Every Child Ready Chicago

Ensuring Our Youngest Learners, From Before Birth to Age 5, Can Thrive

Every Child Ready Chicago (ECRC) is a public-private partnership led by the Mayor’s Office in partnership with Start Early (formerly known as the Ounce of Prevention Fund) working to ensure all children in Chicago enter kindergarten ready to succeed in school and life. The multi-year, collective effort will work to align the prenatal-to-five systems and supports serving Chicago children and families under a unified vision and build the early childhood systems infrastructure needed for thousands more children to enter kindergarten ready to learn.

Chicago has a strong history of investing in early learning opportunities that begin at birth and are delivered in both school and community-based settings. The initiative will build on this strong foundation to set forth — and achieve — a vision of a coherent prenatal-to-five system that provides equitable access to supports and services that ensure the highest outcomes for our city’s youngest learners.