PRESCHOOLS
or PRISONS

Life at home affects a child's readiness for school.
Politicians are finally waking up to the need
for a happy childhood

by Jennifer Davis
Photographs by Judy Spencer

Illinois Issues April 1997 / 23

Lenhart's children are growing up in a nurturing, stimulating home — exactly what experts agree is needed for them to succeed later in school and in life. But they are also growing up in a single-parent welfare family — a factor that puts them at risk.

Where will Timothy and his three sisters — Heavenly, Hope and Grace — be 10, 15, even 20 years from now? Child development experts cannot even guess. However, they do know that what takes place outside the classroom is just as important, if not more important, than what happens after the school bell rings.

Nonetheless, it's elementary and secondary education that has grabbed the spotlight as legislators this session grapple with revamping the way the state pays for education. It's the consensus top priority.

Good, says the governor, but not good enough.

"Regardless of how adequately and fairly we fund kindergarten through college, we will fail our children and the future of this state if we do not pay special attention to babies and toddlers," Gov. Jim Edgar said in his March 5 budget address, in which he proposed $1.2 billion in prevention programs for at-risk children.

"All of us have a stake in how well everyone parents," agrees Barbara T. Bowman, president of the Erikson Institute, which provides a graduate program in child development. "There is no question children need love, and the parent who doesn't provide that is a danger to you and me." In fact, recent research into brain development concludes that adverse experiences throughout childhood predispose people to react violently in stressful or frustrating situations. Poverty. Domestic violence. Neglect. These are obvious stresses. But also consider the middle-class single mother, struggling to patch together day care so she can work overtime, too tired to read a bedtime story to her children. Or the wealthy family down the street on the edge of divorce. "Family conflict, any type, is always

Illinois has one of the highest child poverty rates in the Midwest. One in five of the state's children lives in poverty, and about one-third of those are in "working poor" families.

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stressful for children," says Bowman, who has spent nearly 50 years in child development. "It doesn't have to be hitting. People often overlook emotional stress, which is just as hard on children. ... How can they concentrate in school when they're wondering, 'Will [my parents] be there when I come home?'"

The number of children not living with their parents has jumped dramatically over the last several years, according to "Illinois Kids Count," an annual statewide survey of children's well-being by Voices for Illinois Children, a Chicago-based advocacy group.

Between 1990 and 1995, there was a 142 percent increase in the number of children living in "substitute care." defined as either living with a relative or in a foster home, group home or institution. In 1995, more than 47,000 Illinois children were in substitute care. The problem is most severe in Cook County, where 29 of every 1,000 children are in substitute care.

"We have a much clearer idea of the impact stress has on developing brains, and what stresses little children most is being shifted around frequently without a strong attachment to an adult," says Bowman. "Children need a fairly consistent environment. A child's home life has everything to do with their development." Still, poverty exacerbates all risks, and Illinois has one of the highest child poverty rates in the Midwest. One in five Illinois children lives in poverty, and about one-third of those are in "working poor" families, according to the report, even though Illinois' median income is higher than the national average. "The majority of low-income people are perfectly normal, healthy people, but being poor puts stresses on them that someone with money doesn't have to deal with," says Bowman. Examples range from worrying about putting food on the table and paying bills to being unable to afford a babysitter for a much-needed night away from the kids.

"Sometimes they just don't have time for their children. If they're working two jobs, for example."

For Deborah Lenhart's children, living in poverty doesn't mean no food and no clothes. It means coats that don't zip in the winter cold and socks still soiled after washings in the tub. It means being content with the basic staples at home and, perhaps, walking more than a mile with four children in tow for the weekend treat of "eating out" at the local soup kitchen.

"I don't really feel poor," says Lenhart, who has no car or phone. "I figure the ones who feel it are in the shelters. People say, I don't know how you do it,' but you do what you have to. You learn to do without."

Lenhart's attitude and her commitment to see her children through high school without their falling into gangs or drugs bodes well for their future, Bowman says.

Risk is not destiny.

There already are many programs funded with state or federal dollars to help alleviate the risks many children face in their home lives.

For example, officials have evidence of the value of preschool programs such as Head Start. Preliminary data tracking Illinois children from state- funded preschool through third grade show that 73 percent are at or above

Illinois Issues April 1997 / 25

average in reading; 81 percent are at or above average in math; three out of four have at least average language skills; and four of five exhibit at least average behavior in their peer group.

As director of the Oasis Homeless Program at McClernand Elementary School in Springfield, Pat Lindsay deals with some 250 at-risk children and their parents each year. She has a full repertoire of success stories, such as one second grader who went from writing a suicide note to excelling at school and completing two grades at once. "She has just really turned around. She smiles now. She loves art. She found that's where her talent is."

That is now. Before the special help she received through the Oasis program, the youngster would fall asleep in class because she was up nights taking care of a baby, a 2-year-old and a 3-year-old while their mother worked. "There was a teenager at home who was supposed to be helping, but wasn't," says Lindsay. "We visited the mother, and she wasn't even aware of the situation."

In the end, Oasis helped the mother get her GED diploma, and the girl successfully completed fourth and fifth grades simultaneously.

"Children's needs are about as different as they are," Lindsay says. "When things are happening at home, they act out in various ways. In most, but not all, cases they become behavior problems. They can't even do the simple, ordinary things like get a notebook out of their desk or get in line without acting up or hitting someone."

Programs like Oasis help, but only as much as their funding allows.

The state's only in-school program designed to help homeless children, Oasis lost its federal funding in last year's budget cuts. The Springfield school district picked up the cost of the program, but Lindsay says it also now relies heavily on the funds she generates through donations and speaking fees.

"I think people realize there is a need [for prevention programs] and there is a great interest, but the funds aren't always there."

Experts and child advocates say they know what helps ameliorate the conditions that affect a child's readiness for school — prenatal care, parental training, preschool programs. They say more of those services are needed, and the sooner, the better.

"We have a long way to go," says Jerome Stermer, president of Voices for Illinois Children. "Education doesn't start at kindergarten. The years from birth to 5 are far more important than we ever realized."

Stermer's group and others like it stress the critical tie between early childhood development and a child's future ability to learn. Edgar's budget proposals are aimed at making kids ready to learn, something statistics show the state is not doing very well.

Compared to eight neighboring states, Illinois ranks seventh in childhood well-being as measured in the 1996 National Kids Count data book. Nationwide, Illinois ranks 34th.

To bolster its legislative agenda for kids, Voices for Illinois Children notes that:

• According to the Department of Public Aid, 434,295 children under age 19 received Aid to Families with Dependent Children in January 1997, about one of every seven children.

• One of every seven children in Illinois is born to a single, teenaged mother who hasn't finished high school.

• The rate of child abuse and neglect rose 28 percent statewide between 1993 and 1995. In 1996, about 44,000 children were victims of abuse or neglect. The majority of child victims are under 6 years old.

• In the 1994-95 school year, 37,900 Illinois children dropped out of school — a number nearly equal to the population of Park Ridge.

These statistics do not stand alone, experts say. Instead, each risk a child faces can have a domino effect on that child's life, lowering the odds for success.

In short, perhaps the blame for low performance in school that is so often laid at the schoolhouse door belongs in the home — something teachers have said for years. Children aren't learning because they don't get the tools when they need them: as babies, toddlers and preschoolers. Now science seems to reinforce that view.

Recent brain research shows that without the proper environment and stimuli children lose their ability to learn. The brain circuitry that lasts a lifetime, researchers say, is established in the earliest years.

"Given these findings, more Americans are expressing misgivings about the effectiveness of investments in educational reform efforts that begin only when children reach the age of 5," concludes "Rethinking the Brain: New Insights into Early Development," a June 1996 conference report by the Families and Work Institute.

But knowing this is not enough, says Edgar.

"We need to respond, particularly when there are indications that children are at risk of not realizing their potential. And if we don't respond, too many of our kids are going to be doomed to failure before they set one foot inside of a classroom," the governor said in his budget message.

"Children must be our top priority."

If they truly are, Stermer says, then funding must follow rhetoric.

"It's not simply the amount of money assigned but how it's assigned," he adds. "What we need is to be much more creative in how the money is used."

While Edgar is proposing a $124 million increase in prevention programs and services for children, child advocates say more is needed.

Stermer's group has a plan. "Start Early," a legislative package recently introduced in the General Assembly, "outlines a truly historic, strong foundation for Illinois children and their families."

It focuses on expanding what they believe are three key areas: birth-to-3 programs and prekindergarten classes, health insurance for uninsured children and voluntary community-based home-visiting programs.

According to Voices, "For every dollar spent on a comprehensive and intensive preschool program for at-risk children, society saves up to $6 in long-term costs for welfare, special and remedial education, juvenile justice and prisons."

In other words, invest now or pay later. Preschools or prisons.

26 / April 1997 Illinois Issues