First 5 OC
Co-designing evaluation processes with and for parents and caregivers to strengthen early childhood systems.
Fractal Strategies partnered with First 5 Orange County to lead a community-based evaluation of the Engaged Neighborhoods (EN) initiative. EN brings parents, schools, community organizations, and local governments together from across four neighborhoods — Anaheim, Garden Grove, La Habra, and Santa Ana — to strengthen the conditions young children need to thrive. Working alongside parents, caregivers, and community partners, we designed a participatory evaluation process to understand not just what impact the initiative is having, but how community-led change happens.
Process
We engaged over 100 parents and caregivers and deepened cross-sector collaboration across neighborhoods. Working alongside a task force of parents, caregivers, and partner organizations, we co-designed an evaluation process that centered community voice at every stage. Across the four neighborhoods, the initiative reached:
2,000+ parents and caregivers engaged in early learning and leadership.
570+ parent leaders trained.
Growing collaboration across schools, cities, and community organizations.
Midway through the evaluation, heightened ICE activity across several neighborhoods required us to pivot. To maintain safety and trust, we shifted to remote dialogues and interviews, partner-led engagement, and ensured recommendations responded to the urgent priorities of undocumented and mixed-status families. Even then, families continued to show up and shape the work. It was a reminder that meaningful systems change is built on relationships and flourishes when communities are trusted as leaders.
Results
The evaluation’s findings are directly shaping how First 5 OC works. The Seeds-to-Branches growth framework gave First 5 OC and its Engaged Neighborhoods partners a shared language for defining progress, bringing coherence across the countywide initiative while remaining flexible enough to honor each community's context. First 5 OC adopted this framework to structure the next funding agreement, grounding institutional planning in the language communities developed themselves.
Beyond the framework, evaluation findings drove concrete changes moving forward: First 5 OC and ENs will ensure community health workers are available to parents and caregivers across all Engaged Neighborhoods, building on a model already established through the Santa Ana Early Learning Initiative. They secured dedicated staff to enroll community members and launched a strategic plan refresh informed by what the data revealed. The evaluation also demonstrated how inclusive participation can bridge funder and community perspectives. By centering parent voices and origin stories through culturally responsive engagement, this partnership showed that community-led evaluation is not just a process — it drives institutional change.
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