More than a decade ago, the Kansas Legislature made a critical decision to invest in early childhood education because they know what research proves: that our state’s prosperity depends on whether or not we adequately prepare our next generation for school and for life. Knowing this, the Legislature created the Children’s Initiatives Fund (CIF) to ensure that dollars were being invested wisely and focused only on the most effective early childhood programs. Today, the CIF is a Kansas success story.

Together, communities across the state have built an integrated and cost-effective early childhood infrastructure. It’s an infrastructure that provides more than 340,000 Kansas kids — nearly half of the state’s children — with the health, child care and education resources they need to reach their full potential.

Decades of research show that for every dollar we invest in early childhood programs, we save at least $7 down the road. In fact, the Minneapolis Federal Reserve argues that the returns on early childhood investments trump the returns we see from most other economic stimulus tools. Those returns come from a wide-range of savings, including reduced costs in our welfare programs, our criminal justice system, and our public schools.

Besides cost savings, Kansas stands to reap other benefits from investing in early childhood programs, including:

Improve K-12. Studies show that high-quality early childhood programs are the best way to support improved academic outcomes in the K-12 system. Children who participate in early childhood education programs are far more likely to enter kindergarten ready to learn, read at grade level by third grade, and graduate from high school or even college. Read more.

Brain Development. 90 percent of children's brain development occurs before age five, but kindergarten starts after a child turns five. By making high-quality early childhood education available to more children, we can help them during the most crucial period in their development. Read more.

Skilled workforce. Studies show that only 27 percent of at-risk kids will grow up to secure a skilled job, which not only puts that child in jeopardy of living in poverty as an adult, but also puts the state in jeopardy of not having the skilled workforce we need to attract and retain higher-paying jobs. Read more.

Safer neighborhoods. The best way to reduce crime is to prevent it from happening in the first place. Research has shown that at-risk children who had not participated in a quality early childhood program were 70 percent more likely to be arrested for a violent crime before their 18th birthday. Read more.

Strong military. Right now, 75 percent of young Kansans (ages 17 to 24) are ineligible to serve in the military because they either haven’t graduated from high school, have a criminal record, or are physically unfit. These are the same young people we depend on to serve in times of need and ultimately protect our nation. When it comes to strengthening our Armed Forces, retired military leaders from across the country point to investments in early childhood programs as a critical investment in our future military. Read more.