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25 HIGH-QUALITY EDUCATION: EARLY CHILDHOOD
Problem
Approach
Robin Hood invests in high-quality programs for low-income families that use evidence-based strategies to support children’s health, cognitive, language, and socio-emotional development. We work to influence policies that impact children and families while improving the direct services they receive. Robin Hood also fights for improvements in child care, prekindergarten, and other early learning experiences so young children can have a solid foundation to enter kindergarten, a bright outlook for their school years, and a fair shot at long-term success. With the support of policy advocacy, 400,000 children statewide are now benefiting from increased child care voucher eligibility; and nearly 900,000 children under four years of age now qualify for a refundable $330 child tax credit in New York state, payable directly to families.
The early years of a child’s life are the most critical time for brain development, but children living in poverty often do not have access to resources that stimulate their growth. Without affordable, high-quality child care and early learning, low-income families are deprived of the much-needed security that allows parents to return to work and that helps for their children to thrive.
Impact
In 2023, Robin Hood funded organizations citywide to improve the quality of child care for 11,810 children from low-income families, and our grantees facilitated referrals of 9,234 children to early intervention services.
IN 2023
GRANTS TOTALED $10.4 MILLION
FUEL The Fund for Early Learning (FUEL) is an outcomes-driven initiative focused on quantifiable impacts on children’s socio-emotional and language competencies and improving public systems that serve families with children ages three and under. In 2023, FUEL invested in 28 organizations and partnered with government to tackle complex issues faced by families living in poverty so that every infant and toddler can have a brighter future.
100,000 children ages three and under live below the poverty line.
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