By, Ruel Nolledo | Freelance Writer
May 27, 2026
First 5 LA’s Board of Commissioners convened on Thursday, May 14, 2026. In addition to approving several agreements, the commissioners received an update on First 5 LA’s proposed FY 2026-27 budget, as well as a presentation from a mix of staff and guest speakers on home visiting investments in L.A. County.
Upon kicking off the meeting, LA County Supervisor and Board Chair Holly Mitchell discussed Vision into Action, First 5 LA’s recent summit that drew more than 200 attendees. Mitchell noted that she spoke at the event as part of a one-on-one “fireside chat.”
“It” was a great space,” Mitchell added. “With great people who, I hope, left feeling seen and heard, and empowered to go out and defend and fight for the needs and rights of our zero to 5 population.”
She added that the conversations she had there spoke to the importance of Los Angeles coming together to protect and support young children and their families. To accommodate the scheduled speakers on the agenda, First 5 LA President & CEO Karla Pleitéz Howell noted that she would be ceding her spoken remarks. Her written report can be found here.
Update on First 5 LA’s New Budget
Commissioners heard next from members of First 5 LA’s Finance Team, who provided an update on the agency’s FY 2026-2027 Budget. Vice President of Operations & Sustainability JR Nino walked the Board through the multi-year step-down approach, previously approved three years ago, which has helped First 5 LA reduce its annual budget to the $80 million approved for FY 2025-2026.
“Working through our fiscal reality has been both complex and challenging,” Nino said. “This has been an iterative process in continually refining how we, our partners, and our grantees operate to ensure we are moving as effectively and strategically as possible.”
“We have been very intentional each year about how we step down,” added Director of Finance Raoul Ortega. “It’s been planned, disciplined and at times very difficult. But that intentional approach is exactly what has allowed us to navigate a period of declining revenue with more stability and fewer surprises.”
Ortega and Financial Planning & Analysis Manager Daisy Lopez provided an overview of the proposed $70 million FY 2026-27 budget. The budget reflects a 12.5% reduction that aligns with the baseline funding level approved in the Long-Term Financial Plan (LTFP) and is expected to be offset by approximately $7.1 million in other secured revenue, including funding from First 5 California, the LA County Department of Mental Health, a Medi-Cal managed care plan, and LA Care. Lopez also presented the second annual update to the LTFP, which projects spending stabilizing at approximately $60 million beginning in FY 2027-28 and an ending fund balance of approximately $88 million in FY 2034-35.
Following the presentation, LA County Public Health Director and Commissioner Barbara Ferrer commended staff on addressing the difficult fiscal challenges.
“The families we’re in service of have lost almost their entire safety net,” she observed. “That makes it much harder to think about how to reasonably look at what we’re doing and right-size it to the funds we actually have.”
She added that it was especially important for First 5 LA to identify other funding opportunities at this time. “I think they’re there,” she emphasized. “We need to explore them… the need of the families we’re in service of has just increased.”
The proposed budget will return to the Board for final action on June 11. A copy of the full budget presentation can be found here.
Exploring Sustainability Strategies for Home Visiting in LA County
Commissioners next turned to a discussion on home visiting investments in L.A. During her introduction to the topic, Vice President of Community Engagement & Policy Aurea Montes-Rodriguez noted that home visiting represented First 5 LA’s largest direct service investment, comprising 38% of its total budget and 56% of programmatic spending. “Home visiting has been one of First 5 LA’s most significant and long-standing investments,” she said. “Our grantees and partners have done an important job and work supporting families, and at this time, our fiscal reality requires us to right-size the investment.”
Director of Family Supports Diana Careaga walked Commissioners through First 5 LA’s 15-plus year investment in home visiting, beginning with the Welcome Baby pilot in 2009 and expanded through Healthy Families America (HFA) and Parents as Teachers (PAT). Careaga also highlighted the infrastructure elements that have made the network function: the family strengthening oversight role of LA Best Babies Network (LABBN) and the Stronger Families database that tracks participant outcomes across program models and funding streams.
“First 5 LA has invested significant time and resources in the exploration and piloting of sustainability strategies over the past decade,” she stated. “In terms of sustainability, the two most promising strategies identified focus on Medi-Cal and the Families First Prevention Services Act (FFPSA).
Several guest speakers joined the presentation to discuss specific aspects of home visiting:
LA Best Babies Network (LABBN) Director Sharlene Gozalians provided landscape data for First 5 LA-funded sites. From July 2024 through December 2025, more than 22,000 unique families were served across 65,000-plus visits. Postpartum visit attendance reached 90% (above the 82% state average), and child immunization adherence reached 98.7%.
Dr. Melissa Franklin, director of the LA County Department of Public Health’s Division of Maternal, Child, & Adolescent Health, presented on system-building efforts, including the cross-program Data Lake and a forthcoming Universal Home Visiting Billing System to streamline blended and braided funding. She also previewed a DPH initiative to build coordinated support for 8,000 Black pregnancies and births annually.
First 5 Orange County President & CEO Kim Goll presented on her organization’s Bridges for Newborns screening program model, which leverages the Medi-Cal Community Health Worker benefit to enable sustainable service navigation.
SHIELDS for Families CEO Kathryn Icenhower discussed SHIELDS’ integrated wraparound services in SPA 6 and offered several strategic recommendations, including leaning into CalAIM and other programs, and advocating for adding home visiting models to existing Medi-Cal managed care continuums.
Following the presentation, Mitchell asked the speakers to return in June for a more in-depth discussion with the Board. All of the speakers’ presentations can be found here.
Additional Matters
During the meeting, the Board also approved the following:
Two new agreements with Californians Together and the Sobrato Early Academic Language Program, under the Strategic Initiatives Development Fund. An amendment to strategic partnerships with eight LA County hospitals in the amount of $14,314,284, to support the continued implementation of Welcome Baby through June 30, 2027.
The next Board of Commissioners meeting takes place on Thursday, June 11. Materials will be available 72 hours in advance at www.first5la.org/our-board/meeting-materials.
