First 5 Sacramento Awards $16 Million to Local Organizations to Improve Children's Programs in Sacramento County
Sacramento, CAThe First 5 Sacramento Commission awarded $16 million through June 2015 to fund programs and services that promote the healthy development of children prenatal through age five and their parents in Sacramento County.

The allocation will fund two priority areas for the CommissionHealth, Effective Parenting and Early Care and Development:

• Nutrition Services: $1.8 million awarded to the Health Education Council for nutrition education.
• Breastfeeding Services: $5.5 million awarded to Department of Health and Human Services Women, Infants, and Children program for breastfeeding support services.
• Effective Parenting: $7 million awarded to the Sacramento Childrens Homes Crisis Nursery for residential crisis intervention services and emergency child care; $2.1 million awarded to the Child Abuse Prevention Center of Sacramento for crisis intervention and support services delivered through a network of eight family resource centers.

The Commission is pleased to fund these innovative programs to ensure that Sacramento Countys children are healthy and ready to learn when they enter kindergarten, said Roger Dickinson, Chair of First 5 Sacramento Commission and Chair of the Sacramento County Board of Supervisors. Many excellent programs were reviewed and considered in the Commissions effort to promote the health, development and safety of our youngest population.

About First 5 Sacramento
Research shows that a childs brain develops most dramatically in the first five years and what parents and caregivers do during these years to support their childs growth will have a meaningful impact throughout life. Based on this research, California voters passed Proposition 10 in 1998, adding a 50 cents-per-pack tax on cigarettes to support programs for expectant parents and children ages 0 to 5. First 5 Sacramento County distributes approximately $17 million a year in Prop. 10 revenues to programs and services that meet local needs. Information about First 5 Sacramento Commission programs is available online at www.First5Sacramento.net or by calling 916-876-5865.