Police Chiefs From Chicago’s Southwest Suburbs Say Early Learning Programs Pay Off

Homewood, IL (April 20)-Noting that Illinois taxpayers are spending more than $1.3 billion a year on corrections, local law enforcement leaders today called on state lawmakers to support high-quality preschool as a critical strategy to reduce crime, lower prison costs and save taxpayers money. The law enforcement leaders say they oppose cuts to early education and support efforts to strengthen and improve current programs.

Homewood Police Chief Larry Burnson, Calumet Park Police Chief Mark Davis, and Dolton Police Chief Bolden Jones signaled their support for preschool during a visit to the Bright Start Child Care and Preschool in Homewood. They joined State Representative Will Davis to read to a classroom of preschoolers at the center. The national anti-crime organization Fight Crime: Invest in Kids is sponsoring the event as part of a law enforcement campaign to promote support for high-quality early learning.

Citing a research brief called “Pay Now or Pay Much More Later,” Chiefs Burnson, Davis, and Jones said that investing in high-quality learning can help at-risk children in Illinois succeed in school, significantly reduce the likelihood that they will commit crimes and save taxpayer dollars from reduced prison costs.

While overall crime rates are decreasing in many jurisdictions, Illinois still spent $1.3 billion in 2010 on corrections with over 45,000 adults locked up in either state or federal prisons on the first day of 2010. According to the U.S. Department of Justice, Illinois’ corrections spending doubled from 1982 to 2008.

“During these difficult economic times, investing in crime-prevention programs like preschool is the smart choice,” said Chief Burnson. “We should prioritize these investments because it’s money well-spent.”

A long-term study of Michigan’s Perry Preschool found that at-risk children who did not participate in the high-quality program were five times more likely to be chronic offenders by age 27 than children who did attend. Because of their increased involvement in crime, the children who did not attend were 86 percent more likely to be sentenced to jail or prison by the age of 40.

The law enforcement leaders emphasized that cutting funding for early learning programs would be shortsighted and risky since these programs actually save money in the long run. The Perry Preschool Program cut crime, welfare and other costs so much that it saved taxpayers an average of $180,000 for every child served, with the vast majority of the public savings coming from reduced crime costs.

In his comments, Chief Davis stated that “Crime is expensive and preventing crime saves money. Preschool is one of the most cost-effective crime prevention programs we have, and we must do everything we can to protect it.”

Over the past nine years, Illinois has made great strides in expanding preschool opportunities for families. Even with some recent falloff because of a budget cut and state’s ongoing bill paying crisis, suburban Cook County has added almost 7,300 slots for 3-and 4-year olds, increasing the number of children enrolled in state-funded preschool to almost 13,400.

Still, there are far too many families unable to access high quality programs because of cost. In suburban Cook County, there remain almost 30,000 3- and 4-year-olds not enrolled in state preschool or Head Start from families who cannot afford to pay for quality preschool on their own.

Pointing to evidence that preschool cuts future violent crime and saves money, the law enforcement leaders called on the General Assembly to restore funding for the state preschool program to the FY 09 level, as proposed by Governor Quinn.

“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 Fight Crime: Invest in Kids Illinois State Director Tim Carpenter.

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 violence. It has over 300 members in Illinois.

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