Only about half of the kindergarteners in Orange County, California, are developmentally ready for kindergarten, while about 80% have the emotional maturity and social competence necessary for school, according to the Early Development Index (EDI), an assessment of social-emotional development, cognitive development, language and communication skills and physical health.
The Early Childhood Friendly City initiative addresses these early learning gaps by supporting municipalities in prioritizing early childhood development across various sectors like education, health and housing.
La Habra, California was the first municipality to join the initiative, which was launched in March by First 5 Orange County (First 5 OC), a public agency focused on enabling children to reach their full potential. The city issued a resolution signaling its commitment to prioritize early childhood development. “We’re going to see a whole different La Habra as far as education and success,” declared Mayor Rose Espinoza. “We believe in what you’re doing, we believe in our children, and we believe in our community.”
Erwin Cox, who leads family and community engagement at First 5 OC, says La Habra, which has a population just over 60,000, fits the initiative because of its size and character. “It’s a very small city, and everybody knows each other, and people tend to stay there.”
But what does it actually mean for a city to be early childhood friendly? “For us, it means community partnerships, learning each other’s systems,” said Joanna Perez, executive director for early childhood development in La Habra.
The early childhood city designation represents a fundamental shift in how municipalities think about their youngest residents, she added. Rather than viewing early childhood services as separate from traditional city functions like infrastructure, public safety and economic development, La Habra has recognized that investing in children from birth through age 5 is essential for community prosperity.
“We’re intentional about where we’re placing things, how we’re doing it, with the ultimate goal of exposing kids to lifelong learning,” said Perez. “We want them to be able to love learning and be confident.” Early childhood perspectives permeate all aspects of city planning and development. “Always having that early childhood or education person in the room, along with engineers and city council,” said Perez, “means that everybody relates to what we’re doing. It’s also their story.”
It’s Perez’s own story too. The mother of 6-year-old triplets was born in La Habra and benefited from the types of programs she now oversees. Perez explained that she helped design her role leading the city’s division of early childhood development, which she said is funded by grants from the California Department of Education, the California State Preschool Program and California Department of Social Services, along with federal funding for food programs.