“There’s always more to learn when it comes to providing the highest quality early learning and care . . .”
Quality Counts California (QCC) is a statewide effort to strengthen California’s early learning and care system to support young children and their families.
IMPACT Legacy is First 5 California’s major initiative to boost the quality of early learning and care (ELC) across the state, focusing on supporting all types of programs (centers, home-based, etc.) and educators, especially in high-need areas, to build a sustainable system that ensures children enter school ready to succeed by addressing their health, development, and family needs. It’s a continuation and expansion of the earlier IMPACT program, aligning with California’s Quality Counts California (QCC) system.
IMPACT is offered with funding from First 5 California.[1] First 5 California’s goals for the IMPACT program are to support childcare settings “to achieve high-quality standards with proven effectiveness factors”, engage “more families in the early learning process”, and help “ensure more of California’s children enter school with the skills, knowledge, and dispositions necessary to be successful.”[2]
Under the IMPACT program in fiscal years 2024-2025, First 5 Napa County (the grant recipient from First 5 California) contracted with Community Resources for Children (CRC) to support individual early care and education providers. Recursos comunitarios para la infancia provided coaching and professional development for early learning and care providers in Napa County. They also offered child developmental screenings at the request of childcare providers and caregivers using the Ages and Stages Questionnaires (ASQ-3 and ASQ-SE).
Additional funding supports providers who are supported by state and/or federal funding. The IMPACT funding supports individuals who provide childcare in a private setting or business. In its report to the First 5 Napa Children and Families Commission, Recursos comunitarios para la infancia shared that private childcare providers represent 78% of the childcare capacity in Napa County.
[1] The FY ‘24-‘25 IMPACT grant also supported the Rainbow Family League and Safe Spaces Program in Napa County.
[2] First 5 California Program Areas: Earling Learning and Care. Accessed at https://www.ccfc.ca.gov/whatwedo/program_areas.html, 10.16.25.