More than poor kids benefit by early care

KINGSTON, Ontario, Nov. 27 (UPI) -- Early intervention helps at-risk children succeed and economic analyses show significant government savings per child, researchers in Canada say.

Ray Peters of Queen's University and colleagues looked at 601 children ages 4-8 years and 358 matched controls from third grade to 12th grade.

The researchers found marked positive effects in social and school functioning for children enrolled in the intervention program Better Beginnings, Better Futures.

Peters said not only were the children in the program doing better than the matched controls, but parents of the children in the program reported more positive ratings of marital satisfaction and general family functioning.

Positive neighborhood-level effects were also evident, the study authors said.

"The results from our study indicate that the project has been a success," Peters said in a statement.

"The project was designed to prevent young children in low-income, high-risk neighborhoods from experiencing poor developmental outcomes, and to decrease the use of expensive health, education and social services. The study has proven that goal to be attainable."