Over the past few months, we’ve been busy planning the next five years for First 5 San Mateo County. Our community has been such important partners in that and we can’t wait to share what we’ve learned with you!

This summer, we spent a lot of time hearing from families, providers, partners, and members of our community.  

• We held two stakeholder events to gather insights from system leaders and community partners on the state of children and families in San Mateo County. A total of 29 professionals from various community and child- and family- serving organizations participated.
• To inform the design of the Baby Bonus Pilot Program, we conducted mixed-methods research this summer with 98 families of children under age 3 who are enrolled in or qualify for Medi-Cal. Our efforts included 9 family interviews, focus groups with 20 families, and surveys completed by 69 families, conducted in both English and Spanish.
• We joined forces with a team of three parents, a therapist, and a consulting team for our Centering Family Voices Project, a human-centered design effort, to deeply understand the experiences of Latino/Latinx families in San Mateo County seeking mental health support for themselves and their children 0-5. We interviewed 7 parents who have been seeking services for their children’s behavioral and mental health needs, and have developed a list of pilot solutions to explore.
• This year we also launched a landscape scan to better understand our county’s early childhood mental health landscape. This work included surveys and document review, along with 10 interviews with early childhood mental health experts here in San Mateo County. We’ll be releasing the findings of this scan soon.
• To support our understanding of families being served by F5SMC-funded projects, we conducted a pilot evaluation process that gathered data from 108 families receiving both light-touch services¹ as well as intensive direct services . Families from both groups answered sets of questions in a survey or interview format. Some of the initial findings from this pilot are highlighted here, with more information coming soon. 

Our partners have also been trying to understand the greatest needs, barriers, and opportunities to support our county. We have been looking at their data and findings, too! 

So, let’s get into our top takeaways and some of the data highlights about the state of children 0-5 and their families in San Mateo County:

Takeaway 1: Families are struggling with the cost of living in this county. From accessing basic needs like food and diapers, to keeping up with housing costs and financial insecurity, many families of young children are in survival mode.

• From the 98 Medi-Cal eligible families in our Baby Bonus research, we heard that 61% of families are struggling with Basic Needs and 37% shared that they had trouble accessing basic needs services in the past 6 months. We also saw that 34% of parents reported housing insecurity, 31% struggle with financial worries, and 31% are facing food insecurity.  
• During our strategic planning community meetings, community and family-based organizations frequently shared that basic needs and affordable housing are of concern for families. 
• Affordable housing is also one of the top four priorities in San Mateo County District 2’s Strategic Plan, developed after engaging with 526 community members to understand their needs.²    
• Of the 108 families in our pilot evaluation process, 23% reported being unable to access basic needs. For the 91 families who received intensive services, 24% reported being worried about their housing. 
  

Takeaway 2: They say that it takes a village to raise a child, and families are actively looking for that village. But many are struggling to navigate the multitude of services and systems that are available. 

• Of the 98 Medi-Cal eligible families in our Baby Bonus research, 61% reported struggling with navigating systems. There are lots of challenges, from not knowing what is available, to not understanding eligibility or complicated forms, to not getting responses back from providers. Families are having a hard time accessing support. 
• In our strategic planning community convenings, system navigation was one of the top 3 barriers that families face in our county, as reported by our partners. 
• A key insight from the Early Childhood Mental Health Scan is that navigating services is a major challenge for families. They face uncoordinated care, confusing systems, burdensome follow-ups, the need to self-advocate, and difficulties navigating costs and coverage.
  

Takeaway 3: Four years after the COVID-19 pandemic began, families still face challenges in finding and accessing high-quality early care and education. Families need care that is affordable, close to home or work, meets their family’s and child’s needs, and is available.

• Of the families in our Baby Bonus research, 83% reported needing child care. 
• In our strategic planning community convenings, access to high quality child care was the most frequently reported challenge that families face. 
• Affordable child care is also one of the top four priorities in District 2’s Strategic Plan, which was shaped by community input.³
  

Takeaway 4: Families with young children are struggling mentally and emotionally. They’re looking for specialized mental health support and community connections to help break out of social isolation.

• In our Baby Bonus research, 30% of families reported needing mental health services, 24% mentioned feeling socially isolated, and 37% said they faced challenges in accessing mental or behavioral health support for their children in the past six months.
• In our strategic planning community convenings, mental health for both children and their caregivers was one of the top 3 most frequently shared challenges for families. 
• Of the 108 families that participated in our pilot evaluation process, 22% reported not being able to access services for their child’s developmental, mental, or behavioral health. 
• Mental wellness was one of the top four priority areas that emerged from engagement with community participants in District 2.⁴ The strategic plan also highlights the importance of addressing mental health in our community. 
  

Takeaway 5: Many families have positive factors that support child and family well-being

Despite the issues families of young children are facing in the County, many families have strengths that help to promote resilience and well-being for their children. 

Of the 91 families we evaluated that receive intensive direct services from F5SMC-funded projects: 

• Most (89%) feel confident in their ability to nurture and support child development.
• Most (76%) can rely on friends and family for support.
• Most (85%) have enough food to feed their families.

And, in our pilot evaluation process of 108 families, we learned that: 

• The more children that families reported having, the more likely children ages 0-5 were reported to be attending preschool.
• The more family members that were reported to be in a household and the higher education of family members, the more likely children ages 0-5 were reported to attend preschool and be supported with early academic skills; and, 
• The more adult family members that were reported to be in a household, the lower the cumulative risk and the lower difficulty families in the study had accessing resources. 

Many challenges and needs still face our families, and it’s encouraging to see the extensive information being gathered in our County to better understand these issues and find solutions.

As we plan for the next five years, we will use these insights to shape our priorities as an early childhood systems leader, community partner, and strategic investor in San Mateo County. Thank you to all of the members of our community for sharing their experiences, and we cannot wait to get started on the next chapter of great work.

1.  Surveyed families receiving light touch services: n=17; Surveyed families receiving intensive direct services n=91 ↩︎
2. https://www.canva.com/design/DAGD15TQtMo/Z3pwde0ZOGeHq2MZAtvFEQ/view?utm_content=DAGD15TQtMo&utm_campaign=designshare&utm_medium=link&utm_source=editor ↩︎
3. https://www.canva.com/design/DAGD15TQtMo/Z3pwde0ZOGeHq2MZAtvFEQ/view?utm_content=DAGD15TQtMo&utm_campaign=designshare&utm_medium=link&utm_source=editor ↩︎
4. https://www.canva.com/design/DAGD15TQtMo/Z3pwde0ZOGeHq2MZAtvFEQ/view?utm_content=DAGD15TQtMo&utm_campaign=designshare&utm_medium=link&utm_source=editor ↩︎