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Public agency First 5 Kern contracted with the Applied Research Center at California State University, Bakersfield to evaluate First 5's effectiveness in the community. During the research, money from First 5, which is a company that "doles out money from a state tobacco tax" to recipients like schools, was used to pay for items including trips and cars. Some of these gifts went to the researchers, who concluded that "First 5 Kern is making a substantive and significant difference" in people's lives.