Kentucky Statewide Pre-K and Head Start Associated With Equity in Uptake of Preventative Health Care

• In Event: Equity and Access in Early Childhood Education

Abstract

While many studies of preK programs examine academic outcomes, here I show how Head Start and other preK programs may also be strong public health interventions. I show how Kentucky state-funded preK is associated with children’s uptake of preventative health care including early health check-ups, vision screenings, and immunizations in Kindergarten. Then I show how racial and ethnic disparities in preK access are associated with disparities in uptake of preventative health care.

To do this, I examine outcomes for eight cohorts from the Kentucky Longitudinal Data System from 2013-2014 through 2019-2020, including demographic, academic, and health, records of approximately 300,000 unique students in preK. This is linked to other national datasets to account for community resources and environmental exposures.

Author

• Carrie Townley Flores, Stanford University