Cradle to Career is a unique community-based partnership that brings together 71 partner organizations from ten sectors to collaboratively improve educational and health outcomes for all children in Fresno County. 

By working together across sectors we link, align, and leverage resources. All partners are committed to inclusion and the belief that everyone benefits from more just and equitable systems.

 A strong Fresno starts with providing early learning opportunities for all our young children. 

 Funded by the David and Lucile Packard Foundation, Fresno Starting Smart and Strong is our   shared, long-term commitment to increasing our children’s chances for health and happiness   throughout life. Our goal is that all the adults in a child’s life have the tools they need to support   growth. 

Fresno Starting Smart and Strong has two flagship programs: the Language Learning Project and the Play and Learn Centers.

Through Fresno Starting Smart and Strong, the Early Development Instrument (EDI) has been used as a tool in advancing early learning initiatives across Fresno.

The Language Learning Project (LLP) is one of the Fresno Starting Smart and Strong flagship programs. The LLP is a professional development approach for providers, born in Fresno, that is now in use nationwide. The approach has deeply impacted the Fresno community and its early childhood educators while gaining local, state, and national recognition. In alignment with the fact that young children have great capacity to learn more than one language, the LLP offers strategies and support to early childhood educators and a set of innovative practices that support the education of young dual language learners. 

The project is based around Personalized Oral Language(s) Learning (POLL) strategies, which are concrete approaches that support language learning in all environments for children birth to five years of age. The POLL strategies were developed by nationally renowned early childhood experts Dr. Linda Espinosa, Dr. Carola Oliva-Olson, and Elizabeth Magruder.

To guide other communities in building a stronger foundation for young dual language learners, we have developed an in-depth website that contains a collection of resources available for communities to use in training, implementing, and supporting the implementation of POLL strategies. 

Visit our Language Learning Project page to find a toolkit for implementing the project, videos, and more resources for educators.

Help Me Grow helps children reach their optimal development by kindergarten. The goal is to identify more children with developmental concerns and link families to helpful services as early as possible in a child’s life. Help Me Grow systems include a centralized intake and referral, community outreach to promote early intervention systems, targeted outreach to child care and child health providers, and the collection and analysis of data to improve the system. 

For parents and caregivers: Help Me Grow Fresno County can answer your questions about your child’s development from birth to age five. Services are free and confidential. Our trained Call Line Care Coordinators will listen and follow your family’s questions. Call 1-866-KIDS-HMG (1-866-543-7464) any time of the day.

Visit Help Me Grow Fresno County for more information.