The kids are waiting

CAROL KAMIN

Ten years ago, with strong bipartisan leadership, the Arizona legislature passed a bill that was known as "Success By 6." This legislation, which funded preschool programs for low-income children and community-based prevention programs for struggling new parents, gave substance to the idea that what happens during the first months and years of a child's life either sets a sturdy or a fragile stage for what follows.

Fast-forward 10 years. Once again the legislature is debating the funding of programs and services that strengthen families and help children begin school ready to achieve.

But 10 years have brought a dramatically changed landscape for early childhood policy. The science of early child development has taught us what parents have long known: The early years count most. These 10 years of research have also taught us that there are early childhood programs that have been shown to clearly influence the trajectories of children, particularly those whose life course is threatened by disadvantage.

Gov. Janet Napolitano has boldly put on the table a prevention program called "Healthy Families" that has a proven track record of helping families with young children succeed. She has also championed full-day kindergarten, which can result in higher academic achievement and fewer children repeating grades. And the governor pumps more of the funding that is needed into childcare subsidies.

The childcare subsidy program subsidizes the childcare costs for low-income working families. Today, childcare costs more than tuition at our state universities and much more than many parents can afford. Without a serious effort to adequately fund this program, parents will be forced to quit their jobs, go on welfare or leave their children in unstable or even unsafe situations.

So, here are the choices for Arizona's legislative leaders: They can recognize that there is a moral and fiscal imperative to fund all of these programs in order to level the playing field for our children at the start of the race and to avoid spending much more on remediation and treatment; or they can bury their heads in the sand, not pay attention to the compelling scientific knowledge that should guide early childhood policy and conti- nue the "Ozzie and Harriet" fantasy of the 1950s.

The facts are clear. The Healthy Families program gives struggling parents the tools they need to succeed, childcare subsidies allow parents to work while their children are safe and learning, and full-day kindergarten will give thousands of our state's 5-year-olds the gift of time so that they can compete in the 21st century. This is today's "Success By 6." Let's not blow it.

Carol Kamin is the president/CEO of Children's Action Alliance, a nonprofit, non-partisan organization dedicated to promoting the well-being of all of Arizona's children and their families through research, policy development, media campaigns and advocacy.

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