Smart Early Childhood Programs Deliver in the Long- and Short-run

Quality home visiting / parent mentoring programs show immediate results

These programs can create immediate benefits to both parents and children. High-quality programs can improve the health of new mothers while also reducing the amount of child abuse and neglect that occurs in these families—with the added bonus of reducing the medical, legal, and other costs to the state that are associated with such negative events.

Effective pre-K programs likewise create solid and fast-acting outcomes

High-quality early education can reduce costs on a number of fronts. This savings includes decreased levels of developmental delays, less grade repetition, and, again, a reduction in abuse and neglect. What’s more, quality early learning programs have been shown to generate an immediate return of about two dollars for every dollar invested via the sale of local goods and services.

The impressive benefits of these programs also extend far beyond the short-term

Children who experience quality early childhood programs can have better results in a variety of academic measures, even years later. This can include better vocabulary and math scores in third grade and less grade repetition and special repetition at that same age. Moreover, at-risk children who participated in one high-quality early learning program went on to be 42% more likely to be consistently employed as adults and four times more likely to graduate from a four-year college.