The Hope Street Family Center (HSFC) is a community benefit program of California Hospital Medical Center. HSFC’s School Readiness program is comprised of two centers in central Los Angeles: the Early Childhood Center (ECC) and Child Development Center. The program’s goals are to: (1) improve family stability and parental care giving capacity, (2) improve child development, (3) improve family health, and (4) support the transition process for children entering kindergarten. The program primarily targets low-income, two-parent Latino families who are recent immigrants and have children ages 0-5.

The program is offered year-round, five days a week, from 6:30am to 6:00pm. It includes: center-based early care and education activities, the use of a specialized Creative Curriculum to meet the needs of high risk-children, ongoing child literacy and developmental assessments, and access to other Hope Street Family Center services such as parent education classes, intensive case management, counseling, and comprehensive family health care.

This program is funded by First 5 LA.

The program’s overall goal is to prepare children and their families for successful entrance into kindergarten through full-day, center-based early childhood education and family support services.

In 2007-2008 grant year, the School Readiness Program served 138 children ages 0-5 and 188 parents. One hundred percent of children received developmental assessments. Significant delays were identified in 28 children and appropriate additional services were provided. Eighty-six percent of children almost or fully mastered the skills necessary to be “personally and socially competent” as measured by the Desired Results Developmental Profiles and the Are You Ready for Kindergarten checklist.