Early childhood is the period of time from birth to age eight, when 85% of the human brain is undergoing its most rapid stages of development. That’s why it’s critical for children at this stage of their young lives to receive high quality developmental opportunities focused on their social, emotional, language, communication, motor, physical and cognitive development.
Read what the experts say:
Early childhood education can bring more and better jobs to a state and can thereby promote higher per-capita earnings for the state’s residents. - Timothy J. Bartik, senior economist, W.E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research, Kalamazoo, MI
Thinking about early childhood, it’s not just a question about getting kids to read a little faster or stay in school longer. It’s about providing a benefit for the entire economy. Not just the present economy – the economy going forward. - James J. Heckman, Henry Schultz Distinguished Service Professor of Economics, University of Chicago; Nobel Memorial Prize winner in economics and expert in the economics of human development
DuPage Early Childhood Collaboration (DECC) was founded in 2014 by community leaders and partner organizations seeking to address the gaps in early childhood systems throughout the county. Realizing that one organization alone could not resolve the many challenges involved, they banded together to form a regional partnership.
Among the initial organizations involved were YWCA Metropolitan Chicago, Teen Parent Connection, Metropolitan Family Services, DuPage County Health Department, DuPage Regional Office of Education and DuPage Federation on Human Services Reform.
Of those, DuPage Federation on Human Services Reform was selected to serve as DECC’s administrator, leveraging its expertise and strong relationships to convene key stakeholders and decision makers in order to bring about systems change that will positively impact vulnerable families throughout DuPage County.
Helping jumpstart our growth was the Bright & Early Initiative funding that DECC received in 2015 from the DuPage Foundation. This grant supports our development of systems that increase access to early learning and family support programs/resources.
We’ve grown ever since. Today, DECC:
In DuPage County all children will have a strong foundation, ready for a bright future.
DuPage Early Childhood Collaboration brings together stakeholders to facilitate the development of strategic relationships and high-quality services that are responsive to change, and ultimately result in improved developmental outcomes for all young children (birth to age 8) and their families.
