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Not all First 5 grants are helping poor kids Carrie Sturrock, Chronicle
Staff Writer

Saturday, April 19, 2008

Scores of savvy San Francisco parents have tapped a pot of taxpayer dollars
for everything from children's ice skating lessons and Monterey Bay Aquarium
field trips to supplies for Halloween parties and chartered buses to the
Jelly Belly factory in Fairfield.

Whether rich or poor, applicants can get up to $11,000 over three years for
all kinds of activities from First 5 San Francisco, a local agency charged
with distributing Proposition 10 tobacco tax revenue to promote early
childhood development.

Last year, about $564 million in Prop. 10 revenue was distributed by the
state and its 58 county First 5 commissions, which have wide discretion over
how the money is used. San Francisco's commission receives about $9 million
annually and uses $200,000 each year to fund its unique Parent Action Grants
program, which began in 2001.

The goal of Parent Action Grants, say First 5 San Francisco administrators,
is to build "parent leadership" and teach them how to advocate for their
children.

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