Investing in Children & Youth

 
 

Early Childhood Education

The foundations for a lifetime of health and learning are built in the first 5 years of a child’s life. Supportive adults, nutritious food, safety, nurturing relationships and enrichment are critical to healthy growth and development.

One strategy for providing cost-effective, high quality early education is to develop Intergenerational shared sites. These are intentionally designed places that provide services and/or programs to multiple generations concurrently and foster meaningful cross-age relationships. Participants interact in planned intergenerational activities as well as through informal encounters.

Shared sites are more than physical places; they are shared spaces that have collective meaning for participants of different ages.

Some Facts...

  • Children under age 18 in Michigan numbered 2,164,668 in 2018, about 24% of the State’s Population; 33 percent were children of color (16% Black; 8% Hispanic; 3% Asian/Native Hawaiian/Other Pacific Islander) (Children’s Defense Fund; 2020)

  • 683,798 children in Michigan are between the ages of 0 and 5. The data suggests that many Michigan children lack access to child care, healthy foods, safe living spaces and economic security—key foundational supports to helping kids thrive. (MI Kids Count, 2021)

  • 15 percent of children lived in food-insecure households in 2018. (CDF; 2020)

  • Poverty rate for children under 18 is 19.6% ( MI Kids Count)

Program Examples

Academic Achievement & Healthy Youth Development

There are significant disparities in educational achievement based on race, disability, language and socioeconomic status.

Schools need adequate resources to create successful learning conditions for students, particularly those with disabilities or language barriers and those who are impacted by poverty. (MI Kids Count 2021)

Intergenerational strategies such as utilizing older adults as tutors/ mentors and engaging children, youth and older adults in educational and community service activities can help young people gain the academic and social skills they need to succeed.

Some Facts...

  • Michigan is one of just 16 states that provides less funding to its highest-poverty districts than to its lowest-poverty districts. When schools are not equitably funded, learning environments and student outcomes suffer.

  • 41,463 students (57.2%) are not proficient in Grade 3 English Language Arts (Kids Count 2021).

  • 74,265 students (67.3%) are not proficient in Grade 8 Math.

  • Michigan had the third-highest rate of fourth-grade chronic absenteeism in the country in 2019, an increase of nearly 47% since 2015. Students who are economically disadvantaged and/or homeless are most likely to be chronically absent.

  • Michigan is one of five states with the highest out-of-school suspension rates.

  • In 2020, 10,023 youth were in out-of-home care. Only 5% of youth transitioning out of foster care receive employment assistance and 1% receive education support.

Program Examples

 Resources

Next

Supporting Families