By Nancy Saengjaeng, Division Chief
Too Small to Fail (TSTF) is an early childhood initiative of the Clinton Foundation, in partnership with the California Department of Social Services (CDSS), to deepen the support for families with young children. This project transforms the waiting areas in human service agencies into welcoming, language-rich environments for families. The hope is that by transforming these facilities, parents/caregivers will get tools and information to support their young children's early brain and language development.
On July 20, 2023, Santa Barbara County was invited to attend an event to celebrate the completion of the first phase of Too Small to Fail initiative held in Napa County Heath and Human Services Office. Nancy Saengjaeng represented and met with community stakeholders, as well as Foundation representative Chelsea Clinton and California Social Services Director Kim Johnson.
The pilot partnership represents “a great opportunity to gauge the impacts of transforming what once were regular office waiting areas into engaging places for children to learn, read and play,” said Johnson. “And as we all know literacy is a gift of a lifetime.”
“We hope to be in all of the California counties and all of the offices like this because we so fundamentally believe that every child and every parent and other caregiver of young children deserves to have access to spaces in places like this,” said Clinton. “We know it is so important to build the building blocks so that they can succeed in kindergarten and then thrive and lead healthy, happy, long lives.”
Johnson and Clinton presented a research report based on the pilot, which showed that children are engaging in more reading and playful learning due to the makeovers. They also announced the expansion of the project and the selection of Santa Barbara County as a Too Small to Fail site!
We will transform a section of the waiting area at the Workforce Resource Center (WRC) in Santa Maria using a kit Too Small to Fail provides. The kit includes 50 start-up books, a “Family Read, Play and Learn Space” sign, a bookstand with storage, stacking child-size chairs and furniture, a washable rug, and materials for young children to play and learn. The exact materials included will depend on the size of the waiting room. Additionally, tote bags with high-quality materials will be available to take home for all caregivers with young children.
By participating in this pilot, we have agreed to the following:
- A virtual meeting with Too Small to Fail, Public Profit, our research partner, and CDSS to describe in more detail the pilot program process
- The research team will visit the county office to assess the space intended for the Too Small to Fail Read, Play, Learn installation. They will observe the waiting room in its current state and the activities of the people in the waiting room to develop a pre-intervention baseline. If possible, they will talk with a few client parents/caretakers with young children, who will be compensated for their time and participation.
- The Project will come out to set up the Too Small to Fail Read, Play, and Learn space.
- About a month after the installation, the researchers from Public Profit will return to observe the waiting room to record any changes in behavior or interactions, and speak to some parents/caretakers who have experienced the Read, Play, Learn space, if possible. Public Profit researchers will also speak with some county staff regarding their observations and the effect of the transformed space.
- We will sign a Memorandum of Understanding, which memorializes the above process.
Public Profit will use the information collected to evaluate the impact of this initiative.
We look forward to being a part of this initiative and helping impact families and children in our community.
More photos can be seen here.