Overview

Goal: The region's young children enter school ready to learn.

In order for Minnesota to retain its competitive edge in the global marketplace, and to maintain our high quality of life here at home, we need to invest in our children. Arguably the most crucial for a child's development, the early years will set the stage for future challenge or success. Children raised in a loving, stable environment that provides positive stimulation, and who receive early screening and intervention for health or developmental problems, enter school ready to do their best. Investment in those important early years will pay back over a child's entire lifetime.

What's Happening

Birth weight and early screening for potential learning and health concerns are two important measures for determining a child’s long-term health and success. While better than the nation as a whole, our region’s rate of low-weight births seems to be creeping upward. On the other hand, most children are screened before they enter school, and efforts to screen children at a younger age are paying off: about three-quarters of children screened by public schools districts are screened by age 4.

Making Connections

Good health gives children the best chance to enter school ready to learn and to be productive throughout their lives. Success or challenges early in life may lay the foundation for the child's experiences in K-12 education and beyond. An investment in our young children is an investment in the future economy and workforce of the region.