Rob Grunewald, an associate economist with the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis, says investing in early childhood development programs will bring the greatest rate of return on economic development spending in Louisiana. A number of studies across the U.S. show typical returns on every dollar spent on high-quality, pre-kindergarten programs range from $7 to $20, he says. “These are the type of returns that would not sit on the table long in the private sector. They would get funding,” says Grunewald, keynote speaker at a Capital Area United Way luncheon today, foreshadowing the agency’s unveiling in July of new initiatives focusing on early childhood development.
While children and families obviously benefit from such investments, Grunewald says, studies also show the majority of benefits go to taxpayers, who end up spending less on health care, workforce development and the justice system in the long term. “That means you don’t even have to like children to benefit from these investments,” he says.
Grunewald says the best investments are in intervention and education programs for at-risk mothers, beginning at pregnancy, as well as improved access to health care, parent education, quality child care and increased preschool enrollment. In Louisiana, slightly more than 5% of the budget is spent on early childhood development initiatives, says Dr. Geoffrey Nagle, director of Tulane University’s Institute of Infant and Early Childhood Mental Health and a consultant for CAUW’s early childhood development initiatives. CAUW’s president and CEO, Karen Profita, says the agency will begin announcing full details of the initiatives at its annual meeting on July 12. —Steve Sanoski
