• Young people who received a Big Brothers/Big Sisters mentor were half as likely to begin illegal drug use or to hit someone as applicants randomly assigned to a waiting list.
• In the three years after Baltimore's Police Department opened a Police Activities League (PAL) after-school program in one high-crime neighborhood, juvenile crime in the neighborhood dropped nearly 10%. The risk of kids becoming crime victims was cut nearly in half. While juvenile victimization rates were coming down for all Baltimore juveniles, the rate in the area served by PAL came down nearly three times as fast as it did for the city as a whole.
• A study of a 32-month after-school and summer skill-development program in a Canadian public housing project showed that compared to the two years prior to the program, the number of juvenile arrests declined by 75% during the course of the program.

Government Is Dropping the Ball

The number of children and teens nationally whose need for after-school programs is unmet likely exceeds eleven million. Yet, the federal government's principal program to help communities provide after-school programs, the Department of Education's 21st Century Community Learning Centers grants program, currently serves only 650,000 youngsters. Some states, notably California and Illinois, have launched significant after-school programs, but their investment remains modest. In short, our nation's investment in making good after-school programs available to its youth is falling far short of the need.

Investments
that Save Money

The Quantum Opportunities after-school program produced benefits to recipients and the public of $3 for every $1 spent without even accounting for the savings from a six-fold drop in crime by boys in the program. Failing to invest in quality after-school programs now squanders billions, much of which could otherwise be used for Social Security, tax cuts, or anything else in the years ahead.

Law Enforcement is United

In a recent survey of police chiefs by George Mason University professors Scott Keeter and Stephen Mastrofski, nine out of ten chiefs said America could greatly reduce crime by expanding educational child care programs and after-school programs.The more than 1,000 members of Fight Crime: Invest in Kids are determined to put dangerous criminals behind bars. But we also want to save money and lives by preventing crime in the first place. It's time to invest in after-school programs that are proven to work.