Leelanau Children's Center – Early Childhood funding cuts

The state of Michigan is looking to cut funding for early childhood programs, such as 0-3 Secondary, Great Parents, Great Start, GSRP Readiness Program, as well as the Early Childhood Investment Corporation.  These cuts could adversely affect daycare assistance for working parents.  Without this assistance, many parents will be unable to afford child care, giving them a hard decision whether to stay home to care for their children or work to support them.

In addition, the importance of education at an early age is crucial to the development of a child.  Maggie, from The Leelanau Children’s Center, was recently interviewed by TV &&4.  Maggie states the importance of this education, saying that when a good job is done early with children, there is much less special education, more high school graduations,  more children getting a college education,  and more.  Check out Maggie’s interview here.

She also mentions that early childhood education benefits could outweigh the costs.  A recent study by the RAND Corporation states, “First, there is clear potential for early childhood programs to produce benefits that offset their costs, but not every early childhood program does so. Seven of the nine analyses found benefit-cost ratios greater than 1, implying that the benefits outweighed the costs, with a range between $2 and $17 in benefits for every dollar invested.”

With these cuts looming on the horizon, it makes fundraisers, such as the Leelanau Children Center’s annual Pig Roast, very important.  The Pig Roast will be held this year at Marina Park in Northport on Saturday, August 1.

Dinner menu ($15): Roast pork, old-fashioned baked beans, cole slaw, sliced TLC tomatoes, pasta-vegetable salad, assorted pies and lemonade. Children’s menu ($5) children under 5 eat free: Hot dog, potato chips, applesauce, cookie, and lemonade. A full afternoon of family activities including: children’s games & prizes, nature and conservation activities, learning about community resources, music from the Northport Community Band, raffle, and much, much more! Visit Leelanau Children’s Center or call 231.256-7841 for tickets.

Photo: Courtesy of the Leelanau Children’s Center