These Commission Summaries are intended to provide highlights of the First 5 LA Board of Commissioners’ actions to advance the outcome areas of First 5 LA’s 2015-2020 Strategic Plan.
At the March 10 Commission meeting, highlights include extension of the Early Identification and Intervention (EII) – Autism and Other Developmental Delays Initiative; extension of a strategic partnership with 211 LA County; a presentation on mid-year budget adjustments at First 5 LA and approval of a new Strategic Partnership to facilitate the L.A Campaign Grade Level Reading School Readiness Workgroup.
The Board of Commissioners meets on the second Thursday of each month at 1:30 p.m. unless otherwise indicated at the First 5 LA offices. All meetings are open to the public and agendas are posted on our website at least 72 hours in advance. Please check our Commission Calendar for all updated meeting information and click here for Commission meeting packets, agendas, summaries and meeting notes.
Based upon staff recommendations resulting from First 5 LA’s Expiring Initiative Review Process, the Board voted to waive Governance Guideline #7 in order to extend the strategic partnership with 211 LA County for the Information Resource and Referral (211) Initiative through December 31, 2017 for up to $2.5 million. This 18-month extension (with Executive Director authority to extend for an additional 6 months) provides staff the time needed to further explore the potential role of telephonic Information Resource and Referral services within First 5 LA’s developmental screening strategy, Help Me Grow (HMG), which is a systems change approach aimed at improving the coordination and functioning of developmental/behavioral screening, assessment and early intervention programs.
In related news, the Commission voted to waive Governance Guideline #7 and allocate an additional $1.25 million to extend the Early Identification and Intervention (EII) – Autism and Other Developmental Delays Initiative through June 30, 2018. This action also comes after First 5 LA’s Expiring Initiative Review Process, during which First 5 LA staff identified potential alignment of EII with the developmental screening focus within First 5 LA’s new 2015-2020 Strategic Plan.
Commissioners also received a presentation on the mid-year adjustments to First 5 LA’s fiscal year 2015-16 budget of $229.7 million, of which the highlight was a 5 percent decrease of $11.5 million for a revised budget of $218.3 million. Full details on the adjustment can be read here. Consistent with the Governance Guidelines, the revised budget will be brought back to the Board for final approval at the April 14 Board meeting.
On the Consent Agenda, Commissioners approved two key measures. First was a new strategic partnership with the Glen Price Group for up to $170,000 to facilitate the L.A. Campaign Grade Level Reading (GLR) School Readiness Workgroup (SRW), which focuses on systematic support for kindergarten readiness. The second approved measure was a contract with the Los Angeles County Office of Education, which is providing $100,000 for First 5 LA to design and manage the evaluation of the California State Preschool Program (CSSP) Quality Rating and Improvement System (QRIS) Block Grant.
