Children’s health in the first five years is critical to early development. Many factors impact children’s health, including the environments they grow up in and their access to health services.
of eligible children on MediCal in San Mateo County receive an annual dental visit
of children with developmental delays go undetected until kindergarten
Preventive health care, especially, can help minimize threats to healthy development and provide early detection and intervention for problems that emerge.
First 5 supports collaborative health efforts focusing on prevention and early intervention. First 5 particularly supports work in three priority areas: oral health access and utilization, integrated systems for children with special needs, and enhanced mental health systems.
AbilityPath is First 5’s partner in Help Me Grow, supporting children’s healthy development by identifying and treating children with special needs, promoting Help Me Grow and developmental screening among pediatricians, and strengthening the early identification and intervention system.
Funded subpartners: Legal Aid of SMC, Starvista, Lifesteps Foundation Children and Family Services, Silicon Valley Community Foundation, Stanford Children’s Health -Developmental Behavioral Pediatrics, Stanford Children’s Health Government Relations
Provide services to the Latino farmworker community in the Coastside region of San Mateo County, focusing on enhancing early childhood mental health through evidence-based interventions including parent-child groups, Positive Parenting Program (Triple P) services, and Child-Parent Psychotherapy (CPP).
Provide trauma-informed mental health services to children ages 0-5 and their caregivers, particularly those who have experienced housing instability, intimate partner violence, and other forms of trauma; through the following: parent support groups, therapeutic and clinical services including Child Parent Psychotherapy (CPP) and other dyadic approaches, and sensory integration.
Supports oral health access and utilization for children birth through age 5 and pregnant women by educating and engaging stakeholders about state policies that support the implementation of the county’s oral health strategic plan.
Provide trauma-informed mental health services to children ages 0-5 and their caregivers, particularly those who have experienced housing instability, intimate partner violence, and other forms of trauma; through the following: parent support groups, therapeutic and clinical services including Child Parent Psychotherapy (CPP) and other dyadic approaches, and sensory integration.
First 5 is collaboratively funding TRISI along with San Mateo County Health and MHSA funding. East Bay Agency for Children’s Trauma Transformed (T2) is developing a learning cohort, which will help to support and create a more trauma-informed approach among the child- and family-serving workforce.
© 2026 First 5 San Mateo County
Kitty Lopez has served as the Executive Director of First 5 San Mateo County since 2013, focusing on strategic investing, community leadership, policy and advocacy development for young children, 0-5, and their families.
Kitty has served as Co-Chair of the Advisory Body for Build Up for San Mateo County Children’s Initiative, with Board of Supervisor, Dave Pine, since 2018. Congressman Kevin Mullin is Honorary Co-Chair. This initiative was established to preserve, grow, and increase the number of early care sites in San Mateo County.
Kitty previously served as the Executive Director of Samaritan House, one of San Mateo County’s leading Core Service Agencies and safety-net nonprofits serving low-income families and individuals with food, shelter, clothing, health care, counseling, education classes, and holiday assistance from 2002 to 2013.
Kitty taught kindergarten, second grade, and high school in southern California and San Francisco and was a consultant in schools with children who have autism and special needs. Additionally, Kitty worked in a residential substance abuse treatment center in San Francisco and psychiatric hospital for children and youth in San Diego. Kitty’s roots in supporting children began as a 16-year-old volunteer at the Braille Institute in Los Angeles where she taught swimming to children and adults with visual impairments.
She attended University of California Santa Barbara earning a California Teaching Credential and B.A in Psychology. Kitty is active in her community serving as Vice Chair of the San Mateo County Event Center, and Past President and Current Member of the San Mateo Rotary Club. She is currently serving as Past President of the First 5 Association of California. On March 2022, Assembly Speaker pro Tem Kevin Mullin selected Kitty Lopez as the 2022 Assembly District 22 Woman of the Year.
