Reasons to Support Smart Start - FAQ's
1. Smart Start prepares children to enter kindergarten.
- Smart Start is the first and most critical part of our state’s education system. If our schools are to succeed, our test scores are to rise and the achievement gap is to close, we must ensure children have a strong foundation from which to build. Education begins at birth-not kindergarten or age four.
- Studies by the Frank Porter Graham Center prove children attending child care centers supported by Smart Start have better thinking and language skills and fewer behavioral problems than children in centers without Smart Start support.
- New research confirms Smart Start is a wise investment and has lasting effects. For every $1 spent on high quality early education programs, taxpayers get $4 in benefits.
2. Smart Start improves NC’s economy by supporting working families.
- In today’s world, many families don’t have a choice between staying home with their children and work. Every child must be in a quality, safe, education-centered environment whether in child care, relative care or at home. Thanks to Smart Start, 60% of all child care centers in NC have 3-5 stars rating. Family support and community learning centers allow stay at home parents and relative caregivers to interact with other parents and learn about the development of their young child.
- Assistance in paying for child care for working families can mean the difference between welfare and work. Child care in NC costs between $6,000-10,000 a year per child; and often even more for infants. Nearly 25% of North Carolina’s young children live with single parent families.
- A lack of reliable, affordable and accessible child care can cause parents to lose time at work and be less productive at their jobs. Smart Start has created nearly 60,000 new child care spaces to ensure parents have good choices of quality, accessible care.
- Children in child care must have qualified, educated teachers. 83% of all child care teachers in NC now have a college degree or some college credits.
3. Smart Start reduces crime and violence.
- New long-term research tracked 900 children enrolled in government-funded Child-Parent Centers at age 3 and 4 years old. Similar children not participating in Child-Parent Centers had 70% more violent arrests as teenagers.
- An earlier 22-year study shows long-term benefits of quality child care for young children living in poverty. For every $1 invested in quality early childhood education, $7 is saved in lower crime rates, increased earnings and fewer high school dropouts.
- A survey of police chiefs across the nation found 9 out of 10 chiefs said that America could greatly reduce crime by expanding quality child care programs and after-school programs. Police chiefs also agree that if we don’t provide these programs for young children, the nation will pay significantly more later in higher juvenile delinquency and crime.
4. Smart Start improves child health.
- Smart Start children are more likely to be immunized on time. In 2001, more than 50,200 children benefited from Smart Start immunization support, compared to 8,743 in 1996.
- The number of children receiving Smart Start health and developmental screenings has tripled since 1996—increasing from 40,000 in 1996 to 120,000 in 2001.
5. Smart Start provides more opportunities for children with special needs.
- Parents of children with special needs have more high quality choices for child care than ever before. Fifty percent more child care facilities enroll children with special needs today than in 1994 because of Smart Start training and resources.