Cradle to Career

After School Toddler Preschool Youth Teen

Santa Monica Cradle to Career. Making a difference, together.

A child's development is a continuum that starts at birth and lasts through the transition into self-sufficiency and adulthood. Each transition point is critical to a person's success in school and beyond. Santa Monica Cradle to Career is designed to ensure Santa Monica is a community where every child has the ability to truly thrive.

Our Vision: Santa Monica Cradle to Career (SMC2C) is a collective impact initiative consisting of the City of Santa Monica, Santa Monica College, Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District (SMMUSD), service providers, and community stakeholders/advocates, working together to develop services and opportunities that ensure youth thrive from birth to adulthood.

Our History: Two tragic events impacting Santa Monica youth – a fatal gang-related shooting in a public park, and a highly-visible teen suicide – sparked an open dialogue between the City of Santa Monica, public institutions, service providers, and other stakeholders about youth violence. By 2012, this conversation blossomed into Santa Monica Cradle to Career – a public/nonprofit partnership employed to address the broad spectrum of factors that influence overall youth wellbeing.

Collective Impact: The Guiding Philosophy of the C2C initiative is dedicated to collective impact – a “strength in numbers” approach to social change. Our collective impact model is based on research substantiating that large-scale social changes require organizations across different sectors work together rather than individually.

We weave together the network of non-profits and major public institutions serving Santa Monica families to coordinate supportive services, evaluate relevant policies and programming, collect, and analyze data, coordinate crisis interventions, and work to improve the overall wellbeing of our children.

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Contact Us:

(310) 458-8701
smc2c@santamonica.gov

FAQ

How are children in Santa Monica doing?

SMC2C developed Santa Monica's Youth Wellbeing Report Card to identify answers to these questions and, further:

1.) identify, 2.) prioritize, and 3.) implement coordinated strategies to support children and families in our community.

Access the 2019 Youth Wellbeing Report Card here.

Watch videos that provide a deeper understanding of the data in the links above.

What are the Key Goals of C2C?

1.Increase Kindergarten Readiness

Stakeholders created the Building Blocks for Kindergarten (BBK) workgroup, which works in partnership with the Library and SMMUSD to improve kindergarten readiness in Santa Monica (see more info about the BBK campaign below).

2. Strengthen Youth Connectedness and Behavioral Health

School districts are beginning to emphasize the value of students’ social and emotional health as a measurement of success. Understanding the correlation between social/emotional health and academic achievement has led to nationwide investments of school-based wellness centers in districts across the country.

The City of Santa Monica, SMMUSD, and service providers are working together to improve student wellbeing in our schools.

3. Engage Vulnerable Youth and their Families in Supportive Services

The Child and Youth Resource Team (CYRT) provides intensive wraparound services to some of the community’s most vulnerable youth and families. Composed of three teams:

• The Early Childhood Wellbeing Project (ECWP) works with families with children 0-10 years old.

• The Middle School Support Team (MSST) provides support for youth ages 10-15,

• The Youth Resource Team (YRT) supports older youth ages 15-24.

4. Improve College & Career Readiness

Stakeholders formed Santa Monica Education Collaborative (Ed. Collaborative) to promote college and career readiness. The mission of the Ed. Collaborative is to:

•Identify research-based methods for increasing resiliency in students.

•Build awareness of and increase participation in Career Pathways.

•Increase access for all students to post-secondary education and training to facilitate student success in this transition.

Why hasn't the Youth Wellbeing Report Card been updated since 2019?

The first Youth Wellbeing Report Card was published in 2012 and was updated annually through 2019. Due to the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, various data partners have been unable to provide 2020-2023 data. Now that we have emerged from the public health crisis, we are able to re-focus on data collection and analysis with the goal of understanding how our children and youth are doing, and where we should focus our support of Santa Monica kids and their families.

The City’s Human Services Division staff have been meeting with data partners—SMMUSD, Santa Monica College, Santa Monica Police Department, and Early Childhood Task Force—to review the data that has been historically collected and analyzed. We are confirming the relevancy of existing report card indicators, and exploring new data points to add to the report card to ensure that data collection and analysis is relevant and reflects current trends and needs. We plan to share the outcome of these conversations at a Spring Cradle to Career meeting where we will continue the dialogue around data collection and analysis and prepare to publish an updated Report Card for community use.

Where can I find more information about youth behavioral health?

The Report Card's behavioral health data is sourced from the California Healthy Kids Survey. The complete survey can be found here.

The CHKS is not just a standalone instrument but a data collection system that districts can customize to meet local needs and interests.

What is the Early Childhood Task Force?

The Early Childhood Task Force (formerly Child Care Task Force) is a volunteer group that advocates for unique and workable solutions to address the needs of young children in our community. They are a part of the Cradle to Career initiative and receive regular updates from the Early Childhood Wellbeing Project.

The Task Force is comprised of about 30 active members representing early childhood, mental health, public education, research institutions, parents, and advocates. It meets monthly throughout the school year. Contact the Task Force co-chairs at sm.earlychildhoodtaskforce@gmail.com for more information.

What is the Building Blocks for Kindergarten Campaign?

An active workgroup of the Cradle to Career initiative, Building Blocks for Kindergarten is a collaborative of the City of Santa Monica, SMMUSD, and other community agencies working together to raise awareness among parents and child care providers of the importance of kindergarten readiness.

Campaign activities have included developing and distributing a Kindergarten Readiness handbook in English and Spanish, encouraging use of the VROOM app among parents of young children, offering enhanced library story times and YouTube videos, and participating in the City’s Annual Arts & Literacy Festival.

Workbook Links here: English / Spanish

The most recent campaign effort was converting the Building Blocks Handbook into an online challenge hosted by the Santa Monica Public Library, link.

Where can I find a list of social services funded by the City of Santa Monica?

santamonica.gov/human-services-grants-program

Interested in opening a licensed child care in Santa Monica?

The City of Santa Monica actively encourages new child care providers. Please refer to our Child Care Planning Guides for Family Child Cares or for Centers. The City has dedicated staff in Planning and in Human Services to assist you.

Family Child Cares or Centers

My child needs support. Who can I call?

If your child needs emotional or mental support, call or text 988. https://www.samhsa.gov/find-help/988

When is the next C2C meeting?

The next C2C meeting will be in Spring 2024. If you would like to be added to our email list serve for meeting updates, please email smc2c@santamonica.gov.

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CREST

Explorer Program

PAL Education Programs

PAL Fitness Programs

PAL Leadership Programs

Police Cadet Program

Restorative Justice Programs

Santa Monica Reads

Trades Intern Program

VAP Academic Assistance Program

VAP Enrichment Program

VAP Fitness Program