For every 1 TRY invested in post-earthquake early childhood programs, 6.34 TRY of social value was created
AÇEV has completed a Social Return on Investment (SROI) analysis of its Child and Family Centers in the earthquake-affected region, demonstrating that 65% of social value accrued to children and 28% to mothers. A parallel school readiness study confirmed enrollment in AÇEV’s Preschool Education Program as the single strongest predictor of school readiness, regardless of socioeconomic background.
The SROI analysis, covering June 2023 to August 2024 across 11 earthquake-affected provinces, is among the most rigorous post-disaster impact assessments conducted in Türkiye. Unlike standard cost-benefit analyses, the SROI methodology captures lived experiences: the psychological recovery of a child who had stopped speaking; the moment a mother replaced punitive discipline with open conversation; a father attending his child’s learning session for the first time. These transformations are given monetary proxies and weighed against total program investment, yielding the 1:6.34 ratio. A simulation reducing first-year infrastructure costs projects a long-term SROI of 1:10.18.
The distribution of value is as telling as the ratio itself. Children received 65% of total social value, expressed through gains in fine motor skills, emotional regulation, cognitive development, and social competence. Mothers accounted for 28%, with particularly strong outcomes in psychological wellbeing and awareness of women’s rights. Fathers, though representing only 3% of total value, showed meaningful shifts away from punitive discipline toward active, nurturing involvement, precisely the behavioral change that intergenerational models suggest has the highest multiplier effect.
The complementary Preschool Education Program impact study, conducted in 2024-25 with a randomized control group, confirmed that structured early learning is not merely helpful but decisive. Children enrolled in AÇEV’s center-based programs showed statistically significant gains across cognitive, social, and emotional domains. Critically, program participation outweighed socioeconomic background as a predictor, a finding with profound implications for early childhood investment policy in crisis and post-crisis contexts globally.