{"id":71,"date":"2026-05-27T05:43:31","date_gmt":"2026-05-27T05:43:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/businessrelocationdigest.com\/?p=71"},"modified":"2026-05-27T05:43:31","modified_gmt":"2026-05-27T05:43:31","slug":"study-universal-pre-k-may-reduce-child-neglect","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/businessrelocationdigest.com\/?p=71","title":{"rendered":"Study: Universal pre-K may reduce child neglect"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Jessica Pac knows firsthand the transformational impact of universal pre-K. With the help of New York City\u2019s program, she completed her PhD in social work at Columbia University while also parenting two children.<\/p>\n

Read more Opinion: Mamdani must act and expand CityFHEPS, after three years of delays<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cWe went from spending maybe $20,000 a year on childcare to having access to this program that was free,\u201d said Pac, now an assistant professor of social work at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. \u201cIt\u2019s still by far the best after-school program my kids have ever experienced.\u201d<\/p>\n

The boon informed Pac\u2019s decision to team up with two other social scientists to research the connection between universal pre-K and the well-being of some of the youngest New Yorkers. The resulting study of 1.6 million children, published in JAMA Pediatrics in January, found that making pre-K freely available to four-year-olds may significantly reduce their chance of involvement with the Administration for Children\u2019s Services, the city agency tasked with investigating allegations of child abuse and neglect.<\/p>\n

The researchers found a 7% reduction in ACS investigation rates among four-year-olds in the 2015-2016 school year, the first year after NYC implemented universal pre-K. By the third year, investigation rates dropped by 22%. Because the city introduced universal free meals at public schools in September 2017, the researchers focused on the first three years of universal pre-K to avoid any confounding variables.<\/p>\n

Universal pre-K frees up time and money. Parents can work rather than stay home, and income can go to other necessities. The savings pre-K routes back to families are enormous; on average, childcare in New York City costs $26,000 a year.<\/p>\n

The reductions identified by the study were entirely driven by neglect investigations. Neglect, as defined by ACS, includes a lack of medical care; inadequate food, clothing or shelter; lack of supervision; and malnutrition. The reduction in neglect investigations were also disproportionately concentrated among Black and Latino children. Over 86% of New York City children in foster care are Black or Latino. And while only 50% of the city\u2019s population is Black or Latino, are of Black or Latino families.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Read more Opinion: Council progressives call for rentals within reach<\/a><\/p>\n

ACS was established in 1996 by then-mayor Rudy Giuliani, following public outcry after a mother beat her six-year-old daughter to death. But, 30 years after the agency\u2019s creation, abuse is not its. In 2023, 75% of ACS cases alleged neglect alone, and each year, neglect cases make up the of ACS\u2019s caseload.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat this study suggests is that if you start chipping away at poverty, then the system has less to attack,\u201d said Sean Eagan, a policy director at The Bronx Defenders. \u201cBecause it\u2019s criminalizing poverty.\u201d<\/p>\n

Many of the parents caught up in the system are like Shavona Warmington, a Queens single mother of six who struggles to juggle childcare with working full time. Warmington told NYN Media she has been investigated by ACS more than 10 times since 2012, but has never been found responsible for abuse or neglect. \u201cThey\u2019re kicking down your door, threatening to bring the cops in, letting me know my household is not conducive enough to house my kids,\u201d said Warmington. \u201cIt\u2019s seven of us in a two bedroom. I can\u2019t afford a mansion. I make 18 an hour.\u201d The investigations on her record mean that Warmington, a trained nurse, fails employer background checks for nursing jobs \u2013 creating a self-sustaining loop of financial instability and child welfare involvement.<\/p>\n

A spokesperson for ACS said the agency is focused on prevention, not just punishment. The agency as it does on investigations, investing more than $300 million a year in everything from diaper access to childcare.<\/p>\n

\u201cACS has long believed in an upstream approach that supports and invests in communities, caregivers and children,\u201d the spokesperson said in a statement. \u201cWe know that proactive strategies \u2013 like making sure families have access to child care \u2013 enhance family stability and child well-being.\u201d<\/p>\n

Read more Opinion: The light that shines behind the prison walls<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The introduction of free preschool in New York City overlapped with reduced child maltreatment investigation rates<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":70,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[59,37,20,55,18],"tags":[60,40,21,57,19],"class_list":["post-71","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-childcare","category-education","category-new-york-city","category-nyn-media","category-policy","tag-childcare","tag-education","tag-new-york-city","tag-nyn-media","tag-policy"],"yoast_head":"\nStudy: Universal pre-K may reduce child neglect - Business Relocation Digest<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/businessrelocationdigest.com\/?p=71\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Study: Universal pre-K may reduce child neglect - 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