KIDS COUNT Launches Business on Board with Childcare! Award Program
The West Virginia KIDS COUNT Fund has launched an annual, statewide award program called Business on Board with Childcare! to recognize businesses that support their employees’ childcare needs. The Business on Board with Childcare! designation will signify a West Virginia employer’s adherence to key national and local criteria for a childcare-friendly workplace. KIDS COUNT officially launched the program during a training session for the regional partners who will help spread the word about Business on Board with Childcare! at the grassroots level.
"The availability of high-quality childcare has a big impact on the business bottom line," said Clark Hansbarger, president of the KIDS COUNT Board and dean of the Charleston Campus of the West Virginia University School of Medicine. " When companies support their employees’ childcare needs, the result is more successful recruitment and retention, improved productivity, reduced absenteeism and tardiness and savings for the bottom line. That's why KIDS COUNT is making a big commitment to recognizing and encouraging employers who provide a supportive environment for families with young children."
Click here to learn more about the launch of the Business on Board with Childcare! program...
Why a High Quality Early Child Development System is So Important
From the moment they are born, children are profoundly shaped by the world around them. Their earliest interactions with Mom, Dad, Grandma, Grandpa and all other caring adults lay the foundation on which their futures will be built.
The fact is 64,000 West Virginia children under age six spend a large part of their day in the care of someone other than their parents because their parents are working, and there is currently no good way to measure the quality of that care.
We need better public structures to ensure that every West Virginia child can benefit from a high-quality, early child development (ECD) program. According to Marshall University, for every dollar West Virginia invests in this high-quality ECD system, we will earn a $5.20 return through outcomes such as higher academic achievement and adult earning power and lower juvenile delinquency and dropout rates.
About KIDS COUNT
For the past 19 years, the West Virginia KIDS COUNT Fund has had a simple but vital mission: to improve the lives of at-risk children. In pursuit of that mission, KIDS COUNT has become West Virginia's most respected source of data and information about children and a recognized innovator in the effort to educate the public about what young children need to thrive and achieve.
KIDS COUNT's recent work has been focused almost exclusively on the importance of improving access to and the quality of early child development programs. For example, the organization has played a major role in the development of standards for West Virginia's pre-kindergarten (pre-k) program, fought to save the pre-k program from legislative cuts, studied the importance of early literacy, educated business leaders about the economic impact of ECD programs, launched a multi-county campaign to improve early literacy practices, and spearheaded a successful effort to improve the quality of childcare system by advocating for a childcare quality rating and improvement system.
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