First 5 Sacramento Commission Meeting Summary

On 2026-10-14, the First 5 Sacramento Commission met in regular session with a quorum present. Chair Cerna presided. The agenda included the executive director's report, advisory committee update, CalWorks Home Visiting amendments, the Empowered Families contract augmentation, the 2027 meeting calendar, the 2027 vice chair appointment, and commission member comments. No agenda or minutes were included in the source material. Note: the raw transcript identifies the meeting as Monday, October 5, 2026, while the provided meeting timestamp is 2026-10-14; this summary uses the provided date. The meeting concluded at 1:17 p.m.

Consent Calendar

• Approved the August 10, 2026 draft action summary unanimously by the commissioners present.
• Appointed Commissioners Liu and Hirota to the First 5 Evaluation Committee, replacing the prior representatives, unanimously.

Public Comments & Testimony

• No members of the public signed up to speak on off-agenda items.
• Crystal, a parent leader and community member from North Highlands, spoke during the Executive Director's Report. She thanked Supervisor Cerna, Desmond, and Rodriguez for sponsoring Celebrate North Highlands on September 26, praised Commissioner Evans for attending on behalf of SETA, and thanked Morgan Brown/Color the Blog for sponsoring the kids zone. She also announced upcoming Parent Leadership Training Institute and partner events, including an October 24 family celebration, an October 18 Natomas walk at 8:30 a.m., applications for a Spanish-language River Delta cohort starting January 9, and media ambassador training on October 28. She expressed gratitude for the commission's support.

Discussion Items

Executive Director's Report

• Staff highlighted the Sunshine Family Bookmobile, one of 23 tier-one equity in action grants of up to $10,000, working in North Highlands to deliver books and early childhood information and partnering with another grantee to provide free haircuts for children ages 0-5.
• A planned $467,000 dental services contract with California North State University will not move forward. It was intended to partner with Head Start and bring dental care into communities because only 47 percent of children 0-5 had seen a dentist at least once in the prior year. The university removed its dental leadership, and First 5 halted negotiations after sending an August letter that went unanswered. The funds will remain in the fund balance for future sustainability.
• Commissioner Moak asked how the commission would maintain oral health fluency; staff responded that they remain connected through the Medical Dental Advisory Committee and Sacramento County Public Health's oral health program.
• Staff announced the Turtle Times exhibit at the Sacramento County Children's Museum, opening September 19, with three free days or evenings for working parents; SCOE and Help Me Grow will be present.
• On the airport child care project, staff reported that the Terminal B build-out estimate was about $7 million, with $1.5 million in state funding from Senator Ashby. The earlier space was limited to 48 children and two classrooms. The airports department is planning a new administration building over three to five years, and First 5 is exploring reinvesting funds into planning and architecture for a larger child care center there.
• The vice chair proposed exploring co-location with Head Start, noting that many airport workers would qualify and citing child care costs of about $3,200 per month for two children. Commissioner Wesley suggested considering summer programming for school-age children. Chair Cerna suggested exploring a nexus with federal tower appropriations. Staff said they would incorporate the ideas.

Advisory Committee Update

• Robin Blanks Guster reported that the advisory committee met August 18. Commissioner Guerra attended and reaffirmed his dedication to high-quality child care, continuous family support, and workforce development.
• The advisory committee requested a work group to review and recommend bylaw changes on committee membership because several seats tied to other bodies were hard to fill; staff anticipate bringing 10 new member appointments to the December 7 commission meeting.
• Presentations covered First 5 California's financial update, the revised stipend policy, the pause on family enrichment funding due to lower-than-projected tobacco tax revenues in 2025-26, and recruitment for the 2026 Parent Leadership Training Institute cohort in the River Delta.

Committee Updates with No Meetings

• The Evaluation Committee, Financial Planning Committee, and Systems Optimization and Sustainability Committee did not meet; no updates were provided.

CalWorks Home Visiting Revenue and Expenditure Agreements

• Staff requested approval of amendments after an increased state allocation of $6.9 million. Sacramento County Public Health declined $945,000 for the Nurse-Family Partnership, allowing those funds to be redirected to Birth and Beyond Family Resource Centers.
• The first amendment raised the DHA revenue agreement to up to $6.3 million; the second raised the CAPC expenditure agreement to up to $6 million.
• Staff also requested a $1,622,574 appropriations adjustment request, fully offset by revenue and with no impact to Prop 10 funds or reserves.
• Commissioner Wesley noted that the additional state funding supports home visiting and shifts related funding. Dr. Liu, as Public Health division director, expressed support, calling this the best approach for Sacramento County residents. Commissioner Katari recused herself from the item due to her oversight of DHA.

Empowered Families Contract Augmentation with CAPC

• Staff requested a $40,000 augmentation to CAPC's contract, raising it to not more than $871,000, to develop CalAIM billing infrastructure. CAPC has served as the Birth and Beyond Collaborative backbone since 2010 and is positioned to become a billing hub for other contractors; the transcript uses CAPC and CAPSE interchangeably.
• Commissioner Hirota asked about capacity limits; staff stated that at least five to six agencies have expressed interest in using CAPC as a hub and that capacity is part of the negotiation.

2027 Meeting Calendar and Vice Chair

• The commission approved the 2027 meeting calendar, continuing an every-other-month meeting cadence.
• The commission appointed Commissioner Guerra as 2027 vice chair.

Commission Member Comments

• Commissioner Kravitzwartz noted that the City of Sacramento Children's Fund guaranteed income program, funded by Measure L, is accepting applications through the end of October for current and former foster youth ages 16-23.

Key Outcomes

• Approved the August 10, 2026 action summary unanimously.
• Appointed Commissioners Liu and Hirota to the Evaluation Committee unanimously.
• Approved the CalWorks Home Visiting revenue amendment with DHA up to $6.3 million, 6-0 with Commissioner Katari recused.
• Approved the CalWorks Home Visiting expenditure amendment with CAPC up to $6 million, 6-0 with Commissioner Katari recused.
• Approved the $1,622,574 appropriations adjustment request, 6-0 with Commissioner Katari recused.
• Approved the $40,000 augmentation to the CAPC Empowered Families contract, with the contract amount not to exceed $871,000, unanimously.
• Approved the 2027 meeting calendar unanimously.
• Appointed Commissioner Guerra as 2027 vice chair unanimously.