FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: July 15, 2010
Contact: Kim Gore, kgore@fightcrime.org
Cell: 207-751-0506 Desk: 207-725-5946

LEWISTON, MAINE (July 15, 2010)Lewiston-Auburn area law enforcement leaders are calling for an extension of federal child tax credits for working families struggling in todays recession as a way to prevent future crime.

In releasing a new report on the child tax credit in Maine, Androscoggin County Sheriff Guy Desjardins, Lewiston Chief Deputy James Minkowsky and Auburn Chief Phil Crowell thanked Maine Senator Olympia Snowe for her leadership on the federal child tax credit and called on her to help further reduce crime by supporting the extension of the current child tax credit for low-income, working families.

Most kids who grow up poor never become criminals, but research shows that the risk of becoming a violent offender is two and a half times higher for low-income kids than for the rest of our children, said Desjardins. American children are more likely to be living in poverty than any other age group. In Maine, approximately one in six children are growing up in poverty. Child poverty rates are especially high in Androscoggin Countys two largest cities. Lewiston has a child poverty rate of 41.68%, the highest of Maines cities, followed by Auburn with a child poverty rate of 26.59%, the second highest of Maines cities. 

Research published in the well-respected Journal of the American Medical Association indicates that when parents income was increased above the poverty level, children in those no-longer-poor families experienced a 40% decrease in conduct disorders and opposition defiant disorders behavior disorders that are closely linked to juvenile crime.

Allowing lower-income families to keep more of their earned income would help more families make ends meet, lift more children out of poverty and decrease the likelihood that the children will commit crimes as adults, Minkowsky said. 

The law enforcement leaders thanked Senator Snowe, who has been a strong advocate for policies that help Maines kids, including an expanded child tax credit. Sheriff Desjardins, Chief Deputy James Minkowsky and Chief Crowell asked Senator Snowe to extend and make permanent the current level of eligibility for the Child Tax Credit, which was expanded through the 2009 American Reinvestment and Recovery Act.  This would make it possible for more low-income working families to receive the child tax credit.  Snowe is a member of the Finance Committee, which has authority over taxation issues in the U.S. Senate.  The current expansion of the child tax credit expires at the end of this year.

“In an ideal world, we would like to see all low-income working families be eligible to take full advantage of the child tax credit at the first dollar earned, Crowell said.  However, at minimum, we want to see the current structure of the child tax credit extended so that tens of thousands of children in Maine will not see their benefits reduced or eliminated.  We know that Senator Snowe has been a champion for working families’ access to this tax credit and while we understand that there are tremendous fiscal pressures facing the nation and this state, providing working families with additional resources to take care of their children is something we all can get behind.”

As a result of the recession, many parents are now unemployed or underemployed, or have lost significant portions of their income or savings. Maine unemployment rate increased from 5.9 percent to 8 percent between October 2008 and May 2010, the report noted.

The current child tax credit, as enhanced by the recovery package, provides help to 60,000 Maine children who could lose these benefits or see them substantially reduced if Congress takes no legislative action. Currently families only get the refundable credit, which is 15 percent of earned income up to a maximum of $1,000 per child, once they have earned at least $3,000. If Congress does not act, the threshold will increase from $3,000 up to approximately $12,850, excluding even more poor, working parents from receiving the refundable tax credit.

Sheriff Desjardins, Chief Deputy James Minkowsky and Chief Crowell are members of FIGHT CRIME: INVEST IN KIDS, a national anti-crime organization of police chiefs, sheriffs, prosecutors and violence survivors with more than 120 members in Maine and over 5,000 members nationwide.

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