclamation
designating May as Early Childhood Month
19 California bills
supported with the First 5 Association
Children and families served in FY 2024-2025
9,408
Children received health or developmental screenings
8,048
Mothers received breastfeeding support and health education
2,081
Children’s records entered in OC Children’s Screening Registry
9,102
Home visits provided to families
11,008
Children and families reached at all community outreach events
11,894
Well visits at HealthySteps clinics
7,299
New mothers received hospital bedside screening
2024-2025 Investment in Services for Children and Families
| Budget Item | Program | Catalytic |
| Bridges: Maternal Child Health Network | $4,858,611 | – |
| CalWORKS Home Visitation Program | $3,199,767 | – |
| First 5 CA Home Visiting Coordination | $899,462 | – |
| Early Relational and Mental Health Systems | $330,293 | – |
| HealthySteps Expansion | $780,520 | – |
| Autism and Pediatric Support | $870,530 | $434,755 |
| Prenatal-to-Three Program Support | $897,204 | – |
| Prenatal-to-Three Sub-total | $11,836,387 | $434,755 |
| School District Partnerships | $3,937,978 | – |
| Childcare Quality Improvement: First 5 CA IMPACT | $1,553,899 | – |
| Early Learning and Community Engagement Program Support | $746,667 | – |
| Early Learning and Community Engagement Sub-total | $6,238,544 | – |
| Homeless Prevention Operational and Systems Support | $247,504 | – |
| Homeless Prevention Sub-total | $247,504 | – |
| Systems Building | $241,862 | – |
| Engaged Neighborhoods | $693,203 | |
| Systems Building Support | $876,111 | |
| Capacity Building Sub-total | $1,811,176 | – |
| TOTAL | $20,133,611 | $434,755 |
Note: Catalytic expenditures are one-time funding actions designed to reduce ongoing demand on First 5 Orange County’s budget, while making system-wide impacts on services for young children.
Building for the Future
First 5 Orange County was created through Proposition 10, a voter-approved tobacco tax. As fewer people use tobacco products, this funding source continues to decline each year. Over the last year, our revenue, as reported by First 5 California, decreased by $1.74 million, yet the need to support young children and families has not diminished.
Through long-term financial planning, we are ensuring programs remain stable while making thoughtful investments for the future. At the same time, we are intentionally blending and braiding funding so early childhood supports in Orange County are not reliant on tobacco tax dollars alone.
Partnerships with CalOptima Health, the Orange County Social Services Agency, the Health Care Agency, and the University of California, Irvine reflect how essential First 5 Orange County’s work is to the county’s early childhood system of care.
One example of this approach is our new sustainability initiative for community health workers. By building a hub for training and Medi-Cal reimbursement, we are breaking down barriers for providers and are ensuring families have lasting access to support.
This year, in partnership with Orange Coast Community College, we trained 11 community health workers through our prenatal-to-three network. These community health workers from Padres Unidos, Help Me Grow, SAELI, Sacred Path Indigenous Wellness Center, and Latino Dad Connection led prenatal classes and developmental playgroups for families with new babies. Because of this model of blending and braiding resources, families will continue receiving trusted, culturally responsive support even as Prop. 10 revenue gradually declines.
First 5 Orange County remains committed to protecting what works, preparing for what’s ahead, and ensuring that Orange County’s youngest children and their families continue to thrive.
For more information
Contact Lisa Burke at lisa.burke@cfcoc.ocgov.com