Big Goal To Take On Inequity in Early Learning

By United Way of King County, on October 5, 2017 | In Helping Students Graduate

Income, race and ZIP code—do they determine a child’s chance at success in school? For too many local families, the answer is yes. With support from donors like you, we stand up to this inequity through our Parent-Child Home Program.

We do this for the parents who work multiple jobs to keep their families afloat but can’t afford curriculum-based daycare or preschool.

We do this for the families who flee war-torn countries and face a world of newness—including the education system their kids will join.

We do this because children shouldn’t face an endless cycle of poverty because of the neighborhood they grew up in.

Kids behind in school from day 1 often means kids struggling to keep up throughout their academic years, which doesn’t bode well for their future.

The Parent-Child Home Program zeroes in on the opportunity gap by supporting parents during kids’ brain-building early years. The program works with low-income, isolated families in their homes when the kids are 2 and 3 years old—because this window of cognitive growth cannot be missed. Read how well the Parent-Child Home Program worked for Daniel and his mom.

How It Started

Business leaders passionate about early learning and closing the opportunity gap brought the national Parent-Child Home Program to King County in 2006. Together, we built a sustainable program locally. Research and data from kids who had graduated from the Parent-Child Home Program soon proved it so unquestionably that the program earned wider confidence as well as the public/government funding that followed.

Let’s celebrate First Choice Health! They’ve supported the Parent-Child Home Program with $10,000/year since 2010. That’s 7 years of supporting our community’s future!

What’s New

This program’s long success was reinforced in 2016, when King County voters approved the Best Starts For Kids Initiative. Not only does this show public confidence in the early learning strategy behind the Parent-Child Home Program, but it also earmarks financial investments from King County and the City of Seattle to merge with additional funds currently being raised by United Way.

That’s right! This is a huge win for kids.

To keep it going, we must support the Best Starts For Kids funding with $2 million from United Way. This is where your enthusiasm and partnership come in. Contact us!

Donations set the stage for every child’s success. Let’s do this. See where Parent-Child Home Program kids scored higher than their peers.



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