01/11/12

The WISC Children's Task Force held its semi-annual meeting this week with the Penn State-driven, sexual assault awareness and prevention issues still fresh in everyone's mind. It's a constant challenge as we as a society wrestle with our knowledge, understanding and comfort with sexual development. United Way is holding a day long conference in February on children's safety and that will help.

But as we drilled down on issues facing kids today, poverty, race disparity, nutrition - members found themselves in a familiar place, talking about early childhood, birth to three. These critical years are so important for nurturing kids, getting them ready to think and learn. And yet so many of our state government policy decisions these days make it harder to give kids what they need in those earliest years.

We've been told of the importance of birth to three for twenty years or more now. It's going to take a cultural change to make this a national priority. We recommend we get started.