ILLINOIS -- Metro East Law Enforcement Leaders: Cutting Preschool Funding Today Means Bigger Crime Costs Tomorrow
Apr 26th 2010
GRANITE CITY, IL. (April 26, 2010) -- Madison County State’s Attorney William Mudge, Madison County Sheriff Robert Hertz, Granite City Police Chief Richard Miller, Collinsville Police Chief Scott Williams, and Alton Police Chief David Hayes visited a preschool class in Granite City today to call for rejection of proposed state preschool cuts in the Metro East area. They joined State Representative Thomas Holbrook to read to preschoolers at Granite City Early Childhood Center.
“As a police chief, I can see a direct connection to the early childhood programs in our community as a major factor in influencing positive growth and behaviors in this vulnerable age group,” said Miller. “At a time of economic turmoil, it is not the right choice to abandon a proven strategy, which directly affects all ages of our community through reduced crime.”
Pointing to evidence that preschool cuts future violent crime and saves money, the law enforcement leaders called on the General Assembly and Governor Quinn not to cut additional funding for preschool programs in the state budget. Over 1,000 Metro East area children could lose their spot in state-funded preschool under Governor Quinn’s proposed budget for FY 2011. Statewide, the budget cut could affect 23,000 children.
“One of the best weapons we have in the fight against crime is preschool,” said Hertz. “As a sheriff, I want to use any tools we have to prevent crime.”
Over the past eight years, Illinois has prioritized preschool opportunities for families. With the Preschool for All program, Metro East area preschools serve almost 4,200 three- and four- year-olds in state-funded preschool.
“We can save money from locking people up later if we invest in kids now,” said Mudge. “The savings we can’t measure is the savings in pain and suffering of victims and victims’ families.”
The law enforcement leaders expressed concern that cuts could also impact the ability of providers to maintain the current high-quality standards, a key to preventing future crime.
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 that did not attend. At age 27, adult non-participants 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 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 has over 300 members, and 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.
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