KIDS COUNT Launches Statewide Effort to Build Support for New Investments in Childcare
An unprecedented, grassroots campaign for new public investments in childcare quality is officially under way. The Kids First Campaign, spearheaded by the West Virginia KIDS COUNT Fund, is the first statewide effort to unite parents, childcare providers and community leaders in support of better childcare. Six organizations chosen by KIDS COUNT to lead regional Kids First efforts gathered in Flatwoods on March 19, 2008 to discuss their plans to build support for a childcare quality rating and improvement system. "We have talked extensively with parents, providers and community leaders throughout West Virginia, and their message is clear: they want a reliable tool for assessing and improving the quality of childcare programs," says Margie Hale, executive director of KIDS COUNT. "They know that when we invest in new public structures to improve the quality of childcare we are ensuring a brighter future for our children and our state. That's why we are so excited about the coalition-building work being undertaken by the Kids First Communities. These coalitions will provide a new way for parents, providers and community leaders to work together to advocate for new investments in young children."
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 17 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. In 1990, the Task Force on Children Youth and Families was formed as a private, not-for-profit corporation governed by West Virginia business and community leaders. The first initiative of the new private sector Task Force was DAY ONE, an early intervention and prevention program for new parents. The second was "KIDS COUNT," a nationwide project funded by the Annie E. Casey Foundation to publish annual, statewide Data Books designed to educate the public and policymakers about the needs and conditions of children.
In 1995, the Task Force on Children, Youth and Families changed its name to the West Virginia KIDS COUNT Fund, but the organization's founding mission has remained constant. Since its inception, KIDS COUNT has been dedicated to improving the lives of at-risk children by collecting information about their status; identifying programs that work; and advocating for public policies that promote early child development (ECD.) KIDS COUNT's recent work has been focused almost exclusively on the importance of improving access to and the quality of ECD 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 new effort to improve the quality of West Virginia's ECD system.
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