I recently attended a national public policy symposium in Washington, D.C., where Carmen Nazario spoke. Ms. Nazario is the assistant secretary for Children and Families of the Department of Health and Human Services.  Her comments were wide-ranging, talking about the administration’s budget proposals (expanding child care to 300,000 more children), the First Lady’s efforts to decrease the incidence of childhood obesity, and the Early Learning Challenge Fund.  But the biggest “ah ha” moments for much of the audience of early childhood advocates was the discussion of health care reform.

Large numbers of staff in child care centers, and self-employed family child care providers, do not have health insurance through their employers.  These low-wage workers often cannot afford insurance for themselves and their families, and do without.  Due to pre-existing conditions, they may be unable to even buy health care in the individual market.  Ms. Nazario believes that child care workers may be among the biggest beneficiaries of health care reform.

This week may be “do or die” for health care reform that would make care accessible to those who provide care and education to our youngest children.  For their sake and the sake of all the families in America who depend upon them, let’s hope health care becomes available at a price they can afford.

Yesterday an article appeared in the Wall Street Journal describing how governments all over the world are subsidizing child care in order to bring more women into the workforce, and even to boost sluggish fertility rates. Government investments in child care in Japan and France, for instance, are seen as the means to raise women’s employment rates and income, resulting in a huge increase in consumer spending.

I titled this blog “déjà vu” because I have heard this case over and over during the 30 years I have advocated for investments in quality child care. In the last 10 years or so, all the child care focus has been on the importance of the early years in laying the foundation for school success and lifelong learning. But prior to that, child care was in the public eye primarily as a tool to enable parents to work to support their families.

I don’t think U.S. policy makers are concerned with low fertility rates, as they are in Japan and France, but they are concerned with the economy. The article states, “Japanese economists calculate that raising women's employment rate from the current 67.5% would boost consumer spending enough to create an additional $70 billion in wealth.”

The Wall Street Journal article concludes that many in America want the government to stay out of child care, leaving the full responsibility to parents. They ask readers to weigh in with their opinions on the issue. It will be no surprise to my readers that I believe that government investment in quality child care pays double dividends – first, as an essential tool for economic development and, second, to close the achievement gap by having all children ready to succeed.

I am delighted to hear the renewed conversation about the link between the economy and child care. 

New research from the Center for Child Health, Behavior and Development at Seattle Children's Research Institute has found that preschoolers in home-based child care businesses watch 2.4 hours of television a day, compared to .4 hours per day at a child care center.  These numbers may be significantly higher, according to the lead researcher, Dr. Dimitri Christakis, as it is a self-report, and providers may tend to underreport.

Children go home in the evenings to busy households where they are likely to watch two to three additional hours of television, thus five or more hours a day for a child who is awake only 12 hours a day.  The providers in the study were from among the 45 states that license home-based child care, unlike Ohio where no regulation is required until a provider cares for seven or more children.  I suspect that the situation is worse in homes where there is no oversight and no training.

The American Academy of Pediatrics discourages any television viewing, including videos or educational television, in the first two years of life and recommends a daily limit of one to two hours of quality programming for older children.

Child care should be an opportunity to enjoy imaginative play, develop social skills and participate in activities that develop cognitive abilities.  Our community has long rejected simple custodial care since we learned that the majority of brain development takes place during the first years of life.

Christakis, the study’s lead researcher, said, "High quality preschool can make a very, very positive difference. We're so far from meeting that, that we really have a lot of work to do. Any time a TV is on, children speak less and adults interact with them less frequently.”

Public policy issues abound in this research: the need for parent education about choosing quality child care, the need for states like Ohio to regulate all child care businesses, and the importance of ongoing education for child care professionals.  As Christakis said, “we really have a lot of work to do.”

The project coaches are working with eight centers and 15 family child care providers in Westwood and Cheviot. Each program has completed a self- assessment and is implementing a plan to improve their parent-teacher connection and… to strengthen families.  We are focusing on one Cincinnati Zip code, 45211, in order to see if a concentrated effort can yield measurable results.

There are two more components to the project. One is community awareness, and you can see our really cool billboard and signs all around the neighborhoods of Westwood and Cheviot.  The other component – about to launch – is a concept known as Parent Cafes.  I’ll write about these once we observe the dynamic and hear what parents have to say.  Reports from other parts of the country are outstanding.

It’s not even November yet, and I am already counting our blessings.

After a long debate, 4C decided that in these tough economic times, hosting a black-tie, Saturday-night gala might not be the right thing to do. We worried that our sponsors over the past four Champions for Children dinners might not be inclined to support such a festive event this coming January—when their own businesses, customers or communities are struggling. 

But it appears that many of those sponsors feel that—gala or not—the work of 4C to improve child care and early learning needs to continue unabated. In response to a letter asking for support in this non-gala year, we have received very generous donations from a third of last year's sponsors already, with more coming in each week. Their notes say to keep up the good work—and they appreciate that their donations are going directly to support our services this year.

This is not the time—they believe and we believe—to halt the momentum that has been made in preparing children for kindergarten, or to stop assisting parents in finding the best possible care for their children. What better time to keep an eye to the future.

Our supporters are helping us reach our goals for families and children, and I am grateful.

Early childhood education programs are closing at an alarming rate. In the 23-county region served by 4C, there has been a loss of more than 3,000 spaces in child care centers since January. I could view this very theoretically—and it would make sense: Supply and demand. Unemployment is up, the need for child care is down.

But there is more than meets the eye. Working parents are finding lower cost, informal options—friends or relatives who themselves are out of work. Many parents have reduced hours or reduced pay, and full-time child care no longer meets their needs.

Ohio and Kentucky have invested millions of dollars to improve early childhood education because of the enormous benefits of high-quality early learning. The loss of these programs represents a set-back for school readiness. Informal child care providers do not have access to training, are not held to safety standards and often provide little continuity of care, with children bouncing from one caregiver to another.

I hope we—child and family advocates, policy-makers, funders and families—will work hard to preserve the gains in quality during these tough economic times so that when the economy improves, the foundation will still be in place to build a world-class early childhood education system for all children.

Early childhood education is in the news--especially in states considering preschool for all children. But some opponents of Pre-K expound false information.  One persistent myth is that the benefit of high-quality early education fades by the third grade. Thanks to a study reported by the National Institute of Early Childhood Research (and to Roger Neugebauer of Exchange Every Day) for reporting on a study confirming that high quality early education has lasting benefit for children from low- and middle-income families.

According to the British study, researchers "found that 10-year-olds who had attended high-quality preschool scored 27 percent higher in math skills and performed better in other subjects compared to their peers."  Benefits clearly extended to other subjects and to social skills.

The bad economy has stopped progress toward Pre-K for all in its tracks.  I hope that the kind of research noted here will allow us to pick up the pace so that all children are prepared for school and life.

Hello and welcome to the new 4C blog for news about the field of Early Care and Education.  Sallie Westheimer, Executive Director for 4C for Children will post news, advocacy issues, public policy announcements and other tidbits of interest to the community about this important topic for our country and our families.  Check back often or subscribe to her RSS to keep in touch.