Strategic Plan · 2027–2031
The first five years shape a lifetime.
When young children have what they need to thrive, families grow stronger, and Orange County grows stronger with them.
First 5 Orange County is the local public agency dedicated to giving every child, from before birth through age five, the strongest possible start in life.
No child grows up on their own. They grow up inside a family, a community, and systems built to support them, or not.
Four connected layers, one goal.
Kids don't develop in isolation. What happens at the family level, the community level, and the systems level all shapes a child's outcomes together. This plan is organized around that reality: four interconnected priorities, not four separate ones. Progress in one strengthens the others.
What we're focused on, and how we'll know it's working
Each priority below is where First 5 OC has the most direct impact, though the work in each area supports the others too.
Healthy development & early learning
Every child gets the chance to thrive, from well-child visits to early intervention when they need it most.
- Improving well-child visits, developmental screening, and follow-through to services
- Cutting Medi-Cal wait times for high-demand services like autism diagnoses and speech therapy
How we'll measure success
Knowledge, resources & support
Parents and caregivers get real support before and after their child is born, not just a pamphlet.
- Connecting more families to prebirth and postbirth support services
- Improving how families are screened and referred at birth
How we'll measure success
Safe, connected neighborhoods
Communities where child care is available, neighbors are engaged, and cities show up for kids.
- Growing the number of licensed, quality child care providers
- Building community champions and city partnerships for young children
How we'll measure success
Coordinated, responsive services
Making it easier for families to actually find and use the services that already exist.
- Building one centralized system to match families with child care
- Deepening partnerships and data-sharing across government agencies
How we'll measure success
What do some of these terms mean?
Our mission
About First 5
We envision an Orange County in which all children reach their full potential. The groundwork for this vision is set during a child's earliest years. First 5 Orange County partners with many organizations working towards creating and maintaining an early childhood system that families experience as a seamless network of care.
Shaped by the community it serves
Community input
[Add number of families, providers, and residents engaged, and how: surveys, town halls, focus groups, provider interviews.]
Data & evidence
[Add which data sources informed this plan: Early Development Index results, Medi-Cal partner data, county birth data, prior strategic plan outcomes.]
A funding model built on strong stewardship
Every year, thousands of children are born in Orange County, each deserving the strongest possible start. The need for early childhood investment doesn't go away. Our primary funding source does, gradually.
Proposition 10's tobacco tax has funded this work since 1998. It was never built to last forever: as fewer Californians smoke, the tax brings in less every year, and that decline has accelerated since California's 2022 ban on flavored tobacco products.
To remain effective as this funding shifts, First 5 Orange County is committed to being a responsible steward of public resources. We continually evaluate our investments, prioritize what delivers the greatest impact, and responsibly use reserves to support this plan, while expanding our long-term strategy: leveraging Medi-Cal reimbursement, Intergovernmental Transfer funds, Family First Prevention Services Act funding, and partnerships with the County of Orange Health Care Agency and Social Services Agency to make every public dollar go further.
We publish our progress publicly
As a public agency, we owe the community a clear view of how this plan is performing, not just at the end of five years, but along the way.
See Our Progress Measures →