Arkansas Law Enforcement Leaders: Invest in Early Education or Foot Bigger Prison Bill Later
Aug 31st 2009
NORTH LITTLE ROCK, AR (August 31, 2009) -- At a news conference today, Arkansas Attorney General Dustin McDaniel, North Little Rock Police Chief Danny Bradley, Pulaski County Sheriff Doc Holladay and England Police Chief Herman Hutton, released a research brief indicating that high-quality early learning programs for at-risk children ages birth to five can significantly reduce crime and ultimately cut corrections costs by a quarter or more.
To read a copy of the report, click here.
Currently in Arkansas, there are more than 21,000 incarcerated adults in jails and state prisons, with corrections costs exceeding $289 million every year. McDaniel, Bradley, Holladay and Hutton said that Arkansas would save about $70 million in taxpayer dollars if it cut prison costs by a quarter by investing in early learning.
With kids heading back to school, law enforcement are urging U.S. Senators Lincoln and Pryor, as well as the entire Arkansas Congressional Delegation, to support the proposed Early Learning Challenge Fund, which will provide $1 billion per year for states to expand and improve their early childhood development initiatives.
"It's been said that crime doesn't pay, but in the end, we all end up paying for crime. I would rather put my taxpayer dollars to work educating the next generation than locking them up down the road," General McDaniel said.
A long-term study of the high-quality Perry Preschool in Michigan found that by age 40, the kids left out of the program were 85 percent more likely to be sentenced to jail or prison. Another study detailed in the report showed that at-risk kids who did not attend Chicago's Child-Parent Centers were 24 percent more likely to be incarcerated than similar kids who did attend.
Chief Bradley emphasized the cost-saving benefits of investing in high-quality early childhood education and care, especially for at-risk young children. Researchers at the Federal Reserve found that the Perry Preschool program had an annual rate of return on investment of 16 percent. The majority of the cost savings from the Perry study came from reductions in crime and incarceration.
"Budgets are tight, and states have been forced to make painful cuts, but we can't afford to skimp on the education of our youngest children. It makes a heck of a lot more sense to pay now for quality early learning than to pay much more later for a prison sentence," Bradley said.
The new Early Learning Challenge Fund will support early education programs, such as Head Start, Early Head Start, pre-kindergarten or quality child care, which offer constructive environments for the healthy growth and development of young children in the first five years of life. The education committee in the U.S. House of Representatives passed a bill in July that includes support for the Early Learning Challenge Fund.
Law enforcement leaders said that more support is needed at the state and federal level to ensure that quality early childhood programs are available and affordable to more families. Costs for enrolling young children in early learning programs can run as high as $7,300 a year, which many families are unable to afford.
The need to increase access to high-quality early learning opportunities is great. For example, the federally funded Head Start program for children in poverty serves only half of eligible children nationwide due to inadequate funding. And the youngest children, from birth to age 3, are even more dramatically underserved. In fact, Early Head Start only serves about three percent of eligible infants and toddlers nationally.
"After 38 years on the job as a cop, I know that there is no better way to fight crime and keep our communities safe than to invest in the programs that work for our youngest kids. We can't afford NOT to make this investment," Sheriff Holladay said.
The research shows that quality is essential to getting the crime and incarceration reduction benefits of early learning. The Early Learning Challenge Fund legislation will enable states to adopt best practices, including higher qualifications for teachers and caregivers. In addition, it encourages smaller class sizes, and early screening and treatment of mental, emotional and behavioral problems, as well as parent coaching, which teach at-risk families ways to promote their children's development.
"No child is born destined to go to jail. Research shows that we can make a difference in kids' lives through early learning. We're not saying that every kid who benefits from early education is set for life, but we can dramatically improve their odds," Chief Hutton said.
McDaniel, Bradley, Holladay and Hutton are members of FIGHT CRIME: INVEST IN KIDS, an anti-crime organization led by 5,000 police chiefs, sheriffs, prosecutors and violence survivors nationwide, including 30 in Arkansas.
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