This week I revisited the World Forum Website to do a little
more looking around. (http://www.worldforumfoundation.org/).
I initially did a search using Poverty as a keyword; I didn’t really find what
I thought I might. So I regrouped a bit.
I searched for “Neuroscience” I was hoping to find some more related to this week’s
topics, still nothing to write home about.
I have added, “attend a World Forum Conference” to my
professional “bucket list.” I thought I would see if there was a venue for next
year’s conference, so I could do a little planning…didn’t find it, but this
year’s conference is in May in Puerto Rico and there was quite a bit of
information about that so I just took a little look-see. I turned up some
interesting information…which sort of links back to my original search.
Early Care
and Education in Puerto Rico
This document was prepared by
members of the early childhood community in Puerto Rico in response to the
question: Why should Puerto Rico be selected as the destination for the 2014
World Forum on Early Care and Education?
Neglecting the early years of a
child’s life as an important part of the education and development of our
citizens is like constructing a building without first establishing its
foundations. It is in the first years of life that children acquire the
basic skills they will need in order to be successful adults that can
significantly contribute to our growth as a peaceful and prosperous society.
If births are healthy and well
timed, children’s health and development are “on track,” families are supported
and supportive, and these efforts are sustained through life by committed and
competent caregivers and educators, then children will succeed in school and in
life, thus diminishing the need for remedial programs that currently cost us
hundreds of millions of dollars without achieving the desired results.
Statement of Need
Young children in the islands that make up our Puerto Rico archipelago are cared for and served in diverse settings: the family or substitute parent homes, informal caregiving arrangements, Head Start and Early Head Start programs, child care centers, family child care homes and private preschools. There are many loving families and public and private efforts to provide safe, healthy and developmentally-appropriate learning environments for children. Nevertheless, despite these efforts and the hundreds of millions of dollars spent on remedial programs by our government, a recent assessment of early childhood development indicators conducted by the United Way of Puerto Rico, indicated that we are still challenged by the following facts, among others:
Young children in the islands that make up our Puerto Rico archipelago are cared for and served in diverse settings: the family or substitute parent homes, informal caregiving arrangements, Head Start and Early Head Start programs, child care centers, family child care homes and private preschools. There are many loving families and public and private efforts to provide safe, healthy and developmentally-appropriate learning environments for children. Nevertheless, despite these efforts and the hundreds of millions of dollars spent on remedial programs by our government, a recent assessment of early childhood development indicators conducted by the United Way of Puerto Rico, indicated that we are still challenged by the following facts, among others:
- 19% of children are born prematurely putting too many babies at risk of developmental delays and other health concerns.
- 10% of children fail the first grade, suggesting that some are arriving at school without the skills they need to succeed in school.
- 47% of children in public schools are not proficient in reading and writing by the 3rd grade, significantly decreasing their chances of ever graduating.
- 58% of children under six live in poverty.
- 36,371 children are abused or neglected, putting these children’s lives, health, emotional well-being, and cognitive ability at risk.
Recently consulted experts in Puerto
Rico overwhelmingly agreed on the following:
- That one of the fundamental challenges for integral early childhood development in Puerto Rico is the lack of a unified long-term vision for child development, which inhibits our capacity to develop the comprehensive, coordinated and effective early childhood development (ECD) policies, strategies, programs, and financing systems necessary to ensure that every child reaches his/her full potential.
- That programs and services for young children and their families need to incorporate evidence-based practices that will lead to improved outcomes.
- That systems need to be in place to provide parents and primary caregivers with appropriate information, access, quality, coordination and follow up services to address their children’s needs.
- That comprehensive strategies need to be in place to ensure that all children receive periodic developmental screening and assessment to ensure early identification and intervention on problems, when they can best be resolved.
- That the general population, the media, the business community, and the constituents with the power to influence programs and policies that can benefit our children need to have the necessary information on the importance of the first years in life for our citizens’ healthy development and well-being, and the role of quality early care and education as a strong economic development strategy.
Our Goal
The Puerto Rico early childhood coalition expects to continue working with a broad set of stakeholders to facilitate the development of a long-term unifying vision and strategies that influence policy-making, create services where gaps exist, coordinate efforts, provide support for existing programs, measure outcomes and inspire the general population to become the stronghold that ensures that all of our 0-6 years old children are raised in the caring and supportive environments necessary to reach their full potential.
The Puerto Rico early childhood coalition expects to continue working with a broad set of stakeholders to facilitate the development of a long-term unifying vision and strategies that influence policy-making, create services where gaps exist, coordinate efforts, provide support for existing programs, measure outcomes and inspire the general population to become the stronghold that ensures that all of our 0-6 years old children are raised in the caring and supportive environments necessary to reach their full potential.
In order to achieve this goal, we
will focus on the following strategic objectives:
- Influence early childhood development and care policy-making;
- Empower women to engage in responsible maternity and provide high-quality prenatal care.
- Insure that infants and young children develop in a caring, healthy and supportive family environment.
- Assure that young children receive the quality care and education required for school readiness.
How the World Forum Can Help
We firmly believe that the World Forum is a key strategy for societal engagement around these issues. It will be a wonderful opportunity to focus public attention on early childhood and publicly showcase the important work that is done in Puerto Rico as well as worldwide to benefit young children, by so many committed individuals and groups. Additionally, it will be a source of inspiration for our broader community of leaders to act and exert influence over policymakers, practitioners, and the general public.
We firmly believe that the World Forum is a key strategy for societal engagement around these issues. It will be a wonderful opportunity to focus public attention on early childhood and publicly showcase the important work that is done in Puerto Rico as well as worldwide to benefit young children, by so many committed individuals and groups. Additionally, it will be a source of inspiration for our broader community of leaders to act and exert influence over policymakers, practitioners, and the general public.
We believe that it takes a village to raise a child and the time has
come for our village to assume its full responsibility.
