Would you take this deal? Buy one year of college, get three more for no additional cost. A no-brainer, right? That’s similar to what happens when society invests in early childhood programs such as high quality child care, Head Start, Early Head Start, and home visiting programs. For every dollar spent, between two and four dollars are returned to the economy in various ways.

So says a new report released by the RAND Corporation, which studied the outcomes from 115 early education programs. Investing Early follows up on RAND’s 2005 review of early childhood programs. The report looks at a larger and more diverse set of early childhood interventions, including health-focused programs, community-based interventions, and programs that take a “two-generation approach” by working with children and their parents. Investing Early looks at the connections between early childhood programs and a broad set of individual and societal outcomes. It highlights health outcomes specifically and also evaluates the financial costs and benefits of investing in early childhood programs.

Kathy, a married mother of three, struggled with finding a child care facility that could accept and accommodate her children’s unique needs, as well as her and her husband’s demanding work schedules. With the help of child care, she and her husband were no longer forced to alternate days off and were able to return to working regular schedules.

Have you ever heard that indoor air is often way more polluted than the outdoor air, and wondered whether that was actually true? It is, because in enclosed spaces the chemicals used in certain paints, varnishes, cleaners—and other pollutants including dirt, dust, dander—keep recirculating. So imagine what children in child care settings may be exposed to when they’re crawling around, sitting “criss-cross applesauce,” or breathing in the chemicals routinely used to clean-up after snack time.

Funding will power development of “Child Care Data Center” to streamline access, affordability and quality for families and providers through clear data

WASHINGTON, DC — Child Care Aware® of America (CCAoA), with support from a grant by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF), will develop and test a web portal to drive improvements in the supply, quality, and affordability of child care. The “Child Care Data Center” will allow advocates and policy makers to identify critical needs and inequities in child care access, quality and affordability. The initial investment continues an ongoing partnership with RWJF to provide quality data for the child care field to rely upon internally and between states.

Many families struggle to find child care that meets their needs and high-quality programs are difficult to find and typically have long waiting lists. We believe that no child or family should have to choose between affordability and quality. So we continue our work in convening thought-leaders, advocating on Capitol Hill, and keeping our communities abreast of the issues and solutions. We are proud of the efforts of our family advocates, staff, child care providers and the entire child care community!