North Carolina’s Smart Start early education initiative is designed so that each county identifies and addresses its most pressing needs.
In North Carolina,
children under 5 years of age make up nearly 7% of the state's population (NC Division of Child Development and Early Educ.)
71 Child Care Centers
13- Five Star
20- Four Star
20- Three Star
0- Two Star
8- One Star
6- GS 110 (Church-based programs)
1- Special Provisional License
3- Temporary License
64 Family Child Care Homes
5- Five Star
3- Four Star
12- Three Star
18- Two Star
26- One Star
3.84 is the average star rated licensure for child care centers and homes.
(NC Division of Child and Early Education)
New Hanover County Children--Quick Facts
21.2% of children ages birth to 5 live in poverty (kidscount.org, 2009)
1,503 children of working families in need receive child care subsidy services (NHC DSS, October 2011)
33.4% of children ages 2-18 are overwieght or obese.
15.4% of children under five years of age are obese. (NC Nutrition and Physical Activity Surveillance System, 2009)
10.1% of children under 18 are uninsured. (2009, ncpublichealthcatch.com)
4.8% of children ages birth-three receive early intervention services for special needs
(NC Div. of Public Health, Women's and Children's Health Section, 2009)
5% of children ages 3-5 receive early intervention services for special needs
(NC Div. of Public Health, Women's and Children's Health Section, 2009)
10% of kindergarteners have untreated tooth decay (2009, ncpublichealthcatch.com)
In 2009, there were 306 pregnancies to mothers ages 15-19, 86 of which were to mothers under age 18; making up nearly 10
percent of all pregnancies in the county.
Economic Impact of Child Care
New Hanover County has more than 100 licensed child care businesses. These small businesses employ 1,107 people directly.
(2011, childcareservices.org)
In New Hanover County, more than 9,500 children under age six live in families where their sole parent or both parents work.
In turn, child care is essential to the economic prosperity of these families.
(2011, childcareservices.org)
Useful Links
Child Care in New Hanover County Fact Sheet
Listen to the Experts
Click on the videos below to find out more about Smart Start.
Economic Impact of Investment in Early Childhood
The Science of Early Childhood Development
Good Reads: Studies on the Impact of Early Education
Higher grade 3 standardized math test scores. Scores are higher in counties that received higher allocations for Smart Start. The Smart Start investment was equivalent to about 2 months of instruction on average.
This study--perhaps the most well-known of all High/Scope research efforts--examines the lives of 123 African Americans born in poverty and at high risk of failing in school.
From 1962-1967, at ages 3 and 4, the subjects were randomly divided into a program group that received a high-quality preschool program. In the study's most recent phase, 97% of the study participants still living were interviewed at age 40. Additional data were gathered from the subjects' school, social services, and arrest records.
The study found that adults at age 40 who had the preschool program had higher earnings, were more likely to hold a job, had committed fewer crimes, and were more likely to have graduated from high school than adults who did not have preschool.