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First Things First update for Nov. 19 — FTF partners with Arizona tribes to meet the needs of young children

by Community Contributor • November 19, 2018 • Comments Off

News and happenings about First Things First
November 2018

FTF partners with Arizona tribes to meet the needs of young children

FTF Tribal Affairs staff work with 19 federally-recognized tribes to listen and learn from tribal leaders to ensure their perspectives are considered in shaping~~the~~ early childhood policies and programming in their communities.

CAPTION: Celebrating First Things First Regional Partnership Council members with 10 years of volunteer service. Pictured are a few of the 49 council members. Left to Right: Pastor Jose Garcia, Nancy Jean Welker, Danna Gallardo, Connie Robinson, Paula Seanez, Dr. Joyce Helmuth

Nearly 50 First Things First volunteers celebrate a decade of service

As we enter this month of showing gratitude, First Things First celebrates the commitment of nearly 50 regional partnership council members who have served on a council for 10 years. These dedicated citizens represent the many facets of our community that have a stake in our young children’s success, including parents, educators, child care professionals, health care providers, tribal communities, faith representatives, business leaders and philanthropists.

News Round-Up

News about early childhood around Arizona and across the U.S.

Organization advocates for early learning and family support
Yuma Sun, Oct. 13
A site tour in the First Things First Yuma region of the Easter Seals Blake Foundation home visitation program on Oct. 11 showcased various resources offered to families such as vision screenings to detect possible vision issues. FTF Yuma Regional Director Rudy Ortiz noted the importance of family support programs such as home visitation to help parents be their young child’s first and best teacher.

Using data to improve lives of AZ children
Public News Service, Oct. 15
MapLIT, an online mapping resource for Arizona, brings together the latest census numbers, public health data and school performance records to highlight areas of the state where children struggle with health concerns, or are chronically absent from school, or are most likely to live in poverty. For example, Kate Dobler, Navajo/Apache regional director with First Things First, says her team discovered with MapLIT that parent resources in Navajo and Apache counties were concentrated in a small area, but children in need were spread throughout the region.

Early childhood education yields big benefits — just not the ones you think
Vox, Oct. 16
Any academic boost from preschool fades out after a few years. But, early childhood education still has lifelong effects. On the one hand, there’s a sizable body of research suggesting that kids who go through intensive education at the ages of 3 and 4 don’t really come out ahead in terms of academic abilities. By kindergarten much of their advantage has receded, and by second grade researchers typically can’t detect it at all. On the other hand, there’s an equally substantive body of research suggesting that early childhood education produces a profound, lifelong advantage. Kids who enter intensive preschool programs are less likely to be arrested, more likely to graduate, and less likely to struggle with substance abuse as adults.

University of Minnesota economist has seen that investment in kids yields real economic returns
The Star Tribune, Oct. 22
At least once a week the economist Art Rolnick gives a talk on the big economic returns from publicly funding early childhood education, or he helps an elected official get up to speed on the phone. One of those opportunities to share some insight just came in a little feature called “3 Questions,” an online series published by a group affiliated with the University of Chicago.

“Inequality begins at birth,” Rolnick said in response to the question about what he’s working on now. “Indeed, it begins prenatal. And there is no market for purchasing parents. That is, there is a market failure.”