Project Overview
Across the United States, children’s life prospects are substantially shaped by their circumstances between birth and age 3. The earliest years of life, then, may present this country’s best opportunity to disrupt cycles of poverty. In the American South, children of low-income families acutely experience the disadvantages of poverty, and they disproportionately remain at the bottom of the economic ladder as adults. The Get Ready Guilford Initiative seeks to get the families of infants, toddlers, and preschoolers what they need, when they need it, by implementing a connected system of care that will deliver a wide range of services for the 6,000 children born each year in Guilford County, North Carolina. To understand what works best for families as the initiative unfolds over time, MDRC will evaluate the implementation and impacts of the initiative, a partnership between Ready for School, Ready for Life — Guilford County’s coordinating early childhood organization — and The Duke Endowment.
