About the Commission
The California Children and Families First Act of 1998 provides for the creation of a county Commission charged with promoting, supporting and improving the early development of children from the prenatal stage through five years of age. The Sonoma County Children and Families Commission was established by the Sonoma County Board of Supervisors in December 1998.
The County Commission has three ex-officio members:
- Board of Supervisors Representative
- Director, Sonoma County Department of Health Services
- Director, Sonoma County Human Services Department
Four other members are appointed from the following categories:
- Recipients of the project services included in the county strategic plan
- Educators specializing in early childhood development
- Representatives of a local childhood case resource or referral agency or a local childhood care coordinating group
- Representatives of a local organization for prevention or early intervention for families at risk
- Representatives of community-based organizations that have the goal of promoting nurturing and early childhood development
- Representatives of local school districts
- Representatives of local medical, pediatric, or obstetric associations or societies
1. Board of Supervisors representative;
Health and Human Services liaison member of the Board of Supervisors, Efren Carrillo.
Efren Carrillo grew up in the Roseland area of Sonoma County. He holds a BS in Environmental Economics and Policy from UC Berkeley. While at UCB, Efren interned with the US Environmental Protection Agency Air Toxics Division, and also worked on projects related to water economics and public health research.
Returning to Sonoma County, Efren was project coordinator for the Sonoma County Economic Development Board and managed the Sonoma County Business Environmental Alliance. He then worked as a liaison for Assemblyman Joe Nation and as Education and Government Relations Manager at Redwood Credit Union.
Public service and community involvements have included serving on: Santa Rosa Gang Prevention Task Force, the Board of Directors for Habitat for Humanity of Sonoma County, and as President of the Board of the Southwest Community Health Center. Efren has also served on the Board of the Center for Volunteer and Nonprofit Leadership of Marin, the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors, and enjoys volunteering opportunities including Youth Business Week-California, United Way Day of Caring and Bi-National Health Week.
He is currently County Supervisor for the 5th District
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2. Director of the Sonoma County Department of Health Services (ex-officio): Rita Scardaci.
Rita Scardaci has been Director of the Department of Health Services since January 2005. She came to Sonoma County from Plumas County where she was the Director of the Plumas County Public Health Agency.
Prior to her position in Plumas County, Ms. Scardaci held various leadership positions in public health and health administration in Santa Cruz County. In addition to her training as a Registered Nurse, Ms. Scardaci holds a BSN/PHN degree, certification as a Health Education Specialist, and a Masters of Public Health.
Ms. Scardaci is currently a member of the board of The California Endowment, and California Telemedicine and eHealth Center, and has held various leadership positions in numerous other state and local organizations
3. Director of the Sonoma County Human Services Department (ex-officio): Jo Weber .
Appointed Director of Sonoma County Human Services effective September, 2006, Jo oversees one of the largest departments in county government. The Department provides services to one in nine county residents from eight locations, with approximately 600 staff and a budget of over $130 million. Human Services programs provide cash aid, medical assistance and food stamps to needy individuals and families, employment and training services, and services to assist the elderly and disabled and United States veterans in maintaining their quality of life. In addition, the Department is responsible for Child Protective Services, providing a full array of child welfare services including a 24-hour emergency response, an emergency shelter at the Valley of the Moon Children’s Home for child victims of abuse, and managing the Redwood Children’s Center, which provides a safe, supportive environment for child victims of sexual abuse.
Jo has spent 30 years in social services in California, working for Riverside County and also at the State level for the majority of her career. Prior to becoming Sonoma County’s HSD Director, Jo served as Assistant Director for Sonoma and Riverside County Departments of Human Services for four and a half years. For 26 years, Jo served in various positions with the California Department of Social Services, providing support to county human services operations through the development of research, budget analysis, policy development and oversight, and legislative advocacy.
Jo holds a Master of Arts in Marriage and Family Therapy. She has extensive experience in budgeting, research, statistical analysis, and program administration. She has four sons. She and her husband reside in the city of Santa Rosa.
4. Parent Representative: Tamah Hulett
Tamah Hulett is a mother of four young children. Raised in Cotati and Rohnert Park and now living in Windsor, Tamah has seen Sonoma County grow first hand. She attended UC Berkeley where she studied linguistics, psychology and education to create an Independent Studies major in Language Acquisition. While at Cal she studied American Sign Language and Deaf Culture at Berkeley City College earning herself an ASL Certificate. Also during her time in Berkeley she was a member of the University of California Marching Band, a tutor through a local elementary school program called Break the Cycle, a swim instructor and therapist’s aid for Special Needs Aquatics Program (SNAP), a peer advisor for the campus Career Center and a lifeguard, swim instructor and pool manager for the City of Berkeley.
She and her husband moved back to Sonoma County before the birth of their second daughter in 2000. Tamah ran her own business teaching developmentally based Signing Smart™ infant and toddler playclasses which help parents and babies learn ASL vocabulary for early communication, cognitive development and bonding. Her three oldest children attend Cali Calmécac, a Spanish/English Two-Way Immersion Charter School in Windsor, where Tamah is active in their PTA. She is a pre-kindergarten parent group coordinator and has created activities for parents and their children to help them get to know each other and the school before the first day. Her youngest son attends Windsor Head Start. Being involved with that gave Tamah the idea to do presentations at Head Start parent meetings throughout the county on what First 5 is and how parents can get involved.
She is currently Chair of the Parent Perspective Committee (PPC), a committee created to advise the Commission on what families need most. This committee meets the third Thursday of the month and is open to anyone with a child 0-5. Tamah is also the current Chair of the Commission.
She’s enjoying being a Commissioner for First 5 Sonoma and hopes that by reaching out to the community she will be able to be a strong voice for our County’s parents and children.
5. Representative from the local school districts: Jane Escobedo
Jane is currently the director Sonoma County Achievement Team at Sonoma County Office of Education, an extension of her ongoing work in closing the achievement gap for English language learners. She has been involved in education for the past 20 years, serving as a teacher, project manager for categorical programs, and a principal while serving on various committees at both the district and state level. Jane earned a BA in Human Growth and Development from Immaculate Heart College in Los Angeles and her MA in Curriculum Development from Sonoma State University. Jane is the founding director of both the Even Start and Healthy Start programs in Santa Rosa City Schools.
Jane lives in Santa Rosa with her husband. They have one adult son.
6. Representative of local medical, pediatric or obstetric associations: Katherine Foster, MD, FAAP
Katherine Anne Foster, MD is a pediatrician educated at UC Berkeley and UC San Francisco School of Medicine. She recently retired from her 26-year career at Kaiser Santa Rosa.
Besides practicing both primary care and hospital care at Kaiser, she taught in the Family Practice Residency Program, consulted for North Bay Regional Center, and helped to develop the Pediatric Dental Initiative and the Redwood Empire Surgery Center to provide safe sedation and anesthesia for dental procedures for children and developmentally disabled adults.
She has been a First Five Commissioner since August 2000. As a Commissioner, she has advocated for a variety of health and developmental services for children, especially medical insurance, dental services, and mental health services.
Dr. Foster is married to Gary Boehmer, a retired Social Worker, and has three grown sons, John Grech, Matthew Grech, and Brian Grech. They have made her a grand, and happy, grandmother of six grandchildren, who continue her education in the development of healthy children.
7. Educator specializing in early childhood development: Joel Gordon
Joel Gordon is the Dean of Early Childhood Education at Santa Rosa Junior College where he coordinates the instructional program. He has been working in the field of Early Childhood Education for over 30 years. His program is accredited by NAEYC and has been selected as a demonstration site for the Program for Infant Toddler Care (PITC). Mr. Gordon is a certified trainer for the Leadership in Diversity program and is a certified trainer in PITC.
He has authored many articles on early childhood education. In 2005 he was the recipient of the Audrey Sanchez Teacher Enhancement Award given by the California Kindergarten Association. He has served as a commissioner for First Five Sonoma for seven years.
