It might be time for the children of this community to get what's coming to them.

For a community to succeed, its children must be able to thrive.

It’s more than a sweet sentiment. It is a premise supported by researchers in economics, health and education through studies and pilot projects that have been conducted across the country over many decades.

Long-term economic analysis from the University of Chicago shows that investments in high quality early education experiences for children under 5 save $7 to $14 in social service spending when that child is an adult.

Long-term health research shows that adverse childhood experiences — growing up without feeling loved, worrying about where food, clean clothes or a safe place to sleep would come from, witnessing domestic abuse, exposure to drugs and alcohol, being a victim of physical, emotional or sexual abuse — have impacts that last a lifetime. These impacts affect the development of a child’s brain and weigh upon a person’s physical and emotional health long into adulthood.

Long-term research shows that children who grow up in language-rich environments in their first four years of life — households rich in songs, talk, play and love — are more likely to be ready for school and are on a better track to succeed in school and life.

And so it seems that hardly a day goes by without more data about the challenges our children face — and some ideas about how to face them — come to light. 

For decades, the Annie E. Casey Foundation has used data to highlight the state of child well-being across the country — and in Florida. Under the Kids Count effort, the foundation has released data snapshots that help track the health and well-being of children. 

The latest Kids Count data set shows the rate of Escambia children under 18 in poverty has ranged from 29% to 26.6%— ranking 43 out of 67 counties. https://datacenter.kidscount.org/data#FL/5/0/char/0

It’s one of many Kids Count data points that show our children need a little more from the adults in charge. And sadly, it’s not the first time data has highlighted the toll that childhood poverty can take on an adult’s future prospects. 

Back in 2015, economists at the University of West Florida looked at data from a Harvard project tracking the link between ZIP code and lifetime earnings, (“The Opportunity Atlas” linked here: https://opportunityinsights.org/paper/the-opportunity-atlas/ ) and shared this with SCI:

— Kids who grow up in and around the Pensacola MSA earn about 8.4 percent less than the same kid would if he/she were to grow up in an average place in the U.S.

— For Escambia County, the results are even worse. Children who spend 20 years of their childhood in Escambia earn about 15 percent less at age 26 than the same child would if they grew up in an average place in the U.S. That’s $3,870 a year less than in the “nationally average” place.

— Escambia is second worst among the 67 counties in Florida, with only Gadsden County registering lower, at -$3,910.

In 2018, Escambia County 45 percent of the children were “kindergarten ready” based on Florida Department of Education data. 

While the test used to determine readiness has changed over time, what has remained clear is that at least through 2014, between 1,000 and 1,400 of the students who show up to school each year do not have the foundational skills they need to be ready to learn. 

Our community cannot prosper if this continues.

That is why embracing the challenge to becoming an Early Learning City is important, not only for the parents of young children, but also for the business owners who employ those parents — and will one day employ their children.

There are 71 Census tracts in Escambia County. In the 15 tracts where poverty among families with children is 5 percent or less, there are 2,979 children ages 4 and under. In the 16 tracts where poverty among families with children is 15 percent or higher, there are 4,313 children ages 4 and under.

Building a community that weaves early learning into its social fabric will benefit all of our children — but it will benefit those 4,313 children most.

The responsibility that we as adults to the children in our community — even if they aren’t ours by birth — is something that seems to be on lots of folks’ minds of late.

The Pensacola Young Professionals annual Quality of Life survey has for years provided a snapshot of the way we feel about our community, our civic leaders and our place in the public realm. 

This year, it also shows how we feel about our kiddos.

In a preview session for the annual survey, PYPers shared that 61 percent of voters favor creating a children’s services council. A CSC is a special taxing district that generates revenue to support children and families. 

Ten other Florida communities have CSCs. 

A half-mil tax would add about $40 to the average property tax bill — and generate up to $8 million a year to support programs and services that help children. 

The idea of a CSC has been talked about for some time. Back in 2015, the Early Learning Coalition of Escambia County invited the executive director of the CSC in St. Lucie County to speak. https://www.studeri.org/blog/a-way-to-make-childrens-lives-better?search=CSC&search_param=search

Since then a steady drumbeat from many quarters of the community about the need to invest in every child to better the whole community’s prospects has grown gradually louder. 

Soon enough, the adults in Escambia County -- at least the ones who vote — may get the chance to make that drumbeat music to the ears of every child.