IMPROVING SCHOOL READINESS THROUGH EXPANDED ACCESS TO NUTRITIOUS FOOD AND LITERACY PROGRAMMING IN CLEVELAND COUNTY, NORTH CAROLINA

Education access and quality are social determinants of health that contribute to a healthier life with less chronic illness and longer life expectancy. Children being developmentally ready for school is instrumental to a quality education. Poverty and food insecurity can negatively impact a child’s school readiness; in fact, only half of children born into poverty are developmentally ready for school. In Cleveland County, one in three children is living in poverty and one in four children is food insecure, leading to gaps in educational readiness for economically disadvantaged students. This proposal contains policies to address these disadvantages, improve school readiness and close education gaps for economically disadvantaged students. The first policy is a home visit program that augments the standard NC pre-K curriculum and instills language and literacy skills. The second is an expansion of Feeding Kids Cleveland County, a backpack program currently serving school age children to the pre-K target population.Master of Public Healt