Our goal: Children are ready for school

Of every 50 children who are having trouble learning to read in kindergarten, 44 will have trouble in third grade, and children without reading skills by third grade are unlikely to graduate. Recent studies show that the years from birth to age 5 form the blueprint of a child's long-term learning success.

Research shows that high-quality child care supports the positive, social, emotional and cognitive development of young children, as key components for success later in school. The challenge is that preschools are often of poor quality, in short supply or simply too expensive for poor or even middle-class children to attend. Many children in preschool attend programs that do not meet even basic standards of quality. High-quality early childhood education has been recognized as not only a critical component of economic stability for families with young children, but also a key to success in school and life.

Each year, United Way supports organizations that are improving the quality of and increasing the access to their programs. The success of these programs is a result of comprehensive strategies toward early intervention, ongoing services and investments in quality. These strategies make these programs more costly, and more critical for those children at greatest risk. Studies show that increased investments in early learning mean states spend less in special education and juvenile justice services.

Child-care

One program supported by United Way, Scottdale Child Development Center enhances the total development of young children while strengthening their families and communities. Scottdale understands the importance of family stability to a child's success. The program at Scottdale provides information, referrals and parent education services to help keep families stable, healthy and self-sufficient. The program has also taken leadership roles in key early education partnerships that extend United Way's work into the broader community, including the Supporting Partnerships to Assure Ready Kids (SPARK) program for children at risk of poor achievement, and two literacy-based programs that build early reading skills. Scottdale also provides regular training to other early education providers in quality care.

2007–08 Investments in early learning

United Way is investing $5.1 million in 70 programs focused on ensuring children are ready to begin kindergarten.

Strategy areas:

Child-care	29 programs, $3.7 million
Parent leadership, skills and support	15 programs, $700,000
Child abuse and neglect prevention and intervention	26 programs, $700,000
Total investment	$5.1 million

Stats:

	Approximately 20 percent of children in Georgia are living in poverty.
	Nearly 90 percent of brain development occurs by the time a child is 3 years old.
	Children in quality child-care programs have 26 percent greater high school graduation rates, are held back 35 percent less often and are 60 percent less likely to have a juvenile arrest.
	Of the more than 5,000 licensed/registered child-care providers in metro Atlanta, only 234 centers and 42 family child providers are nationally accredited.
	Some 46 percent of kindergarteners come to school, at-risk for failure. Low-income children begin 1–2 years behind.

See our long-term plan for transforming early learning in our region. Read the Dorothy Yates Kirkley Commission Report. (pdf)