Alexandria’s Law Enforcement Leaders: Invest in Early Education or Foot Bigger Prison Bill Later
Sep 9th 2009
ALEXANDRIA, LA -- At a news conference today, Alexandria Police Chief Daren Coutee and Lecompte Police Chief Frank Spears released a research brief indicating that high-quality early learning programs for at-risk young 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, there are more than 57,000 prisoners in Louisiana's jails and state or federal prisons, with corrections costs exceeding $550 million every year. Chiefs Coutee and Spears said that Louisiana would save $140 million in taxpayer dollars if it cut prison costs by a quarter by investing in early learning. A year of state lock-up costs taxpayers $14,000 a year in Louisiana-more expensive than a year's tuition, room, and board at LSU, which costs around $12,000.
With kids heading back to school, Louisiana law enforcement leaders are urging the state's Congressional Delegation to support the new proposal for an Early Learning Challenge Fund, which will provide $1 billion per year for states to expand and improve their early childhood development initiatives. The chiefs also urged the state legislature to invest in early education and care for Louisiana's youngest at-risk children.
"No child is born destined to go to jail. Research shows that we can make a difference in kids' lives through early learning," Chief Coutee said. "We're not saying that every kid who benefits from early education is set for life, but we can dramatically improve their odds."
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.
The local law enforcement leaders 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 Bank in Minneapolis found that the Perry Preschool program had a rate of return of 16% on the initial investment. The majority of the cost savings came from reductions in crime and incarceration.
"We're here to talk about dollars and common sense. We know how expensive it is when someone becomes a career criminal. If getting these kids access to early learning can help us avoid those enormous costs, then we need to make sure they have that opportunity today," Chief Franks said.
The new Early Learning Challenge Fund will support child development programs, such as Head Start, Early Head Start, pre-kindergarten and 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.
The Alexandria area law enforcement officials 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 for increased 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. 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.
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 and smaller class sizes. It will also provide early screening and treatment of mental, emotional and behavioral problems. The new fund will allow more states to provide parent coaching, which helps at-risk families learn about early childhood development.
The report was compiled by FIGHT CRIME: INVEST IN KIDS, an anti-crime organization led by 5,000 police chiefs, sheriffs, prosecutors and violence survivors nationwide, including 62 in the Pelican State.
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