This site is intended to educate the public on broad social, political and economic issues affecting low-income families. Comments made by readers herein do not represent the views or positions of the Marguerite Casey Foundation or Equal Voice, America’s Family Story, and do not constitute a recommendation for or against any specific candidate, legislation, or legislative proposal.

Users must refrain from making or posting comments that may constitute or could be viewed as lobbying or political campaigning under the U.S. federal tax laws. In addition, users must refrain from making or posting vulgar, obscene, threatening or abusive comments on this site. The website moderator reserves the right in its sole discretion, but not the responsibility, to delete or edit any user submission to this site, and/or to bar the participation by anyone who it reasonably believes to have violated these principles. Complete rules of conduct for this site are contained in the Term of Use

Monday, June 22, 2009

Ready by five is a five-star project

Ready by Five organizers - as well as 43 community partners, or stakeholders - are hoping that early learning and subsequent education will break the cycle of poverty and the problems that often come with it: crime, increased drop-out rates, poor nutrition and other physical health problems, depression, substance abuse, teen pregnancy and low-wage jobs or joblessness.

Young children in Yakima, particularly in east Yakima, are at risk. Studies show the achievement gap for children from low-income families becomes evident as early as 18 months. And Yakima's Ready by Five target area, one of the poorest parts of town, has almost double the national birth rate, according to Marieskind.

Read More

No comments: