The Safety Net for Children in Need

Quality Child Care and Education Can Break the Cycle of Abuse and Neglect

Many at-risk children in Arizona face serious issues including abuse, neglect and hunger. However, there is hope for these children through early care and educational programs like FACES, or Families and Children Experiencing Success, at Crisis Nursery in Phoenix. The children and families who come to FACES receive vital support to face the hardships and trauma they must live with daily.

With the support of dedicated employees, community volunteers, and individual and corporate donors, FACES helps children learn to express themselves artistically, giving them an opportunity to communicate their experiences and emotions in more positive, meaningful ways.

At FACES, small groups of children confront their personal fears and hardships by working with various forms of art, music and special activities. The goal of the program is to help all children learn about beauty, creativity and expressive emotion while at the same time helping them understand cooperation, strengthen peer relationships and allowing them to share discoveries.

Programs like FACES, help children deal with life’s trauma through art while developing important skills critical for success in school. Recently, FACES graduated 23 children in 2008. Since then, 96 percent of graduates passed a kindergarten readiness test and 100% of graduates left the program with a transition report that provides valuable information about the child and family to the child’s school district and kindergarten teacher.

Research shows early child care and education programs like FACES are instrumental in the success of young children in the community. Children who are well prepared for school avoid academic shortfalls – leading to tragic consequences like lower earnings, poorer health and higher rates of incarceration (McKinsey & Company, The Economic Impact of the Achievement Gap in America’s Schools, April 2009.) Already forced to close two classrooms due to previous budget cuts, FACES’ ability to serve children, and continue to break devastating cycles of abuse, will be drastically reduced if deeper cuts in funding are seen in the state budget.

Help us advocate for a responsible state budget – one that protects our most vulnerable residents, including children.