Early Childhood Programs

An article in the January/February 2012 edition of Educational Researcher, “What Do Early Childhood Programs Do? What Could They Do?” recently caught my attention. It was a review of the book,  Childhood Program and Practices in the First Decade of Life: A Human Capital Integration (2010).  The book itself analyzes the effectiveness of a wide variety of early childhood programs from prenatal and infancy through early elementary.  The article points out the strengths and gaps to be found in the book. 

The bottom line is that there are many effective and worthwhile early childhood programs happening around the country that are providing a high rate of return to investment. 

Realityworks has successfully partnered with some of the programs included in the book such as Head Start and Early Head Start, as well as programs similar to Nurse-Family Partnerships that involve home visitation. 

Click on the link below to read how Realityworks products are providing powerful hands-on experience in prenatal and parenting education programs.    http://www.realityworks.com/images/Story-ChildrensHomeAidPublicHealthOrgIL-RealCare.pdf 

According to The Pew Center on the States, “The highest quality home visiting programs produce positive outcomes that, over time, yield returns of up to $5.70 per taxpayer dollar spent.”   In March 2010, President Obama signed the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, which provides $1.5 billion over five years for a state-based early childhood home visitation grant program serving families with young children and those who are expecting children. The law is the first of its kind and calls for states to invest in evidence-based programs in order to be eligible for grant funding.

This month the second National Summit on Quality in Home Visiting Programs was held to provide a venue for the exchange of ideas to connect research with policy and practice. We will watch to see what home visiting researchers, program leaders, and policy makers will share about the latest developments in the field and strategies about how to ensure that home visiting investments are supporting evidence-based models backed by strong policies and embedded in early childhood systems.

We applaud these early childhood programs and the outcomes that the children and parents experience as a result of participating.

To learn more about early childhood and home visitation programs in your state, click on http://www.pewcenteronthestates.org/initiatives_detail.aspx?initiativeID=61051.