PEORIA, Ill. – A coalition with leaders in business, law enforcement, and the military in the Peoria area are pushing for more support for early childhood programs.
The Council for a Strong America features three groups under one banner; ReadyNation with business executives, Fight Crime: Invest in Kids with police chiefs, sheriffs, and prosecutors, and Mission: Readiness with retired military leaders.
The coalition released a study they conducted at a press conference at St. Paul Baptist Church in Peoria, showing the effects of “soft skills,” which they say are learned in early childhood programs, have on a child up to the age of five. They listed those skills as managing emotions and impulses, showing empathy, teamwork, communicating well, and solving problems.
The coalition’s study followed 800 kindergarten students and followed them until age 25. It showed those students in early childhood programs were 54% more likely to earn a high school diploma, twice as likely to earn a college degree, and 46% more likely to have a full-time job at age 25.
The study also showed students in those programs were less likely to be arrested or arrested for serious offenses, have lower levels of substance abuse, or be incarcerated.
“We would see cases for social media comments, or disrespect, or a multitude of other trivial things that, you and I everyday, could problem solve and fix,” said Peoria County State’s Attorney Jodi Hoos. “But had these kids had the strengths and skills, we probably could have prevented some of these things.”
Peoria Area Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Joshua Gunn says the effects of early childhood programs are something he’s seen firsthand.
“My son goes to Preschool for All here at St. Paul Baptist. And he’s had an amazing experience. I’ve watched him blossom, in terms of learning how to share, learning to care for others, learning to work in teams, learning to think on his feet, learning to work collaboratively,” Gunn said. “He’s only four years old, but those are skills he’s learning in a place like this.”
Gunn says there’s also an economic effect for parents, saying that more availability in programs will help ease the burden on parents looking for child care, and make parents less likely to be late or miss work.
Retired U-S Air Force General Gary Dylewski says not having such programs can decrease the pool of those eligible for military service. He says 77% of people aged 17-24 are not eligible for military service due to factors such as being overweight, having criminal records, and an inability to perform under stress.
Council for a Strong America Illinois Executive Director Sean Noble says they’re calling on state legislators to increase funding in the fiscal year 2025 budget, around $40 million more, to support those programs.
“Fact is, early intervention services, home visiting programs, state-supported preschool, and child care services, all are at the heart of the multi-year Smart Start plan, for bolstering core early learning birth-to-five services,” Noble said.
Noble says they also would like to see funding for staff to help decrease waitlists to get children into the programs. Peoria Regional Office of Education Preschool for All Director Jacqui Jones says there’s a waitlist of 144 students between their program and the Bright Futures program.
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