Ohio Fact Sheet

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Preventing Crime with Pre-Kindergarten: A Critical Investment in Ohio's Safety

Early Education News

Ohio's law enforcement leaders work everyday to put dangerous, violent criminals behind bars. From years on the front line fighting crime, police chiefs, sheriffs and prosecutors know that we can beat back crime with a commitment to investing in pre-kindergarten, Head Start and educational childcare that keep kids from becoming criminals in the first place. The evidence is in. Quality pre-K readies kids to learn, reinforces respect and responsibility for others and reduces behavior problems that can spiral out of control. Research confirms that at-risk children left out of quality pre-kindergarten are five times more likely to grow up to become criminals by age 27 than children in pre-kindergarten. Quality pre-kindergarten also saves $17 for every $1 invested. Yet, due to underfunding, only 18% of Ohio's three to four year-olds received Head Start in 2002 and one in ten eligible Ohio children received federal aid through the Child Care and Development Block Grant in 1999.

The state of Ohio currently has a surplus of Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) dollars that could be spent for more children to access early childcare and education.

Reports

All Fight Crime: Invest in Kids Ohio reports on Pre-K, early education, child care and Head Start:

"Too many children grow up in our criminal justice system. Law enforcement leaders know quality pre-kindergarten can give kids the right start in life."

-David Hejmanowski, Juvenile Justice Magistrate, Delaware County

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• Head Start narrows literary skiils gap by nearly half between children in poverty and all U.S. children.
• Eight out of 10 kindergarten teachers polled say that poorly prepared kids that didn't attend pre-kindergarten negatively impact well-prepared kids.