Children’s physical development, wellbeing and health are key components of school-readiness. Children living in poverty are at greater risk of having untreated health conditions.1 (Advisory Committee on Head Start Research and Evaluation, 2012) Undiagnosed and/or unaddressed health and medical conditions can negatively affect development not only in the physical domain, but also in cognitive, social, and emotional domains (Committee on the Science of Children, 2015).2 Untreated health conditions in children are constant disparities and continue to grow for impoverished children.3 Children and families living in poverty and low-income communities tend to have increased exposure to environmental factors that negatively affect physical development and tend to have higher rates of asthma, obesity, elevated lead levels, diabetes and high blood pressure (Pascoe, 2016) (Sahoo et al., 2015).3 According to epidemiological data collected and synthesized by the Chicago Department of Public Health, the health and wellbeing of young children continues to vary tremendously across Chicago communities. While there has been considerable citywide progress in recent years in lowering the rates of infant mortality, low-weight births, and exposure to lead paint, young children in neighborhoods with concentrated poverty remain disproportionately at-risk for childhood illnesses and diseases (Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children Hospital, 2019).4 Historical disparities remain evident among young children. Children living in poverty and low-income children require a proactive approach to increasing the accessibility of health services and ensuring that children and their families have access to a permanent medical home, health insurance, treatment for chronic conditions, and follow-up treatment as warranted. (Healthy People 2020)
