Local Communities to Prioritize a Strong Start for Babies and Toddlers
Leading national organizations announced today that they will work with 29 communities across the country to focus on child development from birth to age 3. Research shows investments in the first three years of life, when a child's brain develops faster than at any other time period, are most critical in helping more children become more confident, empathetic, contributing members of their communities.
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The communities named in today's announcement include:
National Association of Counties
"This announcement marks an unprecedented moment in our nation's commitment to our youngest learners. For the first time, communities across the country will work together to take action to increase high-quality services for children from birth to age 3 toward a common goal of kindergarten readiness," said
The selected communities will launch the initiative in partnership with national organizations supporting the effort. Partner organizations will equip communities with tools to strengthen early childhood systems and share best practices with other cities, counties and states. In turn, communities will share resources that will drive policies and make the case for public and private investment in core services for infants and toddlers.
The needs of infants and toddlers cannot all be addressed with a one-size-fits-all approach. As part of this joint initiative, local leaders will pursue a variety of interlocking strategies in the child care, health, early childhood education and human services domains that promote and work toward the well-being of young children. These integrated approaches will build on promising existing community-driven efforts and work to address new challenges as they aim to provide parents with unique tools, information and guidance at a time when many feel most overwhelmed.
"These communities will be at the forefront of developing public policy and practice that embraces the new knowledge we have about brain science. We now know that waiting to invest in our children -- our nation's future -- until kindergarten or even pre-K is too late," said
Research shows that investments in children and their families in the earliest years help communities create better education, health, social and economic outcomes that increase revenue and reduce the need for costly, less effective interventions later in life. With an estimated 3 million of the nation's youngest children at risk of reaching kindergarten not ready to learn, this Initiative seeks a dramatic investment in improving kindergarten readiness.
In addition to the economic benefits, high-quality early childhood development programs can reduce chronic disease and health care costs, and their benefits include better education outcomes and higher incomes as adults. Early childhood development lays the foundation for school readiness with social-emotional skills that children need to do well both in and out of school, including attentiveness, persistence, impulse control and sociability.
Program partners' comments:
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"We are grateful and proud to partner with the Pritzker Children's Initiative in our efforts to improve kindergarten readiness. We applaud the pioneering work of the counties and cities named in today's announcement. County leaders leave no stone unturned in pursuit of our goal to build healthy, vibrant, safe communities for our residents - and the best path to success starts early. With the Pritzker Children's Initiative, we will strengthen early childhood systems and help to build brighter futures for kids today."
"We are excited to partner with these communities and help facilitate solutions to challenges in early childhood systems in communities across America. Given our experience in spurring and managing transformational change, we believe this initiative will give the next generation a better chance to grow and thrive."
"NLC is excited to provide leaders in these six cities with new tools to help them increase supports and services for the youngest children in their communities. As the elected leaders closest to their constituents, these city officials are driven to find solutions to better their communities, and have been at the forefront of developing local innovations that increase opportunities for families with young children. They know that a child's earliest years, from prenatal to age three, are the most critical times for learning and development, and these leaders are looking to adopt promising policies and practices that support the full development of infants and toddlers."
"We are looking forward to working with and learning from these exceptional and diverse communities across the country who are committed not only to investing in their tiniest residents to ensure readiness for kindergarten, but also preparedness for life beyond the classroom."
"A healthy start at birth ensures children have the opportunity to succeed and fulfill their potential. At StriveTogether, we know using data is the key to uniting communities around shared goals and outcome measures. Through this partnership with PCI and NICHQ, we are bringing our proven approach of data-driven tools and cohort learning to improve outcomes faster for infants, toddlers and families across the country."
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