The non-profit organization Texans Care for Children drives policy change to improve kids’ lives, helping them to grow up healthy, safe, and successful. But without local data, Texans Care for Children struggled to inform lawmakers
With most legislatures adjourned for the year, we recap the 2024 action on state policies to support children and families. So far this year, lawmakers throughout the country debated—and many passed—legislation that aligns with four key components of the prenatal-to-3 system of care.
States and community organizations can increase awareness of credits. Increasingly, the state and federal government use tax credits, such as the child tax credit and the earned income tax credit, to support families with low
Evaluating Texas’s in-kind and monetary assistance during COVID-19 To promote nurturing and responsive parent-child relationships and healthy home environments, states can offer home visiting programs to expectant and new parents with young children. During the
The Texas School Readiness Dashboard released today shows that Texas is falling short in a number of early childhood measures — such as children’s health coverage, child hunger, and access to high-quality child care —
Recently, the Prenatal-to-3 Policy Impact Center helped Texans Care for Children update their Texas School Readiness Dashboard. The data point to child care provider closures, high costs, a lack of options and safety concerns among
Early in her career, Cynthia Osborne learned that the pathway to opportunity is paved by much more than a quality education. In 1994, a few years after graduating from college, Osborne began teaching middle school
DEMOGRAPHIC CHARACTERISTICS The characteristics of families vary considerably by state. A clear picture of the current demographic composition and characteristics of a state’s prenatal-to-3 population can help to inform policy leaders as to who is
THE PRENATAL-TO-3 SYSTEM OF CARE IN TEXAS The prenatal to age 3 (PN-3) period is the most rapid and sensitive period of development, and it sets the foundation for long-term health and wellbeing. The science
In the past several months, legislatures throughout the United States passed transformative policies for children and families. This exciting, evidence-based legislation includes a historic investment in child care in Vermont, Medicaid expansion in North Carolina,
