Current Focus of the Cross Cultural Partnership Project

Los Angeles, California

In California, the issue is framed by legislation known as “Proposition 10.” During the 1998 elections California citizens voted in support of Proposition 10, which increased the state cigarette tax to 50 cents per pack. This money was then distributed to each county to create, develop and support programs to optimize the early childhood development of children from the prenatal stage until the age of five. Los Angeles County received approximately $165 million dollars in the first year of the Prop 10 program.

The Partnership’s efforts are focused on determining whether the children most at risk (arguably those African American and Latino children living in Central Los Angeles, South Central Los Angeles and East Los Angeles) are being served by the enormous amounts of money being circulated in Los Angeles County. An additional concentration of the Partnership is determining whether those care providers who are most likely to extend service to the neediest of children receive a substantial and effectual allocation of Prop 10 funding.