Free or low-cost family programs are crucial to childhood development, local community leaders say.

“Anything we can do as a community that stimulates a child’s learning is going to help them, and it’s going to help their family,” said Karen Ulp, coordinator for the Early Care and Education Coalition of Northumberland County.

It’s important to have programs that allow families to set aside quality time to do things together, Ulp said, “because there’s just not enough of that today.”

Much of the responsibility to make these programs available lies with area businesses and other leaders, particularly legislators, she said.

“We need to get back to the roots, that family is most important — that parents are the child’s first educator,” Ulp said. “There is no other substitute. With the way our society is these days, families are very stretched, they have a lot of other demands placed on them, and kids may be lost in that.”

With at-risk children, such as those who live in one-parent homes or are economically disadvantaged, accessible community programs are extremely important.

Spending on the front end

“Law enforcement is passionate about spending on the front end, so we’re not spending so much later on,” said Bruce R. Clash, state director of Fight Crime: Invest in Kids Pennsylvania. If children are able to develop safely and properly, there is no doubt prison costs would decrease as a result, he said.

“We need to be as willing to guarantee our kids space and high-quality pre-kindergarten programs as we are to guarantee a criminal room and board in a prison cell,” Clash said.

There are certain components, he said, that can be seen in every successful program for young children — parental involvement and one-on-one mentoring.

The Northumberland County Head Start program also seeks to encourage the same. The comprehensive program offers education, medical, dental, mental and nutritional services for families, as well as referrals to early intervention, family literacy, Parent-Child Home and Parent-to-Parent programs.

“Anything that helps the parents would ultimately help the children,” said director Gayle Schlesinger.

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