A Progress Report on How Georgia Supports Its Youngest Children & Their Families

The Early Childhood Check-Up provides a snapshot of how well our state is meeting the needs of our youngest children—ages birth through five—and their families. The Check-Up includes key indicators across three general categories: Early Learning, Health, and Family Supports, reflecting the wide variety of factors that contribute to child and family well-being. 

GEEARS will release the Early Childhood Check-Up annually to help policymakers, community leaders, and others measure progress, considering both year-over-year changes and general five-year trends*.  

This inaugural Early Childhood Check-Up (2023) shows that, while Georgia has a long way to go in its efforts to meet the needs of its young children and families, we have seen improvement, most notably in access to Quality Rated child care and WIC. 

Why Early Childhood?  

The most active and critical brain development happens in the first years of a child’s life—at a rate of one million new neural connections every second. That makes these early years a critical and irreplaceable opportunity to set a child up for success. If a young child experiences, for instance, nurturing relationships, high-quality education, and healthy nutrition during this time, their neural connections will grow stronger, creating a strong foundation upon which future success is built.  

Young children grow up in the context of their families, communities, and broader systems of supports, so we have taken a comprehensive approach to the Check-Up, considering indicators related to program access, as well as health and educational outcomes.  

A Guide to the Indicators 

The Early Learning category includes indicators related to child care, Pre-K, and literacy outcomes, such as the percentage of four-year-olds enrolled in Georgia’s Pre-K and 3rd grade reading assessment results. High-quality early care and learning supports Georgia’s youngest learners by increasing school readiness, improving health and well-being, and supporting working families. 

The Health and Well-being category includes indicators related to health outcomes as well as access to health care and programs that support the healthy development of young children, such as rates of health insurance coverage and pervasiveness of food insecurity. The physical and mental health of young children and their families set the foundation for future well-being. 

The Family Supports category includes indicators related to economic security and child welfare, such as the percentage of young children living in poverty and in cost-burdened households, as well as access to programs that support families’ needs, like home visiting. Ensuring families with young children have access to the resources and basic necessities they need is critical to early brain development and overall well-being. Furthermore, programs like home visiting support healthy pregnancies, births, and children’s first few years of life—lowering the risk of adverse experiences, like maltreatment.  

Looking for more information? 

The Early Childhood Check-up is meant to be a high-level summary of the state of Georgia’s young children and families. Such a broad view is useful to assess how the state, in general, is performing year-to-year.  

We do have a deeper data dive available for those who seek it—our Readiness Radar tool. Please go there to access a wealth of additional information including data for various geographies (e.g., county, Census tract, etc.) and data disaggregated by race and ethnicity. Check Out the Readiness Radar