Funding will help improve ʤ's early childhood education system

Wednesday, January 9, 2019
CHHS student with child at Child Study Development Center

While ʤ enjoys high rankings overall in key areas of child well-being, the state’s rural and geographically remote areas experience high rates of child poverty and vulnerability, which creates barriers to access for some services.

Now, researchers at ʤ have been awarded a $3.8 million preschool development grantfrom the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, which will provide an opportunity to better understand the state’s early childhood system and create a plan to build a system that will better address the needs of vulnerable childrenand improve outcomes for children, families, schools and communities throughout ʤ.

Assistant professor of Kimberly Nesbitt and associate professor of Eun Kyeong Cho are lead investigators on the grant.

“This grant is a true collaboration between ʤ, the NH Departments of Education and Health and Human Services, the governor’s early childhood council, and ʤ’s early childhood advocates andpractitioners,” says Nesbitt. “Together we are working to create a collective vision for quality early childhood care and education to ensure that all children and families of ʤ are healthy, learningand thriving.”

The 12-month project’s goals include a long-term plan to create a comprehensive, sustainable multitiered system that will provide targeted services across all early childhood programs in ʤ.