The COVID-19 pandemic has presented numerous challenges to students across the United States, particularly those who are parents enrolled in community colleges. California's community college system serves a diverse student population, including a significant number of non-traditional, working adults who are also parents. These students have faced…

The birth of a child can be a simultaneously joyous and challenging time for families. Virtually all parents will struggle with the enormous physical and emotional demands of parenting a very young child, but for too many California families those challenges are additionally compounded by poverty, housing instability, lack of social support, or…

Research Findings: The home literacy environment and other early learning settings such as preschool play a role in children's language and literacy outcomes, yet research suggests that Latino, Spanish-speaking families are less likely than other families to participate in family literacy activities. This study explored the relations among…

Studies suggest that three and four-year old children who are exposed to preschool have a greater chance of academic success throughout their schooling. This article highlights a five-year case study of children of poverty who attended a structured preschool in Salinas, California. The longitudinal study exposed various components of a successful…

This overview of intergenerational and family literacy programs in the United States consists of five sections, a bibliography, and four appendices. Section 1 presents background information and expectations for programs and describes the target populations and program designs and administration. Section 2 describes the research base and the…

This report details a study that sought to answer whether welfare reform was meeting its goals of reducing mothers' dependency and boosting children's futures, and whether these reforms were having discernable effects on young children. During the second half of 1998, the study randomly selected 948 single mothers with young children from 5…

Acknowledging the connection between children's well-being in their early years and their later academic success, this report card documents the well-being of young children in California with regard to their early care and education, health, family economic resources, and child safety. The report identifies state improvements and areas where…

This Kids Count data book examines trends in the well-being of California's children, focusing on factors influencing young children. The statistical portrait is based on trends in 54 indicators of well-being in 4 areas: (1) education, including preschool participation, licensed child care spaces, percentage of income spent on child care, reading…