Investing in Prenatal to Age Three

1. Investing in Prenatal to Age Three Building a strong foundation for success in school and life

2. Why start early? • Birth to age three is critical for brain development. • Parents play the lead role in their child’s healthy development, but all parents are stretched in the earliest months and years of their child’s life. • Government can effectively provide parents and their communities with support at this especially critical and stressful time. • When we support them in their earliest years, infants grow into healthy kids who are confident, empathetic, and ready for school and life—and our communities, workforce and economy become stronger and more productive.

3. Early Investments Matter

4. Prenatal-to-three is critical for brain development A child’s brain develops faster from birth to age three than at any later period in life, building the foundation for all future learning, behavior, and health. • The socio-emotional, physical, and cognitive capacities thatare built in the first three years areall important for later successin school, the workplace, andthe larger community. • A child’s experiences in the first three years are the bricks and mortar of brain development, with more than 1 million new neural connections forming in an infant’s brain every second. • Responsive relationships and positive experiences early in life build a sturdy brain architecture that becomes the foundation for core social-emotional skills, early executive functioning and self-regulatory skills, and literacy skills. • Supportive relationships and positive learning experiences begin at home but can also be provided through a range of effective programs and policies. Source: Center on the Developing Child at Harvard University: http://developingchild.harvard.edu/science/key-concepts/brain-architecture

5. Parents want and need support • All families with young children—especially first-time parents and those with both parents in the labor force—are stretched for time and resources. • High-quality child care is often unavailable or unaffordable for parents, and many are not connected to early care supports that can offer guidance to navigate the earliest months and years. Nearly 60 percent of mothers with a child younger than age 3 are employed.With 4 million babies born every year in the United States, there is a high demand for infant and toddler child care.In a recent survey, 83 percent of parents with children younger than age 6 stated that finding quality affordable child care is a problem in their area.This percentage is likely greater for the parents of infants and toddlers.  —Understanding Infant and Toddler Child Care Deserts, 2018 Center for American Progress

6. Government plays an important role • There is a great discrepancy between what families need and the affordability and access of what is available. It is imperative that government works to fill this gap. • Supporting families requires elected officials, policymakers, and multiple systems coming together—health care, child care, and family support services—to ensure that all parents, particularly those with high need, get what they need to nurture their children’s healthy development from the very beginning.

7. Early investment works… • When we invest in the first three years of a child’s life, the returns for communities are the highest, and we can reduce the need for more expensive interventions later. • Research from Professor James Heckman at the University of Chicago found that investments in high quality programs that support young children starting at birth deliver a 13 percent annual return—significantly higher than the 7 to 10 percent return delivered by preschool alone. Supporting America’s babies today will ensure a prosperous tomorrow This return has compounding benefits, driving a13% year return on investment through better education, health, social, and economic outcomes later in life. Investments in high-quality early childhood education starting at birth provides taxpayers witha return of $7.30 forevery dollar invested. Sources: James Heckman. The Heckman Equation: https://heckmanequation.org/assets/2017/12/abc_comprehensivecba_JPE-SUBMISSION_2017-05-26a_sjs_sjs.pdf James Heckman. The Heckman Equation: https://heckmanequation.org/assets/2017/01/F_Heckman_CBAOnePager_120516.pdf

8. …and supports a strong economy and workforce Programs and policies that support healthy brain development from birth to age three result in better social, economic, and health outcomes and build a more productive workforce that strengthens our economy—now and in the future. Birth-3 investments are needed to prepare our children for an ever-changing workforce. Birth-3 investments in high-quality child care bolster the economy TODAY. Companies providing child care decrease employee absences by 30% and 48%of low-income children arrive in kindergarten unprepared to succeed. The growing American skills gap will lead to 6 million unfilled jobs by 2020. say they would leave their jobs for ones with more family-friendly benefits. Sources: Julia Isaacs. Brookings Institution: https://www.brookings.edu/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/0319_school_disadvantage_isaacs.pdf McKinsey Global Institute: https://www.mckinsey.com/global-themes/employment-and-growth/an-economy-that-works-for-us-job-creation Economic Opportunity Institute: http://www.eoionline.org/wp/wp-content/uploads/earlylearning/ELCLinkBusinessEconomy-Jul02.pdf Patrick Ball. Care.com: http://workplace.care.com/betterbenefits

9. Areas of Focus

10. Supporting healthy development by age three FOCUS AREAS High-Quality Care & Learning Healthy Beginnings Supported Families The National Collaborative for Infants & Toddlers is working across the country to ensure children are on track for healthy development by age three. To accomplish this goal, it’s essential that programs and policies start early so that: • Infants are born healthy and continue to thrive, • Parents have what they need to support their child’s healthy development, and • Families have access to affordable, high-quality child care options.

11. Healthy beginnings FOCUS AREAS Healthy Beginnings A healthy beginning for a child starts before birth with a healthy mother. To improve chances for a strong start in life, all expectant mothers need access to comprehensive prenatal and postnatal care, screenings, and services to ensure infants are born safely and continue to thrive. • Preventive and comprehensive health care includes regular well-child visits, screenings, and referrals to any necessary services. • Health care is needed for both children and their family members (for example, maternal health, and mental health supports).

12. Supported families FOCUS AREAS Supported Families The most effective way to support a young child is through their family. A system of supports for families should be in place to reach every parent and child at or before birth with needed information, assessments, and referrals that offer each child a strong start. • Supports such as parent education, screenings for maternal depression, and preventive screenings for infants can help parents navigate the challenges of raising young children and nurture their healthy development. • Building a strong infrastructure of coordinated supports is critical. This includes better coordinating home visiting programs that already exist, expanding the capacity of new or existing home visiting programs, and using universal screening and referral programs to help identify the needs of families and young children.

13. High-quality child care & early learning FOCUS AREAS High-Quality Care & Learning High-quality child care—whether it takes place in a child care center, or with home-based providers—should provide real developmental experiences that are interactive and stimulate engagement, building a solid foundation during the earliest years of life. Responsive relationships build a sturdy brain architecture that becomes the foundation for core social-emotional skills, self-regulatory skills, and literacy skills. • All infants and toddlers should experience nurturing and responsive care in safe and stable settings. • Families need access to high-quality, affordable care options that meet the needs of infants, toddlers, and their families. • Caregivers must have a high level of preparation, training, and skills, a positive attitude, and a strong understanding of child development.

14. Take Action

15. Be a champion for infants and toddlers! • Working together, strong prenatal-to-three policies can provide parents with the full range of supportive programs they may need to create a strong foundation for healthy development and learning. • With a solid understanding of the current policy and programmatic needs in your community or state, you can successfully bring together advocates, policymakers, parents, and professionals to take action for change.

16. Prenatal-to-three policy solutions Based on clear evidence around the science of the developing brain, coupled with the complexity of prenatal-to-three systems, NCIT recommends the following policy solutions: • A system of supports for families reaching every mother and child at or before birth with needed information, assessments, referrals, and access to services that offer each child a strong start. • Assurance of access to affordable, high-quality infant/toddler child care in settings that meet the varied needs of families.

17. A roadmap for action For initiatives of all shapes and sizes—whether impacting states or communities, developing legislative or regulatory efforts, building and strengthening programs, or reaching diverse families with a range of needs—consider the following principles for an impactful strategy: • Put equity at the center of all efforts • Use data to develop strategy • Focus on measurable outcomes for infants, toddlers, and their families • Build political will and support for your efforts with a broad group of stakeholders • Engage parents to identify needed changes to programs, policies, and systems  • Understand your most powerful levers for change • Build and maintain the infrastructure needed to achieve impact at scale  

18. Connect with others • Across the country, states, and communities are leading work in healthy beginnings, supported families, and high-quality child care and early learning to provide infants and toddlers a strong start in life. • At the state level, NCIT's partners focus on building supportive policy environments and bringing successful models to scale. • Community partners are building effective local early childhood systems as well as designing and expanding models that deliver high-quality programs for infants, toddlers, and their families. • Explore the map on NCIT’s website, www.theNCIT.org, to see where partners are located, what they are working on and to connect directly with them.

19. Thank you! Pritzker Children’s Initiative (PCI) The Pritzker Children’s Initiative (PCI), a project of the J.B. and M. K. Pritzker Family Foundation, is committed to building a promising future for our country by investing in and supporting solutions in early childhood development for children prenatal to age three, with the goal of every child reaching kindergarten ready to learn. The National Collaborative for Infants & Toddlers (NCIT) Funded through the Pritzker Children’s Initiative, NCIT brings together national partners, early childhood leaders, philanthropy, policymakers and practitioners inside and outside state and local government to create and strengthen promising policies and programs, and share what works, so that more states and communities can support the healthy development of our youngest children. Have questions? To learn more about NCIT and start working on prenatal-to-three programs and policies in your state or community, please contact: ncit@sorensonimpact.com and visit www.theNCIT.org