*This event is hosted by the Build Initiative.

For a vast majority of families, some form of child care is an economic necessity while parents and caregivers work or attend school. In addition to the economic advantages, research demonstrates that young children experience both short- and long-term benefits from high-quality early care and education. Four pivotal studies of early childhood programs, all serving primarily Black children from families with low incomes, demonstrate the importance of high-quality early experiences for lifelong educational, developmental, and economic gains. But the programs in these studies had important attributes—especially related to the comprehensiveness of services provided—that are not prevalent in early care and education today.