Publication Excerpt:

The Institute for Child Success (ICS) is a private, nonpartisan research and policy organization that fosters public and private partnerships to align and improve resources for the success of young children in South Carolina and beyond. ICS research efforts are spearheaded by a highly qualified Research Committee of academics and researchers, representing six universities across the state.

This databook is a catalog of readily accessible information in the public domain for use by anyone (citizens, parents, service providers, public officials, foundations, and others) with an interest in early childhood indicators of family environment, physical health, emotional well-being and cognitive development.

It is ICS’s hope that this databook will become an annual publication that will provide easier access to more public domain early childhood indicators as they become available. ICS encourages its partners to increase the quality, accessibility, and frequency of data shared with the public. ICS hopes that this databook begins an open dialog among early childhood organizations so that data can drive policy and other decisions leading to positive outcomes for young children in South Carolina.

Mounting research demonstrates that children’s earliest development, even beginning before birth, dramatically influences their future growth and potential.1 In fact, at the time of birth, 25% of an individual’s brain growth has already occurred.