IOWA–Cedar Rapids Law Enforcement Leaders Say Early Childhood Programs Pay Off
Crime fighters release new report showing early education cuts crime, saves taxpayers dollars
CEDAR RAPIDS, IOWA (April 12, 2011)
Noting that Iowa taxpayers are spending more than $329 million a year on corrections, local law enforcement leaders today called on state and federal lawmakers to support high-quality early education 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.
Cedar Rapids Chief of Police Greg Graham, Linn County Sheriff Brian Gardner and County Attorney Jerry Vander Sanden signaled their support for early learning during a visit to the Linn County Child Development Center on Tuesday to read to children in the early learning program and discuss the value of early childhood education. 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 childhood education.
Citing a new research brief called “Pay Now or Pay Much More Later,” the law enforcement leaders said that investing in high-quality early care and education can help at-risk children in Iowa succeed, 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, Iowa still spent $329 million in 2010 on corrections with almost 8,500 adults locked up in either state or federal prisons as of the first day of 2010. According to the U.S. Department of Justice and the Census Bureau, Iowa’s corrections spending increased by 250 percent between 1982 and 2008.
“We’re here to support a new direction, because our state can’t simply arrest, prosecute and incarcerate our way out of our crime problems,” Chief Graham said. “Early childhood education can be a pillar of crime prevention, if we make sure more at-risk kids get the right start through early learning. State and federal lawmakers should protect funding for these critical programs.”
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 also agree that cutting funding for early childhood programs would be shortsighted and risky since quality early care and education 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 alone.
Law enforcement leaders are urging policymakers to protect and strengthen early care and education programs. Congress also has the opportunity to improve these programs through the reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act and other education initiatives that will help states to improve and increase access to high-quality early education. They thanked Senator Tom Harkin for being a champion for early childhood education programs, and asked him to support a shift from the current “K-12″ system to a model that focuses on early education to high school graduation.
Fight Crime: Invest in Kids is also calling on Governor Terry Branstad and state legislators to maintain support for Iowa’s early learning programs and ensure that at-risk children across the state have access to high-quality programs.
“We’ve got a choice: either pay now or pay much more later. It’s time that we take a new approach to getting prison spending under control, by getting serious about providing early care and education for our youngest children,” Sheriff Gardner said. “Cutting back on these programs will take away a real chance to cut crime and save money.”
Chief Graham, Sheriff Gardner and County Attorney Vander Sanden are members of Fight Crime: Invest in Kids, the national anti-crime organization of police chiefs, sheriffs, prosecutors, attorneys general and violence survivors, with 163 in Iowa and over 5,000 members nationwide.
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