Contact: Meghan Moroney, 415-450-1913, mmoroney@calfightcrime.org

SACRAMENTO – Members of Fight Crime: Invest in Kids, national anti-crime organization of police chiefs, sheriffs, prosecutors and violence survivors with over 400 members in California and more than 5,000 members nationwide, visited the Capitol today to urge legislators and administration officials to support evidence-based programs proven to keep children in school and away from crime.

“It is an honor to have so many dedicated law enforcement officials with us today because they understand that we must implement proactive and effective strategies today to prevent crime from happening tomorrow,” said Fight Crime: Invest in Kids California State Director Barrie Becker. “Getting kids prepared for school and keeping them in that classroom and on track to graduate are two of the most effective ways to keep our streets and communities safe.”

Representing law enforcement leaders across the state, approximately 20 members of Fight Crime: Invest in Kids California called on both Republican and Democratic legislators to restore state funding for programs scientifically proven to steer kids away from crime, such as high-quality early education, and to prevent dropouts by reducing out-of-school suspensions and expulsions.

Research shows that kids who receive high-quality early education and care are more likely to graduate from high school and less likely to ever become involved in crime. Yet over  $54 million in cuts to half- and full-day preschool were enacted in 2012, which resulted in over 12,500 low-income 3- and 4-year-olds being denied access to state-funded preschool. Over the past two years, preschool funding has been cut by over $130 million.  Studies also show that students who are suspended or expelled are more likely to be held back a grade, drop out, and turn to crime.

Fight Crime: Invest in Kids California members also urged lawmakers to support two bills on school discipline reform, including AB 420, a bill authored by Assemblymember Roger Dickinson and co-sponsored by Fight Crime: Invest in Kids California, that would limit extreme uses of “disruption or willful defiance” as grounds for suspensions.

Participating members of Fight Crime: Invest in Kids California included:

Los Angeles County Sheriff Lee Baca

Stanislaus County Sheriff Adam Christianson

Orange County Sheriff Sandra Hutchens

Sacramento County Sheriff Scott Jones

Kern County Sheriff Donny Youngblood

Solano County District Attorney Don du Bain

Yolo County District Attorney Jeff Reisig

Riverside County District Attorney Paul Zellerbach

Ceres Police Chief Art de Werk

Signal Hill Police Chief Michael Langston

San Diego Police Chief William Lansdowne

Richmond Police Chief Chris Magnus

Alameda Police Chief (Ret.) Burnham Matthews

Los Gatos/Monte Sereno Police Chief Scott Seaman

Griffin Dix, Ph.D., Victim Advocate

Marc Klaas, Victim Advocate

To review Fight Crime: Invest in Kids California’s complete 2013 legislative agenda, or to arrange an interview with a member of Fight Crime: Invest in Kids California, please contact Meghan Moroney at mmoroney@calfightcrime.org.

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• Research shows that getting at-risk kids into high-quality early education programs can help cut violent crime, reduce prison costs and save taxpayer dollars.

• A long-term study of Chicago’s Child-Parent Centers found that at-risk kids who did not participate in this high-quality early education program were 70 percent more likely to be arrested for a violent crime by age 18. In addition, by age 26, individuals who did not participate in the program were 27 percent more likely to have been arrested for a felony and 39 percent more likely to have spent time in jail or prison.

• The Chicago Child-Parent Centers program cut crime, welfare and other costs so much that it returned to society more than $11 for every $1 invested, with $5 of these benefits due to reduced crime costs. This is a return on investment that we cannot afford to overlook with today’s tight budgets.

•  There’s no substitute for tough law enforcement, but we must do more to establish and improve programs that prevent at-risk kids from ever becoming criminals. Either we pay on the front end by providing them a solid chance to succeed, or we pay a lot more for their failure.

• Providing more at-risk kids with quality early learning opportunities will help us prevent crime and reduce burdensome prison costs for years to come.

FIGHT CRIME: INVEST IN KIDS is a national anti-crime organization of police chiefs, sheriffs, prosecutors, other law enforcement leaders and violence survivors with over 5,000 members nationwide.

Early childhood care and education helps children get the right start in life, avoid future crime, and save taxpayers’ money, but programs must be high quality to make a difference in kids’ lives.

Early Education Cuts Crime

In addition to tough policing, prosecution and corrections, Oregon also needs to invest in programs that prevent kids from becoming criminals in the first place. As law enforcement leaders, we support effective investments that can make all Oregon communities safer places to live, work and raise a family. The research shows that early care and education is such an investment. for example:

• A long-term study of michigan’s Perry Preschool found that at-risk children left out of the high-quality program were five times more likely to be chronic offenders by age 27 than children who did attend.
• At-risk kids who did not participate in chicago’s child- Parent centers were 70 percent more likely to be arrested for a violent crime by age 18, according to a study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association.
• Early education can also improve education outcomes, such as the 50 percent greater overall gain in literacy from Tennessee’s pre-kindergarten program.

Early learning helps children get the right start in life, avoid future crime, and save taxpayers’ money, but programs must be high quality to make a difference in kids’ lives.

Early Learning Cuts Crime

In addition to tough policing, prosecution and corrections, Washington also needs to invest in programs that prevent kids from becoming criminals in the first place. As law enforcement leaders, we support effective investments that can make all Washington communities safer places to live, work and raise a family. The research shows that early learning is such an investment. For example:

• A long-term study of Michigan’s Perry Preschool found that at-risk children left out of the high-quality program were five times more likely to be chronic offenders by age 27 than children who did attend.

• At-risk kids who did not participate in Chicago’s child- Parent centers were 70 percent more likely to be arrested for a violent crime by age 18, according to a study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

• Early education can also improve education outcomes, such as the 50 percent greater overall gain in literacy from Tennessee’s pre-kindergarten program.

High-Quality Early Learning Programs Save Money

Research shows that high-quality early learning programs provide enormous societal benefits – nearly $11 in benefits for every $1 dollar invested, according to a long-term study of children who participated in Chicago’s child-Parent centers. Of the $11 in benefits, $5 result from lower costs for crime and corrections.

These early care and education programs delivered impressive results because they were high-quality. Unfortunately, too many early learning programs are not high quality.

Early childhood care and education helps children get the right start in life, avoid future crime, and save taxpayers’ money, but programs must be high quality to make a difference in kids’ lives. In addition to tough policing, prosecution and corrections, tennessee also needs to invest in programs that prevent kids from becoming criminals in the first place. As law enforcement leaders, we support effective investments that can make all tennessee communities safer places to live, work and raise a family…

Research confirms what law enforcement professionals know from experience: getting the right start in life is crucial. studies show that being enrolled in a high-quality early care and education program greatly reduces the likelihood that at-risk kids will engage in criminal behavior as adults. But too few children have access to high-quality programs.”

Executive Summary

Early childhood care and education helps children get the right start in life, avoid future crime, and save taxpayers’ money, but programs must be high quality to make a difference in kids’ lives.

Early Education Cuts Crime

In addition to tough policing, prosecution and corrections, Tennessee also needs to invest in programs that prevent kids from becoming criminals in the first place. As law enforcement leaders, we support effective investments that can make all Tennessee communities safer places to live, work and raise a family. the research shows that early care and education is such an investment. For example:

• A long-term study of michigan’s Perry Preschool found that at-risk children left out of the high-quality program were five times more likely to be chronic offenders by age 27 than children who did attend.
• At-risk kids who did not participate in chicago’s child- Parent centers were 70 percent more likely to be arrested for a violent crime by age 18, according to a study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association.
• Early education can also improve education outcomes, such as the 50 percent greater overall gains in literacy from Tennessee’s pre-kindergarten program.

Early childhood care and education helps children get the right start in life, avoid future crime, and save taxpayers’ money, but programs must be high quality to make a difference in kids’ lives…In addition to tough policing, prosecution and corrections, Pennsylvania also needs to invest in programs that prevent kids from becoming criminals in the first place. As law enforcement leaders, we support effective investments that can make all Pennsylvania communities safer places to live, work and raise a family. The research shows that early care and education is such an investment.