First 5 Power of Preschool (PoP)

First 5 Power of Preschool (PoP) is a demonstration project with the long-term goal of giving all children in California the opportunity to attend a quality preschool. As a demonstration project, PoP provides free, high-quality, part-day preschool programs for 4-year-olds throughout the state. The program provides: (1) health and developmental screenings, assessments, and follow-ups, (2) school readiness curricula, (3) nutritious meals and snacks, (4) preschool or kindergarten transition support, and (5) family support services. PoP prioritizes developing preschools in underserved communities and providing services to children who are English language learners and/or have special needs. The First 5 demonstration projects are located in the following nine California counties: Los Angeles, Merced, San Diego, San Francisco, San Joaquin, San Mateo, Santa Clara, Ventura, and Yolo. Counties are reimbursed based on number of children served and teacher qualifications.

Power of Preschool is a one billion dollar investment from the First 5 California Children and Families Commission and First 5 County Commissions throughout the state. First 5 programs are funded through Proposition 10, which adds a 50-cent tax to each pack of cigarettes sold.

The program's goal is to create free, high-quality preschool opportunities for children in California and help guide efforts to create a statewide preschool system.

During the 2008-2009 Fiscal Year, First 5 PoP demonstration projects served 19,144 children, 53% of whom were English language learners. All preschools used the Desired Results Developmental Profile-Revised (DRDP-R) to monitor children’s development progress in social and physical competence as well as health and learning. Pre and post program results of 8,200 children reveled that the proportion of children who where at the highest development level increased by 561% for the Personally and Socially competent, 358% for the Physical and Motor component, 589% for the Safe and Healthy component, and 737% for the Effective Learning component.