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  • Experts on early childhood development agree on one overriding principle:

    You have to begin at the beginning.

The Size of the Challenge

In Los Angeles County, approximately 25% of children under 6 years old live in poverty.
That’s greater than all the children 0-5 living in 16 states.

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  • The Case for Investing Early

    Studies show that children who experience extreme stress, poverty and trauma in their early years are more likely to fall behind in school, suffer from mental health problems, and become trapped in the cycle of poverty and incarceration.

  • The Case for Investing Early

    Based on conservative estimates, researchers predict that, for every dollar invested in early childhood programs, children, families and society as a whole realize a $3-$8 return on investment. These returns are less costly and arguably more successful than corrective measures later in life, such as special education, prison, drug rehabilitation and other forms of government dependence.

  • The Case for Investing Early

    Because the patterns for behavior and learning are well established by the time a child reaches five years old, we must pay more attention to the earliest stages of life when the raw material for schools, jobs, healthy families, and our nation’s future is developed.