Starting Right: How America Neglects Its Youngest Children and What We Can Do about It

The youngest Americans, the under-threes, are the focus of this study by two professors at the Columbia University School of Social Work. Inadequate attention to these children's development, according to the authors, is reflected in shocking statistics of babies dying before their first birthdays, of immunizations going unperformed and of families living below the poverty line. They depict the United States as lagging behind other industrial nations in the provision of family support that allows children to ``start right.'' They cite strategies of child care and family support in effect in several western European countries and note that ``The United States is unique in its failure to offer even the most modest of packages'' for enhancing preschool readiness and child welfare. Bolstered by research and prescriptions that include cost analysis, this presentation is a good resource for U.S. family policymakers. (July)