The following are some interesting facts about early childhood development:

• At-risk children who do not attend quality early childhood education programs are 70% more likely to be arrested for a violent crime by age 18.
• For every $1 invested in early childhood development programs, there is a $7—$8 public return.
• For every child who participates in a high-quality preschool program, the public benefit is $70,000 in avoided crime costs.
• Children who hear fewer words before age 3 have dramatically smaller vocabularies and are unlikely to ever catch up.
• In the Richmond region, 62% of children
  under six are cared for by someone other
  than a parent.

There are multiple factors that place children at risk for poor developmental outcomes. These include:

• growing up in poverty
• poor quality early learning
• parental risk & behaviors
• chronic health problems
• diagnosable disabilities 
• emotional & behavioral problems