Resources
When wanting to learn more about early childhood development and pre-K, there is an abundance of resources available. You can find links to a sample of those resources below.
Learn More about Your Community and Our Commonwealth
List of Child Care Deserts by County. This Kentucky Cabinet for Health and Family Services (CHFS) publication provides an overview of the availability of child care in your community.
Child Care Proximity Map. This Kentucky Center for Statistics (KY Stats) interactive map shows all child care centers in Kentucky, labor force participation rates per county, and drive times to child care centers.
Early Childhood Workforce Tableau. This KY Stats report displays educational and workforce related statistics for Kentucky’s early childhood education workers.
Early Childhood Profile (ECP). This KY Stats report provides critical early childhood data for all Kentucky counties, including kindergarten readiness rates, access to high-quality early childhood programs, and enrollment numbers for child care programs.
Workforce Overview Report for Kentucky Regions (WORKR). This KY Stats quarterly report brings together data from multiple sources, providing a publicly accessible dashboard of Kentucky’s labor force metrics such as workforce participation rates for each Kentucky region.
Research on High-Quality Pre-K
John Eric Humphries et al., Parents' Earnings and the Returns to Universal Pre-Kindergarten (Nat'l Bureau of Econ. Rsch., Working Paper No. 33038, last revised Apr. 2024).
Anna Louise Sussman, Free Pre-K Gives Parents' Income a Long-Lasting Boost, Yale Insights (Mar. 10, 2025), https://insights.som.yale.edu/insights/free-pre-k-gives-parents-income-long-lasting-boost.
Jorge Luis García & James J. Heckman, Three Criteria for Evaluating Social Programs, 13 J. of Benefit-Cost Analysis, 281–86 (Fall 2022).
Jorge Luis García et al., Quantifying the Life-Cycle Benefits of a Prototypical Early Childhood Program, 128 J. of Pol. Econ., 2502–41 (2020). (Accessible via Academic Institution or Library).
Paul Gertler et al., Labor market returns to an early childhood stimulation intervention in Jamaica, 334 Sci. 998–1001 (May 2014).
James J. Heckman et al., Boosting Intergenerational Mobility: The Lasting Effects of Early Childhood Education on Skills and Social Mobility, Ctr. for the Econ. of Hum. Develop. (2021).
Cara Ebert et al., Two Scalable Interventions to Promote Health and Mental Development in Early Childhood: A Randomized Controlled Trial in Rural India, 18 J. of Hum. Capital 140–93 (Spring 2024).
Frederik H. Bennhoff et al., The Dynastic Benefits of Early-Childhood Education: Participant Benefits and Family Spillovers, 18 J. of Hum. Capital 44–73 (Spring 2024). (Accessible via Academic Institution or Library).
Baobao Zhao et al., Starting Well: A Meta-Analysis of the Relationship Between Socioeconomic Status and Academic Skills in Early Childhood, 20 Rev. of Educ. Rsch. (2024). (Accessible Via Academic Institution or Library).
Caroline Fitzpatrick, Ph.D., Kindergarten Readiness, Later Health, and Social Costs, 146 Pediatrics 1–8 (Dec. 2020).
Robert A. Hahn & W. Steven Barnett, Early Childhood Education: Health, Equity, and Economics, 44 Annu. Rev. of Pub. Health 75–92 (2023).
Dana Charles McCoy et al., Impacts of Early Childhood Education on Medium- and Long-Term Educational Outcomes, 46 Educ. Researcher 474–87 (2017).
Ellen Prusinski et al., Strengthening Early Childhood Education and Care in a “Childcare Desert", 51 Early Childhood Educ. J. 1317–33 (2023).
Guthrie Gray-Lobe et al., The Long-Term Effects of Universal Preschool in Boston, 138 The Q. J. of Econ. 363, 363–411 (Feb. 2023). (Accessible via Academic Institution or Library).
Frances Campbell et al., Early Childhood Investments Substantially Boost Adult Health, 343 Sci. 1478–85 (Mar. 2014).
Stacey C. Williams, Ph.D., et al., Preparing Students for Success: Differential Outcomes by Preschool Experience in Baltimore City, Maryland, 21 Prevention Sci. 467–76 (May 2020).
Nat'l Inst. for Early Educ. Rsch., The State of Preschool 2023: State Preschool Yearbook (2024).
Nat'l Inst. for Early Educ. Rsch, The State of Preschool 2024: State Preschool Yearbook (2025).