Healthy Start, Ready for School
Early childhood education is recognized by social scientists as critical to economic independence. Quality child care is vital for parents to be able to work, and quality early childhood education is key to success in school and life. Helping the next generation break the cycle of poverty begins by giving children a better start in life.
Here are some of the issues that affect children and their early educational success:
-
Lubbock ranks 220 out of 254 Texas counties in the rate of low birth weight babies at 10.1%, remaining consistently higher than the State and National weight. A baby born weighing 5.5 pounds or less often will require special medical services and additional educational and therapeutic services estimated to cost $436,000 over the lifetime of the individual.
-
An average of 3 children become victims of abuse and neglect in Lubbock County each day. In 2015 there were 1,138 confirmed victims on abuse and neglect. 59.1% of them were age 6 and under.
-
Typically, a child from a disadvantaged home begins school with a vocabulary of 5,000 words. A child from a more advantaged home begins school with a vocabulary of 20,000 words.
Under Success by 6, Lubbock Area United Way funds targeted programs that work strategically in areas that ensure children who enter kindergarten are healthy and ready to learn, such as:
-
Prenatal care and early brain development
-
Early literacy and kindergarten readiness
-
Quality early care & education