Not one to ever shy away from a debate, I've decided to post it and respond to some of the issues that was presented in the, "article", post - opinion post. I was going to leave it as a response comment but it was too long and wouldn't allow me, so here's my response to the article the link will take you to.
And if this was sent by anyone I know - oh come on, you can give me an opposition piece better than this people!
"I'm a little disappointed with whoever posted this link, and the fact it could be someone I know - not because your opinion differs with mine; I'm perfectly okay with that and welcome it and think it’s awesome we can have a difference in point-of-view, even when it means MY ass could be on the line ( I take it all in stride and jest, I swear)- but that the link you sent people to was so bad, misinformed and based on opinion so much more than fact.
I would like to say that Proposition 10 was elected in by voters of the community. While anybody is welcomed to state their opinion that "Money spent on Medi-Cal for kids is 10 times more important than anything First 5 spends money on", I'd like to point out that most of the population disagrees, or maybe just the population that cares enough to vote about how and where money is spent. Prop 28 was defeated in 2000 and Prop ID was defeated in 2009. Last year a bill never made it to ballot as it was stopped prior, mainly due to the appeals of the public to keep First 5 funds in place to serve children in the community, how the communities deem fit. While I agree health care is of utmost importance, especially for our young children, I'd be hard pressed to say what we do isn't important, because it is. You can look to any of the previous posts on First 5 to see the magnitude of services we provide for families. I believe what we do is important, or I wouldn't be doing it. I've worked as the MPSVNFL Scholarship Coordinator through First 5 for seven years now, and I can promise you, I make nowhere near 100k, and neither do my coworkers. If I was hauling in that kind of income my husband and I could actually afford for our son to be home, instead of with his grandparents so we can work to provide for him. I'd be interested to know what supervisors/community managers/presidents/chiefs of Medi-Cal make, you know, since we're just throwing around salaries of what top employees of organizations gross. I'll bet you it’s more than me - by a long shot.
It took some time to put strategic plans in place because no First 5 is set up the same. We are not authorized to issue or our own funds, so getting set up with school districts and administered organizations that could take us on as our "agents" took some time. You know what else takes time, building programs from the ground up, which is what each and every single one of us did with our programs. There were no blueprints for us to use, and when you're building something from scratch, it takes time. I can't tell you how many nights I spent with folders and information and spread sheets and budget plans and and and ... well you get the picture; all spread out on my floor at home, pouring over proposed plans - all on my own time, to get this program up off the ground. In addition, each county is set up individual to meet the needs of that specific community, and within that the cities etc. In Ventura County alone we have 11 Family Resource Centers, each one different than the next, because we serve different populations of people who have different needs of what they do not receive within that community. We basically try to fill some of these big holes in areas of service. We work hard to collaborate with other organizations to fund raise and bring in self sustained money. I'm not some a-hole with a gold plated name tag on my desk writing expense checks for the crazy expensive lunches I'm taking every day wining and dining my parents and providers. Dude, I make $0.32 for every mile I travel as a reimbursement. Yeh, totally sounds like I'm working and living the life of luxury with the bennies I'm rollin' in. We work with school districts, mental health organizations etc so we can work together to provide the best services possible for families. And we do track our data, for those concerned. It would take a tremendous amount of time to break down each individual program we offer that tracks data, but for my program specifically, data is gathered on a monthly basis and every time that a parent attends a parent education class my program requires of them. The provider's I work with are required every 6 months to complete a DRDP (Developmental Desired Result Profile) on each child at their facility. This information goes straight into our database and is used to track the developmental growth of each child since starting preschool until they exit our program. Majority of preschools do not use this tool, which they should as well as a complete yearly profile kept on each child.
The belly dancing issue. Sure, I'll go there. I can't speak for San Diego, and while it seems they did in fact fund a program to offer belly dancing classes to high risk pregnancy teens, a lot of the free classes and services we offer are given by instructors who volunteer their time. That’s right; they do the classes for free. What I can say about the belly dancing issue is that with teens, especially high risk, sometimes "alternative" methods need to be used as an approach to get them to take in information. Go try to talk to a raging hormonal teenager about anything and see what sinks in, I'll wait. Our goal is to get them into the centers, get them information and provide them with services and referrals to ultimately help them plan for a healthy baby. The focus is being placed more on the class, and not the means to end the result, which is appealing to young minds in a creative manner so that they can be provided with an abundance of services and resources to help them and their unborn child in a multitude of areas. As a tax payer I'd rather pay for a belly dancing class than the NICU bill for an underweight, underdeveloped or high risk child. As a parent, I'm willing to give anything a go that helps any parent lessen their chances of having a high risk pregnancy. Would we be having this discussion if it was prenatal classes, or prenatal yoga that was being offered?
I'd be interested to see a factual report with actual data and evidence that states which commissioners are getting the bulk of the funds, and if so, which organizations they work for. Without evidence that "back handed deals" has been made, such information is not factual "reporting" in my opinion. It’s just that, assumption and opinion, which even the most ill-informed people, are entitled to. Even when after 7 years they're still stating we're low income, when we are NOT an income based program or organization. We help families, no matter where they fall on the spectrum, end of story.
I said it before and I will say it again - I'm very proud of the work that we do, of what we have accomplished and the people we have helped over the past 7 years. I think our cause is just as deserving of acknowledged importance as the next. I take it a little personal because it is personal. I'll tell you what I told the Senator,
"I never took this job on because it's where I would make my millions, or because it was an easy sell. I took this job on because I believe in what I do."
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