The survey data also confirmed that attending pre-school can have strong positive effects on school readiness at kindergarten. There are currently about 48,000 children under age five in Multnomah County. This population of children has grown increasingly diverse in terms of race and ethnicity. Hispanic children make up the largest minority population. The population of Asian children has also grown and is close in size to the population of African-American children.
Research indicates that ready children require supportive parents, caregivers, and communities.
The initial and primary responsibility to support children's readiness to learn falls on their parents, although the responsibility for children's early development also falls increasingly on other caregivers, who provide care and early education for about half the children under five in our community. The Progress Board worked with the County's Department of Community and Family Services and the Early Childhood Care and Education Council to develop a comprehensive inventory of the publicly-funded services for children under five years old. These programs are funded and administered by a complicated mix of seven Federal agencies, six State agencies, three County agencies, one City agency, one School District, one Educational Service District, and at least 50 non-profit organizations. The complexity in these funding streams and organizational responsibilities makes service integration and overall system planning truly a challenge. Much of this cost is associated with increasing access to health insurance for children under the Oregon Health Plan.