Alexandria, VA, Aug. 08, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- United Way (www.unitedway.org) helped pave the way to a successful school year for nearly 400,000 children; with more than 77% of students achieving developmental milestones, and 68% of kindergarteners ranking as “proficient” in readiness assessments. These results, from last year’s inaugural Global Results Snapshot, highlight how United Way programs supported school readiness through a focus on early childhood education and literacy support.
“United Way believes that children deserve a strong start in life,” said Mary Sellers, U.S. President and CEO of United Way Worldwide. “We strive to make that possible by empowering parents to support their kids, improving the quality of their learning environments, and offering solutions to challenges outside the classroom.”
The Global Results Snapshot reported the following results from the United Way Network:
- 389,891 children were enrolled in high-quality early childhood programs and 45,242 early childhood staff were trained to offer high-quality curricula
- 77% of children served achieved developmental milestones, 68% were proficient on kindergarten readiness assessments, and 88% improved their school attendance
- 426,770 families were provided with resources and training
- 180 public policy measures were promoted, enacted or modified to promote childhood success
- Nearly 80,000 volunteers and more than 5,400 United Way community partners joined our fight for childhood success
United Way has set a ten-year goal for 95% of students to graduate from high school ready for college and career. The multi-pronged, “cradle to career” approach to achieve this goal includes delivering community-based programs such as:
- Babies Born Healthy, which provides a host of social supports and parental coaching to ensure babies gave a safe and healthy start in life.
- Born Learning Academy, which give families the educational tools they need to take an active role in preparing their children for academic success.
- A Public Policy agenda that advocates for measures that support families in need, such as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), that provides nutrition assistance to low income families and their children.
These early childhood programs, coupled with youth success programs, such as Generation, which connects young people with job training and matches them with employers, underpin United Way’s broader mission to fight for the health, education and financial stability of every person in every community—from cradle to career.
United Way strives to ensure that youth have the skills, experience and education to find a job that will support themselves and their families. To learn more about United Way’s work towards youth success, please visit: unitedway.org.
[1] *The Global Results Snapshot represents data from 154 United Ways, reporting 2016 data in 2017 that represents 147,474,530 people in their respective metropolitan areas.
About United Way’s Global Results Snapshot
The Global Results Snapshot is a common, limited set of indicators that United Ways report on annually to demonstrate our shared impact across communities. The framework aggregates data across United Ways based on indicators in key impact areas: childhood success, youth success, economic mobility, access to health, and community engagement to demonstrate the collective investments the network is making to drive community change deliver results for individuals, families and communities.
About United Way
United Way fights for the health, education and financial stability of every person in every community. Supported by 2.9 million volunteers, 9 million donors worldwide and $4.7 billion raised every year, United Way is the world’s largest privately-funded nonprofit. We’re engaged in 1,800 communities across more than 40 countries and territories worldwide to create sustainable solutions to the challenges facing our communities. United Way partners include global, national and local businesses, nonprofits, government, civic and faith-based organizations, along with educators, labor leaders, health providers, senior citizens, students and more. For more information about United Way, please visit UnitedWay.org. Follow us on Twitter: @UnitedWay and #LiveUnited.
Media Contact
Southerlyn Reisig, United Way
southerlyn.reisig@uww.unitedway.org
Tel. 703.836.7100 ext.321
Christine Sanchez
christine.sanchez@uww.unitedway.org
Tel. 703-836-7100 ext. 564
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