About Early Childhood Education & Child Care
CDF fully understands the need for consistent, quality education throughout a child's life, including the need for a child to grow and learn during the summer months and after the traditional school day ends. CDF continues its work today to support programs and policies that will ensure every child a Head Start in life.
Related Campaigns
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Cradle to Prison Pipeline® Campaign
The Cradle to Prison Pipeline campaign is a national and community crusade to engage families, youth, community leaders and institutions and those in power in every sector in the development of healthy, educated children. The Campaign advances policies that put children on track to productive adulthood and opposes those that criminalize children at younger and younger ages.
Action Alert
Secure the Future - Invest in Every Child
In the richest nation on earth, 9 million children are without health coverage and more than 13 million live in poverty. We must demand that our leaders commit to helping children as a condition of our vote.
Stories
Mitchell Family
After Hurricane Katrina, Rene, Akil, and Aliyah found stability in the CDF Freedom Schools program. Read more
Stories
Calvinika Johnson
Calvinika was often teased and used to strike out in anger by fighting at school, but she is doing better at controlling her behavior and she attributes much of the improvement to her involvement with the CDF Freedom Schools program. Read more
Related Staff
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Dr. Cathy GraceDirector of Early Childhood Development Policy |
Related Programs
Early Childhood Education & Child Care
Today, only 3 percent of eligible infants and young children (0-3) are enrolled in the federal Early Head Start program. Only about half to two-thirds of children eligible for Head Start are enrolled. Only 14 percent of Black, 17 percent of Latino, and 42 percent of White 4th graders are reading at grade level. Only 11 percent of Black, 15 percent of Latino and 41 percent of White 8th graders perform at grade level in math.
CDF fully understands the need for consistent, quality education throughout a child's life, including the need for a child to grow and learn during the summer months and after the traditional school day ends. CDF continues its work today to support programs and policies that will ensure every child a Head Start in life.
Making Connections: Health Coverage, Early Childhood Dental Care and Education
Each year, children miss over 51 million hours of school due to preventable dental-related illness. Learn about the importance of health coverage and early childhood dental care for the development of our nation's children with this story about one-year-olds Michele and Jacob.
Early Childhood Development Legislative Update
On September 18, 2009, the U.S. House of Representatives took a significant step forward for very young children and passed the Student Aid and Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2009 (H.R. 3221). CDF strongly supports Title IV of the Act, the Early Learning Challenge Fund, which invests $1 billion per year for eight years in challenge grants for states to build high-quality early learning systems for children from birth through age five. The Early Learning Challenge Fund takes a much-needed step toward bridging the early learning gap that leaves millions of children unable to access the quality early education programs they need and deserve. Learn more about this important piece of legislation and its status in Congress.
Early Childhood Development and the Federal Budget
The Obama Administration's budget request for the fiscal year 2010 signals a new national commitment to children, families and America's future. The policies and funding changes proposed make clear that the President understands that investing in children now will ensure a more stable economy and a healthier, more competitive workforce for the future.
The budget makes a substantiated effort to make early childhood development a priority for every child in America, by funding new early care and education initiatives and continuing some of the investments included in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, such as increasing Head Start funding to provide low-income families with access to a comprehensive early childhood education experience so they can be ready to learn when they arrive at school. The President’s budget seeks to provide all children and families with access to quality child care, promote healthy child development and help families access and succeed at work.
To better understand what the budget proposals mean for children, CDF has provided an overview of the budget, broken down by issue area, and provides information on some areas where more attention is needed.
New Data on Early Childhood Care and Development
In December 2008, CDF released its State of America's Children 2008® report that includes a compilation of the most recent and reliable national and state-by-state data on various issues including "Early Childhood Care and Development." This section includes data on children enrolled in Head Start, prekindergarten enrollment, working parents, cost of child care vs. cost of college, child care assistance, teacher and child care worker earnings and child care center regulations.
"Dr. Julius Richmond—Creator of Head Start"
"In July 2008, Dr. Julius B. Richmond passed away at age 91 at his home outside Boston. Dr. Richmond served as U.S. Surgeon General under President Jimmy Carter. He was a pediatrician, professor of medicine, a child development specialist, and a co-creator and the first director of Head Start. He understood early on how crucial a quality, comprehensive child development program could be for the physical, emotional and educational health of all children—especially poor and at-risk children. The millions of children and families who have been served by Head Start since its beginnings owe him a tremendous debt of gratitude." Read more from CDF President Marian Wright Edelman's Child Watch® Column, "Dr. Julius Richmond—Creator of Head Start."
SPARK Program
Supporting Partnerships to Assure Ready Kids (SPARK), is a national initiative of the W. K. Kellogg Foundation to help communities unite resources to better prepare children for school. Seeking "ready children and families," "ready communities" and "ready schools," CDF, through its Southern Regional Office, leads the SPARK Mississippi initiative that has improved school readiness for nearly 1,000 Mississippi children ages 3 to 8 who were vulnerable to poor academic achievement. Learn more about the SPARK program.
The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act: Early Childhood Education and Child Care Resources Available in Your State and Community
The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act passed by Congress and signed into law by President Obama helps alleviate the stress on families and communities by investing in improvements for a range of needed services and supports, including services for early childhood education and child care. Learn what is available in your state and community and how to use these funds to invest in early childhood education and child care by visiting the Child Care, Head Start and Early Head Start section of our guide, The New Economic Recovery Law: Resources to Help Children and the Economy.
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