New early learning program aims to prevent future ills

Learning starts well before a child’s first day of school.

So a new Pikes Peak United Way program, Success by 6, aims to ensure youngsters are indeed learning early.

United Way launched the program Thursday as it announced its annual fundraising goal of $5.9 million. which is a bit higher than last year’s $5.6 million. If met, the $5.9 million would be the largest amount collected to date.

Success by 6 is a shift from fixing problems to preventing them by helping kids get a jump-start on learning and getting parents involved early in their kids’ education. The long term goal is to improve student achievement and help children become successful adults, while strengthening families.

The money shifted from safety net services to the new program has the potential to make a much greater  impact, Pikes Peak United Way officials said.

“We have to think about the long term investment for the community,” said Amber Coté, local Success By 6 manager.

Early education programs pay off, according to national and regional studies that show that for every $1 invested in high quality early care and education for children in low-income homes, the return is between $7 and $17 because of reduced high school drop-out rates, lower teen pregnancy and crime rates, and decreased dependence on public assistance.

However, it will take perhaps five to seven years before the impact is noticeable, Coté said.

The program will educate and engage parents, increase access and awareness of services such as literacy and preschool programs and enhance early care and learning opportunities, in part through community partnerships, United Way officials said. More funding for preschool programs and boosting resources for existing family programs is planned.

For example, Community Partnership for Child Development, a United Way partner agency, has programs such as  Head Start that incorporate classes and workshops for parents and early learning for children, along with home visitations to help families.

“We have lots of people who need services,” said Noreen Landis-Tyson, chief executive officer. “There are not enough slots for the children who need it and they are starting school behind.”

Success by 6 highlights the importance of early childhood education, she said.

“Parents are a child’s first and best teacher,” Landis-Tyson said, adding that increasing and improving programs for families in those critical early years will help mitigate many ills in the community.

In recent years, the number of K-12 students eligible for free or reduced lunch has increased in most area school districts, according to the Quality of Life Indicators report published in 2010. The greatest jumps in the 2008-09 school year were in Colorado Springs School District 11, Harrison School District 2 and Fountain-Fort Carson School District 8.

Pikes Peak United Way will work with District 11 and District 2 as Success by 6 rolls out. Other districts may eventually be added.

“Seventy-five percent of the kids in poverty are in those two districts,” Coté said.

In 2008-09, 48 percent of D-11 students qualified for free or reduced lunch. In  District 2, nearly 66 percent were eligible.

Coté said about $680,000 —  34 percent of the roughly $2 million Community Fund — will be dedicated to Success by 6, which will serve about 300 families.

Money will be available to all nonprofit community agencies and not just those associated with United Way.

“We are confident that with our 42 Partner Agencies, we’ve got many of the right programs and people at the initiative table but we want to take that a step further and include some of the other best and most effective programs,” Cote said. “Our children are worth it.”

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