with pregnancy and continue until the children enter the school sys-
tem. There are two components to the program:
- A center-based full-day program
- A community and home-visiting program which includes part-
time community center-based initiatives.
The staff are well educated, and the programs are universal, but
noncompulsory. More than 95 percent of the families with young
children use these programs.
In all the population-based studies of health, behavior, and liter-
acy, the outcome measures are a gradient when plotted against the
socioeconomic status of the population studied. More than 75 per-
cent of the Canadian population can be classified as middle class. In
studies in Ontario and Canada, the greatest number of children
showing poor development at the time of school entry was in the
middle class. The most vulnerable are in the lowest social class.
Whatever in the social environment affects health, learning, and be-
havior, it affects all social classes. Thus, any program to improve the
health, competence, and well-being of populations should be avail-
able for all families with young children.Early Child Development Programs
Evidence from Early Child Development Interventions
Across the world, the United Nations, international agencies such as
the World Bank and the Inter-American Development Bank, govern-
ments, and research groups have undertaken numerous studies of
early child development—and the competence and quality of popu-
lations. Some of the findings from studies of ECD interventions in in-
dustrialized and developing countries are briefly summarized below.
Key findings concern:
- Lasting negative effects of institutional care
- Advantages of center- and home-based ECD programs, espe-
cially when combined
70 J. Fraser Mustard