The need for preschool-aged children to have quality care is growing in Houston, and the quality services currently do not exist to meet these crucial development needs.

• Much research documents the enormous capacity of 3- and 4-year-old children to learn and develop. If this capacity is not appropriately stimulated during these years, children miss a crucial "window of opportunity" to prepare for success in school and in life.
• Study after study shows that if children are not properly nurtured during these critical years, the impact can be significant for the child, the child's success and development, and even the overall economy.
• With more and more working families (approx. 70% of families with preschool-age children have 'all parents working'), and Houston's ongoing demographic transformation, the need becomes greater to nurture and positively stimulate these children in the Houston Region.
• This is imperative for the future of the city, our workforce preparedness, and economic success.
• There are no consistent standards, and sometimes no standards at all, by which child care providers are being measured. In fact, the quality of preschool programs in the Houston Region varies enormously, and it is almost impossible for parents to determine which programs are effective in adequately preparing children for school and life success

Statistics

• The Houston Region has an estimated 42% of its preschool-aged population (53,000 children) living at or below the level that the state of Texas and federal government categorizes as 'educationally disadvantaged' - 185% of the federal poverty line, or $33,485 for a family of four.
• A quality preschool program that provides a full workday and full year of service in the U.S. typically costs between $7,000 and $10,000 per year. A quality half-workday, full year preschool program typically costs between $4,000 and $6,000 per year.
• 50% of the Houston Region's 3- and 4-year-old children, almost 62,000 children, spend time in center-based preschool programs. These three main systems, all with different regulatory bodies, are licensed child-care centers, Head Start, and public prekindergarten.
• Research indicates that economic benefits to society relative to the costs of these quality programs range from a 2:1 to 7:1 ratio ($2 economic benefit to the $1 invested in the program). These benefits are in the form of: higher high school graduation rates, college graduation rates, and employment in higher paying jobs; lower crime rates, teen pregnancy rates, unemployment rates, grade retention rates, and special education referral rates.

• Attention to the child's overall cognitive, social, emotional and physical development;
  
• Well-educated and well-trained staff;
  
• Low child:teacher ratios;
  
• Low group sizes in classrooms
  
• Families committed to being their children's first teachers; and
  
• Parents and teachers who partner together to create a positive learning environment for their children.

• Higher math and reading scores; higher high school graduation and college attendance
  
• Lower incidences of grade retention and dropout rates
  
• Fewer referrals to special education
  
• More home ownership and higher incomes
  
• Lower crime and unemployment rates
  
• Fewer and later teen pregnancies

• Determine quality of preschool programs in the Houston Region by evaluating the results of the preschool system through an appropriate assessment - quality rating system. Immediate need: Establish a quality rating system for ALL preschool programs (suggest tiered rating scale for quality indicators similar to those used in NC, KY, etc.).
• Seek to maximize the use of all existing funding streams before seeking additional federal, state or local funding to expand services to currently non-eligible children (must be accessible and affordable to parents) - collaborations. Immediate need: Develop integrated program to ensure that enough quality preschool programs exist in this region to meet the developmental needs of ALL of its 3- and 4-year-old children. Ensure enough quality preschool capacity exists (infrastructure) to prepare our future workforce for competition in the global, 21st century economy.
• Long-term needs: Continue to increase availability of collaborative efforts between public schools, Head Start, and center-based programs. Ultimately, additional public $.