Age 21 Cost-Benefit Analysis of the Title I Chicago Child-Parent Centers

Abstract

We conducted the first cost-benefit analysis of a federally financed, comprehensive early childhood program. The Title I Chicago Child-Parent Centers are located in public schools and provide educational and family support services to low-income children from ages 3 to 9. Using data from a cohort of 1,539 program and comparison-group children born in 1980 who participate in the Chicago Longitudinal Study, measures of program participation were significantly associated with greater school achievement, higher rates of high school completion, and with significantly lower rates of remedial education services, juvenile delinquency, and child maltreatment. Economic analyses indicated that the measured and projected economic benefits of preschool participation, school-age participation, and extended program participation exceeded costs. In present-value 1998 dollars, the preschool program provided a return to society of $7.14 per dollar invested by increasing economic well-being and tax revenues, and by reducing public expenditures for remedial education, criminal justice treatment, and crime victims. The extended intervention program (4 to 6 years of participation) provided a return to society of $6.11 per dollar invested while the school-age program yielded a return of $1.66 per dollar invested. Findings demonstrate that an established public program can provide benefits that far exceed costs. Key elements of CPC program effectiveness include an instructional focus on literacy, opportunities for intensive parent involvement, and implementation by well-trained staff within a single administrative system.

Quality child care supports the achievement of low-income children: Direct and indirect pathways through caregiving and the home environment

“…Although the internal validity of these studies is great, it is difficult to generalize findings from model interventions. The Chicago Child-Parent Center program has greater external validity because it was implemented across multiple school districts and human service agencies (Reynolds, Temple, Robertson, & Mann, 2001). By use of a nonrandomized matched-groups design, long-term benefits for intervention children were demonstrated for high school completion.…”

Economic Development Benefits of Preschool Expansion in Kalamazoo County

“…The CPC results are for a program in which 55 percent of the children participated in preschool both as three-and four-year-olds, and 45 percent of the children only participated for one year, in almost all cases just as four-year-olds (Reynolds et al 2002). Therefore, one issue is what are the relative effects of one-year vs. two-year participation in a preschool program similar to the CPC.…”

“…The CPC program's effects have been examined exhaustively in many publications by Arthur Reynolds and his associates (e.g., Reynolds et al 2002). Based on this research, the long-term effects of CPC-quality preschool programs have been modeled in detail by Bartik (2006).…”

The Economic Payoff to Investing in Educational Justice

“…90-94). For the Chicago child-parent center program we use the cost estimates reported in Reynolds, Temple, Robertson, and Mann (2002). For the Perry Preschool project we use cost estimates reported in Belfield, Nores, Barnett, and Schweinhart (2006).…”