Strategies and Initiatives
First Steps
Early Childhood programs are rarely portrayed as economic development initiatives. However, studies find that well-focused investments in early childhood development yield high public as well as private returns.
Recent studies suggest early childhood development is grossly underfunded. However, investment in early childhood development, if properly funded and managed, yields an extraordinary return, far exceeding the return on most investments, public or private.
The returns to early childhood development programs are especially high when placed next to other spending by governments in the name of economic development. To contrast, if a subsidy is simply moving a business within the state, the public return is zero.
The return on investment in early childhood education is extraordinary, resulting in better working public schools, more educated workers and less crime. The costs of not making such an investment are just too great to ignore.
First Steps is a collaborative public-private economic development program being spearheaded by the Rochester Area Foundation to assure that our children are ready for school when they enter kindergarten. We are jeopardizing our economic future when children enter the kindergarten door not ready to succeed in school.