{"id":9001,"date":"2018-02-23T22:33:51","date_gmt":"2018-02-23T22:33:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/ec2-52-14-78-51.us-east-2.compute.amazonaws.com\/?post_type=regions&#038;p=9001"},"modified":"2026-03-09T17:04:50","modified_gmt":"2026-03-09T17:04:50","slug":"santa-cruz","status":"publish","type":"regions","link":"https:\/\/www.firstthingsfirst.org\/es\/regions\/santa-cruz\/","title":{"rendered":"Santa Cruz Region"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Arizona\u2019s early childhood agency represents a commitment Arizonans made to our youngest children \u2013 that they would have the support they need to start school healthy and ready to succeed. Many young children in Arizona face significant barriers to their success, including poverty, trauma and lack of access to needed resources.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>4,416Population of young children (under age 6)38%Percentage of young children living in poverty<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.firstthingsfirst.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Map-SantaCruz.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><small>(Click for a detailed map.)<\/small><\/a><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 20px;\"><b>Priorities<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n<div id=\"region-strategic-priorities\" class=\"margin-top-10\">\n<p>The Santa Cruz Regional Partnership Council makes strategic investments to support the healthy development and learning of the young children in the region. The regional council&#8217;s priorities include:<\/p>\n<ul class=\"ftf-list\">\n<li>Strengthening families through voluntary home visiting and family resource centers<\/li>\n<li>Scholarships for children to access high-quality early learning<\/li>\n<li>Strengthening families through voluntary home visiting<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<hr \/>\n<p>Early Childhood Matters.<\/p>\n<p>90% of a child\u2019s brain grows before kindergarten.<\/p>\n<p>Learn why<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p><b><span style=\"font-size: 20px;\">Regional Key Impact Highlights<\/span><br \/>\n<\/b>[State Fiscal Year 2025]\n<p>Strengthening Families and Early Literacy <\/p>\n<p>651 families or caregivers served by receiving referrals or by participating in activities at family resource centers<br \/>\n94 families with young children participated in voluntary home visiting programs proven to reduce parental stress levels, increase connections to community supports, and improve children\u2019s cognitive, motor, behavioral and social-emotional development<\/p>\n<p>Quality Preschool and Child Care<\/p>\n<p>36 children birth to age 5 received a Quality First scholarship to attend high-quality preschools and child care programs<br \/>\n208 children attended preschools and child care programs participating in Quality First<\/p>\n<p>Preventive Health<\/p>\n<p>9 early childhood educators received child care health consultation or support in maintaining health and safety standards in early learning settings<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p>Programs Our Region Funds<\/p>\n<p>First Things First supports early childhood programs in Arizona through grants to community organizations that provide services\u2014at no cost\u2014for young children from birth to age 5 (before kindergarten) and their families.<\/p>\n<p>Find Programs<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h2><strong><span style=\"font-size: 20px;\">State Fiscal Year 2025 Total Regional Program Expenditures<\/span><\/strong><\/h2>\n<div class=\"su-table su-table-responsive su-table-alternate su-table-fixed\">\n<table style=\"width: 445px\">\n<tbody>\n<tr style=\"height: 33px\">\n<td style=\"width: 322px;height: 33px\">Family Support<\/td>\n<td style=\"width: 123px;text-align: right\">$649,256<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr style=\"height: 33px\">\n<td style=\"width: 322px;height: 33px\">Quality and Access<\/td>\n<td style=\"width: 123px;text-align: right\">$384,038<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr style=\"height: 33px\">\n<td style=\"width: 322px;height: 33px\">Evaluation<\/td>\n<td style=\"width: 123px;text-align: right\">$32,117<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr style=\"height: 33px\">\n<td style=\"width: 322px;height: 33px\">Health<\/td>\n<td style=\"width: 123px;text-align: right\">$30,116<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr style=\"height: 33px\">\n<td style=\"width: 322px;height: 33px\">Community Awareness<\/td>\n<td style=\"width: 123px;text-align: right\">$7,481<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr style=\"height: 33px\">\n<td style=\"width: 322px;height: 33px;text-align: right\"><strong>Total<\/strong><\/td>\n<td style=\"width: 123px;text-align: right\"><strong>$1,103,068<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n<p>First Things First Staff<br \/>\nMailing Address<br \/>\n1145 W. Frontage Rd., Suite 1, Rio Rico, AZ 85648<br \/>\n 602.309.5512<\/p>\n<p>Francisco Padilla<br \/>\nRegional Area Director<br \/>\n &#x66;&#x70;&#x61;&#x64;&#x69;&#x6c;&#x6c;&#x61;&#x40;null&#x66;&#x69;&#x72;&#x73;&#x74;&#x74;&#x68;&#x69;&#x6e;&#x67;&#x73;&#x66;&#x69;&#x72;&#x73;&#x74;&#x2e;&#x6f;&#x72;&#x67; 602.769.5957<\/p>\n<p>Roxanne Ochoa<br \/>\nAdministrative Specialist III<br \/>\n &#x72;&#x6f;&#x63;&#x68;&#x6f;&#x61;&#x40;null&#x66;&#x69;&#x72;&#x73;&#x74;&#x74;&#x68;&#x69;&#x6e;&#x67;&#x73;&#x66;&#x69;&#x72;&#x73;&#x74;&#x2e;&#x6f;&#x72;&#x67; 480.510.4279<\/p>\n<p>Regular Regional Council Meeting Dates<\/p>\n<p>View schedule<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Arizona\u2019s early childhood agency represents a commitment Arizonans made to our youngest children \u2013 that they would have the support they need to start school healthy and ready to succeed. Many young children in Arizona face significant barriers to their success, including poverty, trauma and lack of access to needed resources. 4,416Population of young children &hellip; <a class=\"more\" href=\"https:\/\/www.firstthingsfirst.org\/es\/regions\/santa-cruz\/\">Read More<i class=\"fas fa-arrow-circle-right\"><\/i><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13,"featured_media":0,"template":"","class_list":["post-9001","regions","type-regions","status-publish","hentry","regions-santa-cruz"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v27.1 (Yoast SEO v27.1.1) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>First Things First<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"es_ES\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta 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