Experts to Speak on Importance of High-Quality Early Child Care
Published: Sep. 13, 2005
URBANA - A team of experts will discuss the importance of affordable quality child care at the Community Service Center, 520 East Wabash Avenue, Rantoul, on Wednesday, September 21, at 6:30 p.m. The event, conducted by the Illinois Child Care Task Force, will discuss how to start and improve affordable programs for children under age six.
"Low-income children who participate in high-quality early care and education have greater language development, better math ability, and fewer behavioral problems in kindergarten," said Judy Hartley, director of the Child Care Resource Service at the University of Illinois.
"And it doesn't stop there. As adults, these children have increased high-school graduation rates, higher levels of education, and participate in the work force with greater success. Every dollar invested in quality early child care and education saves up to $17 on government expenditures by reducing costs of remedial education, grade retention, and crime," she added.
As a society, our investment in early child care is enormous, she said. The typical Illinois family pays 25 percent of its income for an infant and preschooler's care at a center. "Annual, full-time, center-based care for an infant can actually cost more than resident undergraduate tuition at the University of Illinois," Hartley continued.
One in ten Illinois workers has a child under age six, making this an issue important to employers as well as parents, she said. "Employer-based child care helps keep parents working and reduces employee turnover," she said.
Hartley and other child-care specialists will discuss licensing, financing, and operating a child-care facility as well as how to perform a market analysis to learn if such a venture is viable in particular communities. They will also field questions and distribute how-to manuals and other resource materials free to participants.
"Community organizations, employers, and individuals will all benefit from this meeting, and we encourage them to attend," said Hartley. The event is being sponsored by the Community Service Center, Annabel Huling Early Learning Center, and United Way Success by 6.
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