Highlights of Better Beginnings, Better Futures See Our Research ...

INTRODUCTIONTHE SITES AND PROGRAMSFrom 1993 to 1997, when the childrenwere aged 4 to 8, programs wereoffered at the three chosen BetterBeginnings sites, namely Sudbury,Cornwall, and Highfield. These siteswere matched with two comparisonsites in Ontario that were similar tothem in terms of economic conditions,community characteristics, and otherfactors. These two sites, in Ottawaand Etobicoke, did not have BetterBeginnings programs and were usedby researchers to compare outcomesin the Better Beginnings sites.Each of the three Better Beginnings sitessupported the cultural identities of itsyoung people. Thanks to the inventivenessof the planning by program staffand parents, fostering cultural diversityis a hallmark of the Better Beginningsapproach.Our previous Highlights Report onGrade 9 findings contains informationabout the dawn of Better Beginnings,its goals, the cultural characteristicsof the sites, and descriptions of theprograms provided for the young people,their parents, and the community.The Grade 9 Report may be found at:http://bbbf.queensu.ca/investinginourfuture.htmlIt should always be remembered thatBetter Beginnings was not designed tosee which specific programs contributedto positive outcomes for young peopleand their parents and communities.Instead, Better Beginnings was designedto examine the sum total of the elements:universal, holistic, ecological,community-based, and integrated.THE GRADE 12 RESEARCHQuantitative research, based on interviewquestions which call for “yes” or “no”answers, numeric answers (such asheight and weight), and answers chosenfrom a range of fixed answers such asfrom “strongly agree” to “strongly disagree,”was conducted with 626 young peopleand/or their parents.Qualitative research was conductedwith two smaller groups of young people,one involving focus groups and interviews(36 youths) and the other just interviews(96 youths), using open-ended questions- for example, those beginning withHow…, When…, Why…, or Tell meabout... Questions were asked in aneutral way, so that participants werenot influenced in their responses.We provide results of quantitativeand qualitative research in thisHighlights Report.Note: Only those findings considered to bestatistically significant are presented in thisHighlights Report. Statistically significant meansthat the results shown here have at least a 95%chance of being true and not due to chance.The National Crime Prevention Centre,Public Safety Canada, provided thefunding for the Grade 12 research.THE ECONOMIC ANALYSISBetter Beginnings, Better Futuresprovides the first economic analysis ofa Canadian early childhood preventionstudy. In this Highlights Report, wereveal how much was saved in directcosts to government by the BetterBeginnings program.2BETTER BEGINNINGS, BETTER FUTURES