IRVINE, CA – Over $15.4 million will fund critical health, education and family support programs for young children and their families in Orange County through June 2011. The Children and Families Commission of Orange County met last week to allocate Proposition 10 tobacco tax revenue to programs that are helping children to be healthy and ready to learn when they start school. These preschool investments are critically important this year since budget cuts will create higher class sizes and fewer resources as children enter kindergarten.

            Orange County elementary school districts and community organizations will receive over $8.8 million for comprehensive early education and health programs, early literacy and math programs, health and developmental screenings, speech therapy, and programs for children with special needs. Over $5.5 million will fund the Bridges Maternal Health Network to ensure that prevention strategies are in place for very young children and that all newborns are connected to a health home, an additional $4.5 million was approved for a second year of the Bridges program through June 2012. Almost $1 million was approved for family support programs including mental health counseling, developmental screenings, parent-child interactive therapy, and child-care health services.

            “California voters have dedicated Proposition 10 tobacco tax revenues for the specific purpose to fund programs for young children during the early years of development,” said Bill Campbell, Chairman of the Children and Families Commission and Orange County Third District Supervisor. “The programs that we approved are making a significant impact on the lives of children. The long-term impact promises to be dramatic as more children are growing up healthier and have the resources to be successful.”

            In addition to the funding actions, the Commission received a presentation by Jasjit Singh, MD and Medical Director of Pediatric Infectious Diseases at CHOC Children’s Hospital on the increased number of reported cases of Pertussis (Whooping Cough) which can be fatal for infants. The Centers for Disease Control reported that the number of cases throughout the United States has been steadily increasing since 1980. Between 2000 and 2004 over 12,000 cases of Pertussis were reported among infants under one-year of age, and 90 percent of deaths associated with Pertussis occur in infants under six-months of age. In 2009 over 2,300 cases of Pertussis were reported in California, and CHOC reported 28 cases for the same year. The Commission will be working with medical and health organizations to encourage parents and caregivers with very young children to re-immunize for Pertussis due to the waning impact of the vaccination that most received as children.

About the Children and Families Commission of Orange County

The Children and Families Commission of Orange County oversees the allocation of funds from Proposition 10, which added a 50-cent tax on tobacco products sold in California. Funds help pay for education, health care and child development programs for children from the prenatal stage to age five and their families. The Commission’s goal is to ensure all children are healthy and ready to learn when they enter school. For more information, please visit www.occhildrenandfamilies.com.

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