The Isabella Project: A Journey Toward Equitable Early Care

The Challenge

Santa Paula is a close-knit, majority Latino community in Ventura County, California, with deep agricultural roots and a strong faith-based culture. While many of the city’s preschool-aged children qualify for subsidized child care, not all eligible families are accessing this care. 

To address this inequity, the Isabella Project, supported by the Ventura County Community Foundation, partnered with VIVA to develop a “Roadmap for Equitable Access to Early Care and Education.” The goal: create a community-owned plan that ensures every child ages 0-5 can access high-quality early learning opportunities rooted in the values of Santa Paula families.

The Approach

At the heart of this initiative was authentic community engagement, a process designed to reflect Santa Paula’s unique cultural fabric and ensure the roadmap was shaped by the community, for the community. 

Phase One: Development of the Draft Roadmap (September 2023 - May 2024)

VIVA collaborated with an 85+ member Steering Committee of local partners, parents, and educators to gather localized data and ground the roadmap in lived experiences. 

Key methodologies included:

• Population-Based Data Analysis: Examined income levels, family structures, and linguistic diversity to define community needs.

• Santa Paula Family Survey: Conducted in English and Spanish, this survey highlighted barriers such as affordability, trust, and cultural alignment with providers.

• Santa Paula ECE Workforce Survey: Gathered insights from early childhood educators on workforce retention, access to training, and resource gaps.
• Informal In-Person Interviews and Community Meetings: Held in accessible locations like parks and libraries to encourage open, authentic dialogue.
• Key Stakeholder Interviews: Conducted with key stakeholders with deep insight into local ECE systems to explore system-level opportunities for greater access. 
• Steering Committee Engagement: Facilitated numerous interactive committee meetings in English and Spanish. Activities at these meetings, such as asset mapping, brainstorming, and reflecting on community data, led to the creation of the roadmap strategies.

Phase Two: Testing and Refinement (June - July 2024)

The draft roadmap was then tested and refined through additional community engagement to validate and strengthen its strategies.

Activities included:

• Family Focus Groups: Conducted in both English and Spanish, these focus groups provided space for parents to review and refine strategies to ensure alignment with needs.
• ECE Workforce Focus Groups: Offered feedback on implementation feasibility and sustainability.
• Family and Informal Caregiver interviews: Captured personal stories and practical insights from those most directly impacted by the system.

This iterative process ensured that every element of the roadmap reflected both broad input and targeted feedback from the community it was designed to serve.

The Impact

Through an inclusive and data-driven process, the Isabella Project produced a five-year roadmap grounded in community voice and equity. The process cultivated deeper trust among families, educators, and partners while strengthening local ownership of early care and education strategies. 

The resulting roadmap is more than a plan; it’s a community-built blueprint for equitable access and sustainable change, ensuring that every child in Santa Paula has the opportunity to thrive from the start.