Low-income kids’ program pays off

Low-income preschoolers who attended a comprehensive early childhood program run by Chicago public schools in the 1980s fared better educationally and economically into young adulthood than a comparison group, according to a new report in the August issue of a leading pediatric health journal.

The study followed 1,539 preschool children who attended Chicago’s Child-Parent Centers from 1985 to 1986, tracking the youths from preschool through age 24. The group was compared with an additional 550 low-income children who participated in alternative full-day programs available at the time.

By age 24, children in the CPCs had lower rates of depression, violent crime and incarceration, and were more likely to attend colleges and have health insurance than children in the other programs.