Law Enforcement Across Maine Urge Legislators to Keep Early Childhood Funds
Jan 17th 2012
Chiefs, sheriffs urge legislators to reject proposed cuts to programs with proven crime prevention potential
TAKE ACTION: visit the Maine State Legislature's website to learn more.
In a clear message to legislators about the importance of investing in kids, law enforcement leaders from across the state of maine are speaking out in support of programs with proven potential to improve outcomes for kids.
They are making the case that investing in early childhood education and voluntary home visiting can also help reduce crime and make communities safer.
Read on to find out more about their views:
Maine Voices: To reduce crime, protect programs that put kids on right path
Spending on early education and home visitation for parents pays off down the road.
By TODD BRACKETT, KEVIN JOYCE, JOEL MERRY, MAURICE OUELLETTE and MARK WESTRUM
Leaders in Augusta are mulling over tough fiscal choices to ensure Mainers get a budget written in black ink. As veteran sheriffs and jail administrators, we have a request to help prevent future crime: do not make deep cuts to Head Start and home visiting programs. ...
Corrections costs statewide exceeded $150 million in 2010. We can save millions in policing, corrections and judicial costs by steering more kids toward success, away from lives of "crime and punishment."
Maine should prioritize funding for programs such as Head Start and voluntary home visitation that help put kids on the right path and lead them to become law-abiding adults.
The earlier the boosting of academic achievement and social development with a young child, the higher the returns to our society. For all of these reasons, we believe the proposal to cut all General Fund support for Head Start in the current supplemental budget is ill-advised.
Maine's investment in voluntary home visiting is also at risk. ...
...[P]providing voluntary, intensive home-visiting services to young families very early in their children's lives...can reduce child abuse. Home-visiting programs can keep children from ever needing child protective services -- a valuable outcome for public safety and for our pocketbooks.
It's clearly worth the effort to focus on preventing child abuse and neglect in the first place. ...
Last June, legislators rightly chose to keep Maine's home-visiting program intact, and we hope they will do so again in the pending supplemental budget. We also strongly urge legislators to protect support for Head Start in the same supplemental budget. ...
In the interests of saving taxpayer dollars and ensuring public safety, Maine legislators should put proven crime prevention programs for children first in this year's budget.
Todd Brackett is the sheriff of Lincoln County; Kevin Joyce is the sheriff of Cumberland County; Joel Merry is the sheriff of Sagadahoc County; Maurice Ouellette is the sheriff of York County; and Mark Westrum is the administrator of Two Bridges Regional Jail.
Don’t cut early education
We agree with the Bangor business leaders who in a recent OpEd argued for high-quality early education as an effective way to strengthen our economy. As experienced law enforcement leaders, we would add that focusing attention on help for young children is one of the best ways to steer them toward adult success and away from crime and trouble.
Our years in this field have taught us that getting kids on the right path in life is important for future positive outcome for both children and our communities. Research has shown that kids who participate in high-quality early learning programs are better prepared as they enter kindergarten, better students, more likely to graduate on time, more likely to go on to postsecondary education, more likely to be employed as adults and less likely to be involved in crime.
The Chicago Parent-Child Center study shows that that at-risk children from the same neighborhoods not participating in the program were 70 percent more likely to be arrested for a violent crime by the time they reached age 18.
Other early intervention programs can help strengthen at-risk families and keep children out of abusive situations. Voluntary home visiting programs can help reduce cases of child abuse and neglect, by offering guidance to new parents and pregnant moms.
We respectfully ask legislators to preserve funding for early intervention programs, including Head Start and voluntary home visiting. The safety of our communities demands that we continue to look after our state’s youngest residents.
Michael Gahagan
Caribou chief of police
President, Maine Chiefs of Police Association
Glenn Ross
Penobscot County sheriff
President, Maine Sheriff’s Association
