Nestled in Ventura County, California, Santa Paula is a close-knit, majority Latino (over 80%) community with deep agricultural roots and a strong faith-based culture. Here, the need for accessible, equitable early childhood education is felt strongly, especially because a significant portion of the population are young children who qualify for subsidized child care. That need prompted the formation of an initiative known as the Isabella Project, which is working to ensure that every child has access to high-quality early childhood education.
The goal of the Isabella project is clear: develop a “Roadmap for Equitable Access to Early Care and Education” that reflects the voices, needs, and aspirations of Santa Paula’s families and early childhood educators. In 2023, the Ventura County Community Foundation partnered with VIVA Social Impact Partners, a social impact consulting firm, to support this collective impact initiative. VIVA led a comprehensive community engagement process to ensure that the roadmap would not only reflect the needs of Santa Paula but also be responsive to the unique cultural and social fabric of the community.
Listening to Santa Paula residents was key to creating a strategic, culturally responsive roadmap. At the core of the Isabella Project is their ever-growing Steering Committee, which is a democratic body made up of over 80 community members. This diverse collective includes parents, child care providers, early childhood system leaders, philanthropy, policy makers, business leaders, and school districts. Each member of the Steering Committee has a stake in the Project’s success and is committed to advancing efforts outlined in the roadmap.
VIVA structured the process to have two critical stages of community engagement: Development and Testing.
Here’s a closer look at how each stage unfolded and the role that community input played:
The development phase was centered around gathering detailed, Santa Paula-specific data from a variety of community sources. These insights came directly from families and the local ECE workforce, using both qualitative and quantitative data collection methods:
Once all the above inputs were collected, the Steering Committee reviewed the final data and used these insights to develop the strategies in the draft roadmap.
With the draft roadmap in hand, the Isabella Project team moved into the testing phase. This stage was all about gathering feedback to refine the roadmap and ensure it reflected the realities of Santa Paula families and educators. The team organized various sessions in both English and Spanish, including:
Following these feedback sessions, the Steering Committee reviewed the input from the community and incorporated all suggestions and edits that came from this testing stage to produce the final roadmap.
Throughout the roadmap development process, the Isabella Project Steering Committee and VIVA worked to center the voices of Santa Paula residents. The aim was not just to collect feedback but to truly understand the unique needs and preferences of local families and ECE providers. By engaging the community at every stage of the process, the Isabella Project is creating a roadmap that’s tailored to the realities of Santa Paula—a place where culture, community, and connection play a central role in everyday life.
The feedback gathered from these sessions highlighted several priorities, including the need for programs that reflect cultural and linguistic diversity, prioritize safety, and foster trust between families and educators. Additionally, these community insights underscored the importance of engaging families in their children’s early learning journeys and ensuring transparency in program values and practices.
The insights gathered from Santa Paula residents have provided a strong foundation for the Isabella Project’s roadmap. With this collective input, the Isabella Project is well-equipped to implement strategies that will strengthen early childhood education and make it more accessible and equitable for all families in Santa Paula. By remaining committed to ongoing community engagement, the Isabella Project aims to create a lasting impact on the early childhood education landscape in Santa Paula and serve as a model for other communities across the state.
Over the next few weeks, VIVA will release a series of blogs that pull insights from this community engagement process. These blogs will dive into specific factors that influence family enrollment in early care programs, as well as how the community engagement methodologies used helped us arrive at strategic results. The upcoming blogs are:
As this initiative continues, the Isabella Project and its partners are excited to work with the Santa Paula community to bring these plans to life. By working hand-in-hand with local families, educators, and community leaders, they are paving the way for a future where every child in Santa Paula has access to the high-quality early care and education they deserve.