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Law Enforcement Leaders Urge Gov. Martinez to Support Funding to Prevent Child Abuse and Reduce Crime

Reports show voluntary home visiting and quality early education can reduce abuse and crime and save taxpayers money  

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — New Mexico law enforcement leaders today released a new report on opportunities to prevent child abuse and neglect, and urged Governor Susana Martinez to support a proposal to provide home visiting services and quality early education programs for at-risk children and families.

The report from the anti-crime organization Fight Crime: Invest in Kids, called “Breaking the Cycle,” shows that providing voluntary home visiting services to high-risk families can significantly reduce child abuse and neglect rates, prevent violent crime, and improve the safety of New Mexico communities. It was released at a news conference at the Albuquerque Police Academy that also highlighted research from an earlier Fight Crime: Invest in Kids report, “Pay Now or Pay Much More Later,” showing the significant impact of quality early education on long-term academic achievement and crime reduction.

The law enforcement leaders cited the research-based solutions in both reports in urging Governor Susana Martinez to sign into law the full amount of increased investments – passed by the legislature with bi-partisan support through House Bill 2 and Senate Bill 113 – for preK education through the Children Youth and Families Department and Public Education Department, childcare and home visiting.

Participating in the news conference were Bloomfield Police Department Chief Michael Kovacs, Los Lunas Police Department Chief Roy Melnick, Albuquerque Police Department Deputy Chief Macario Page, and Rio Rancho Department of Public Safety Director Robert Boone.

The law enforcement leaders cited data showing at least 5,400 New Mexico children suffered abuse or neglect in 2010—more than 100 each week. They voiced their strong support for voluntary home visiting services, which link young parents and pregnant mothers on a voluntary basis with trained advisers to help them cope with the challenges of raising a young child.

A study of one home visiting model, the Nurse-Family Partnership program, tracked the outcomes of at-risk children whose mothers received visits compared with similar children whose families were not served. Children in participating families had half as many incidents of abuse or neglect. By age 15, youth whose families did not participate in the program had more than twice as many arrests. Another study of the quality nurse home visitation program found significantly fewer cases of childhood injury and child death among families who participated.

According to a 2009 study, federal, state, and local child welfare spending on services like foster care, usually the result of abuse or neglect, totaled over $70 million in FY 2006 for the state of New Mexico alone. Evidence-based home visiting programs are highly cost-effective because they can reduce later abuse and neglect and child welfare spending. Analysis from the Washington State Institute for Public Policy showed that the Nurse-Family Partnership program produced a net savings of almost $13,000 for each family served.

“Every week in New Mexico, kids will be physically or emotionally abused, sexually molested or left alone, unfed or endangered by unsafe homes,” said Melnick. “Most disturbing of all, 19 innocent kids lost their lives in 2010 because of these tragedies. This report is a wake-up call for anyone who cares about vulnerable kids, but it also shows we have proven ways to protect them and improve community safety as well.”

While most survivors of childhood abuse never become violent criminals, the data shows that abused or neglected children are nearly 30 percent more likely to commit violent crimes. Research also shows that of the 5,400 cases of abuse and neglect in 2010, there will be about 220 future violent criminals in New Mexico who never would have been arrested for violent crimes if not for the abuse or neglect they experienced. Survivors are also more likely to abuse their own children, creating a multi-generation cycle of violence.

“The evidence is in, and it proves that child maltreatment today is a driver of crime tomorrow,” Kovacs said. “New Mexico’s law enforcement community absolutely must do everything in its power to break the cycle of child abuse and neglect. We know quality home visiting programs can cut child abuse and neglect by as much as 50 percent, significantly reduce later crime and save taxpayers money.”

The law enforcement leaders also emphasized the wisdom of investing in quality early education to reduce crime and save taxpayer dollars, noting that New Mexico spent $280 million on corrections in 2011, and only $15.3 million for the New Mexico PreK program. That same year the program served less than one out of every five of the state’s four-year-olds.

They also cited research in “Pay Now or Pay Much More Later” showing that providing at-risk children with high-quality early care and education steers them toward success and away from later involvement in crime, thereby reducing corrections costs for taxpayers. The report from Fight Crime: Invest in Kids shows that New Mexico’s pre-kindergarten program, launched in 2005, is already seeing strong results in improved literacy and other outcomes:

• Across the first three years of the initiative, participating children answered an average of 24 percent more questions correctly on a literacy test.

• An evaluation of participants from the fourth year found that early literacy scores for participants were much higher on average than scores for non-participants.

• Pre-k participants also showed significant improvements in vocabulary for three of the four initial years and math for all four years.

• Every $1 invested in New Mexico PreK returns an estimated $5 to society from reduced education costs.

“For all these reasons, we want to respectfully ask the legislature and Governor Martinez to ensure we reach more at-risk families and children so we can protect our youngest and most vulnerable,” said Boone. “And we need to provide the funding our state needs for early care and education, including PreK, quality child care and other services that give kids the foundation they need for long-term academic success.”

“Quality early learning will keep kids in school and out of lock-up,” said Page. “It’s the smartest investment we can make, right now, for New Mexico’s kids and communities alike.”

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The police chiefs and sheriffs are members of Fight Crime: Invest in Kids, a national anti-crime organization of 5,000 police chiefs, sheriffs, prosecutors and violence survivors, including 63 members in New Mexico. Gov. Susana Martinez is a former District Attorney of New Mexico’s 3rd Judicial District, and lifetime member of Fight Crime: Invest in Kids. Learn more and read the report at www.fightcrime.org/nm.

Home visiting for families with infants and young children can cut abuse and neglect and reduce future crime. one evidence-based program, the nurse-Family Partnership (nFP), cut abuse and neglect and arrests in half. these large reductions in abuse and neglect and crime mean that home visiting can save far more than it costs. however, only proven, evidence-based programs can realize substantial outcomes for children and families and resulting fiscal savings for states and communities. We need to ensure that public investments are directed to those services proven to work. Promising programs that lack a strong evidence base should be rigorously evaluated to confirm they deliver results.

Stopping child abuse is a critical crime prevention strategy.  As law enforcement leaders, we urge state lawmakers to direct federal and state funding to maintain, improve and expand existing home visiting programs even in these tough financial times. Englewood, West Englewood and Greater grand Crossing have received an unprecedented federal grant to expand home visiting through the maternal, infant and Early Childhood home Visiting grant program (miEChV). in order to leverage federal funding for home visiting, illinois must preserve existing state efforts to fund evidence-based home visiting. in addition, we urge the illinois congressional delegation to protect federal funding of voluntary, evidence- based home visitation services as a proven child abuse and neglect prevention strategy that will reduce future crime and save taxpayer money.

Abuse and neglect increases crime. Nothing can fully prepare a law enforcement officer to walk into a home where child abuse has taken place. The terrible experience of removing children from their homes is one reason why the law enforcement leaders of Fight Crime: invest in Kids are so committed to preventing abuse or neglect before children are hurt. Over 4,600 Nevada children were victims of abuse or neglect in 2010, almost 90 children every week, and at least 15 Nevada children died from that abuse or neglect. The true numbers are likely much higher because many cases of abuse and neglect are not reported. In addition, law enforcement leaders want to prevent abuse and neglect because maltreatment contributes to future crime. While most survivors of childhood abuse and neglect never become violent criminals, research shows that an estimated over 185 victims of abuse and neglect in Nevada in 2010 will later become violent criminals who otherwise would have avoided such crimes if not for the abuse and neglect they endured as children.

Home visiting for families with infants and young children can cut abuse and neglect and reduce future crime. One evidence-based program, the Nurse-Family Partnership (NFP), cut abuse and neglect and arrests in half. These large reductions in abuse and neglect and crime mean that home visiting can save far more than it costs. However, only proven, evidence-based programs can realize substantial outcomes for children and families and resulting fiscal savings for states and communities. We need to ensure that public investments are directed to those services proven to work. Promising programs that lack a strong evidence base should be rigorously evaluated to confirm they deliver results.

Stopping child abuse is a critical crime prevention strategy. As law enforcement leaders, we urge state lawmakers to direct federal and state funding to maintain, improve and expand existing home visiting programs even in these tough financial times. In order to leverage federal funding for home visiting, Nevada must preserve existing state efforts to fund evidence-based home visiting. In addition, we urge the Nevada congressional delegation to protect federal funding of voluntary, evidence-based home visitation services as a proven child abuse and neglect prevention strategy that will reduce future crime and

save taxpayer money.

Home visiting can cut abuse and neglect and reduce future crime. Research on high-quality, evidence-based home visiting shows that it can cut child abuse and neglect and subsequent crime in half and save taxpayers money. Substantial returns, however, can only be realized by proven, evidence-based programs, and states need to ensure public investments are directed to those services. promising programs that lack a strong evidence base should be rigorously evaluated to confirm they deliver results. high-quality home visiting can save far more than it costs in large part because it can so effectively reduce abuse and neglect and future crime.

State and federal funding for home visiting is a critical crime prevention strategy. As law enforcement leaders, we urge state lawmakers to direct federal and state funding to maintain, improve and expand existing home visiting programs even in these challenging financial times. preserving existing state efforts to support evidence-based and promising programs is essential to ensure that Iowa can continue to take advantage of new federal funding for proven home visiting services that can reduce the abuse and neglect of iowa children now and cut future crime.

The over 75 law enforcement and crime survivor members of Fight Crime: Invest in Kids Montana and the over 5,000 members nationally know that the most powerful weapons we have against crime are the proven programs that help kids get a good start in life. We know that high-quality home visiting can deliver strong crime-fighting results, in part by cutting abuse and neglect, so it is essential to ensure that home visiting funding continues to be supported in Montana and that new federal funding for home visiting is fully utilized. If Montana invests wisely in what works, fewer of our officers and deputies will find themselves carrying children away from abusive or neglectful homes, and fewer Montana residents will become victims of violence. Montana is a model in using the new federal funding to move toward evidence-based programs.

Maintaining state funding, while expanding programs using new federal and private-sector resources, will require a firm commitment on the part of the governor and legislature in these tough fiscal times. It will also require the Montana congressional delegation to protect federal funding for voluntary, evidence-based home visitation services. However, supporting home visiting will prevent suffering from abuse and neglect now, reduce future crime and save taxpayers millions of dollars.28 Breaking the cycle of child abuse and neglect is one of the wisest investments Montana and our nation can make for our children and our future.

If Illinois and Macon County invest wisely in what works, fewer of our officers and deputies will find themselves carrying children away from abusive or neglectful homes, and fewer residents of Illinois and Macon County will become victims of violence in the future. We need to find the funding for what works. Maintaining funding for home visiting during tough financial times while expanding home visiting programs using new federal funding and private sector investment will require a firm commitment on the part of the governor and legislature. But the payoff will be significant as Illinois and Macon County begin to reach more of the eligible families who choose to take advantage of these voluntary programs.

Maintaining funding for home visiting during tough financial times while expanding home visiting programs using new federal funding and private sector investment will require a firm commitment on the part of the governor and legislature. But the payoff will be significant as Illinois and Elgin begin to reach more of the eligible families who choose to take advantage of these voluntary programs.