ILLINOIS - DuPage County Law Enforcement Push to Restore Cuts to Preschool In Order to Cut Crime
Dec 15th 2009
LOMBARD, IL. - DuPage County Sheriff John Zaruba, Lombard Police Chief Ray Byrne and Elmhurst Police Chief Steve Neubauer visited a preschool class in Lombard today to call for expanding availability of preschool in DuPage County. They joined State Representative Dennis Reboletti to read to preschoolers at Schafer School in Lombard.
Pointing to evidence that preschool cuts future violent crime and saves money, the law enforcement leaders called on the General Assembly and Governor Quinn to restore funding for preschool programs in the state budget. Last July, state lawmakers cut funding for the state’s Preschool for All program by 10 percent.
“In order to reduce the level of crime in DuPage County, we must use all the tools in our arsenal,” said Zaruba. “High quality preschool has been shown to dramatically improve the chances that children will grow up to be successful, productive, law-abiding adults. High quality preschool is crime prevention.“
The law enforcement leaders expressed concern that continued cuts could impact the ability of providers to offer high quality programming, or could eventually result in reducing the number of students served.
“When it comes to making our communities safer, assuring that our kids have the opportunity to attend a high-quality preschool is one of the smartest things we can do” said Lombard Police Chief Ray Byrne.
Over the past seven years, Illinois has made great strides in expanding preschool opportunities for families. With the expansion of the Preschool for All program, DuPage County has added over 900 slots for 3-and 4-year olds, increasing the number of children enrolled in state-funded preschool to 2,400.
Still, there are many families unable to access high quality programs because of cost. In DuPage County there remain nearly 10,000 3- and 4-year-olds in families who cannot afford to pay for quality preschool on their own.
“The research is compelling. Early childhood is a crucial time when we form the core of conscience, develop the ability to trust and relate to others, and lay down the foundation for life-long learning and thinking. The evidence tells us that preschool has a real and significant impact on cutting crime,” said Elmhurst Chief Steven Neubauer.
Law enforcement’s experience and rigorous research supports the value of preschool. A study of the Perry Preschool in Michigan tracked at-risk children who attended the program and similar children left out until age 40. At age 27, those left out as children were five times more likely to have been arrested for drug felonies and twice as likely to have been arrested for violent crimes. Another study of the publicly funded Child-Parent Centers in Chicago, which have provided early care and education to more than 100,000 children since 1967, found that kids left out of the program were 70 percent more likely to have been arrested by age 18 than those who participated.
Fight Crime: Invest in Kids Illinois is the state office of a national, non-profit bipartisan, anti-crime organization of more than 5,000 police chiefs, sheriffs, prosecutors, leaders of law enforcement organizations, and victims of crime. It has over 300 members in Illinois.
###
