How High-Quality Early Care and Education Strengthens Children and Families

God created the family to be the primary place for educating a child on how he or she is to live. Values are taught and nurtured within the context of the family (Dt. 6:4-9; Ps. 78:5-8; Pro. 1; Eph. 6:4; 2 Tim. 1:5). However, some parents experience more difficulty with child rearing than others, lacking resources or the support of a spouse to raise their children on a path toward lives of health, opportunity and values. That’s why services that strengthen families have the power to transform the lives of disadvantaged children, such as high-quality early care and education programs.

In this factsheet, we cite research that shows how high-quality early learning programs can help children get a good start in life, engage parents in their education, and help them grow up to have strong families of their own.

Pastors and ministry leaders call on policymakers to ensure vulnerable children have access to quality early learning programs. Congress must continue to prioritize investments in Head Start, the Child Care and Development Block Grant and Preschool Development Grants.