County Supervisors Approve Changes to First 5 LA

The motion, introduced by Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky, requires, among other things, yearly audits and quarterly reports of First 5 LA to the Supervisors and establishes a budget and finance committee that will provide greater fiscal oversight and improve the agency's reporting systems.

The motion also replaces the Los Angeles County Office of Education with the Department of Children and Family Services as a voting member of the Commission. LACOE will remain on the Commission as a non-voting ex-officio member. This provision generated some disagreement and discussion among the supervisors.

Supervisor Gloria Molina said she had a hard time understanding the kind of contribution the DCFS would bring to the Commission and its role in ensuring the well-being of children zero to 5, compared to the LACOE. She said it is more compelling to have LACOE as a voting member "because of the work that they do for preparing for preschool, for all the childcare needs of these children."

Yaroslavsky, who is also the current chair of the First 5 LA Commission, defended the motion by saying, "DCFS has not been present on that Commission since its inception. It needs to be there. And it needs to be a voting member. There is no First 5 commission in the state in which the DCFS department or its comparable department is not a voting member of that commission."

Craig Steele, interim CEO of First 5 LA, stated that the changes will help increase transparency and accountability for the agency and enable First 5 LA to work more efficiently with the County.

"We will promptly implement the Board's requests as part of our ongoing improvement to administrative procedures," said Steele. "The impact of the Board's motion on our programs will undoubtedly be positive, as the expertise of the Director of DCFS will be a welcome addition to the Commission."

The decision followed a motion in October by Yaroslavsky and Ridley-Thomas to direct the County CEO's office to investigate making First 5 LA a county agency. The move followed the release of an audit by a private firm of First 5 LA that found no malfeasance, misappropriation of funds or gross mismanagement, but did contain criticism in how contracts are approved and managed, under-spending of available resources and delays in program implementation.

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