MAINE–Androscoggin County Law Enforcement Leaders Release New Report: Early Education Cuts Crime, Saves Taxpayer Dollars
Crime fighters announce support for early childhood education during classroom visit
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Contact: Ted Eismeier, ted@fightcrime.org
Cell: 315-335-9222, Desk: 202-464-5350
AUBURN, Maine (May 12, 2011) Noting that Maine taxpayers are spending more than $150 million a year on corrections, local law enforcement leaders today called on 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.
Auburn Chief of Police Phil Crowell and Androscoggin County Sheriff Guy Desjardins signaled their support for early learning during a visit to the Auburn Head Start Center today to read to children in the 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 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 Maine 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, Maine still spent $158 million in 2010 on corrections with over 2200 adults locked up in either state or federal prisons on the first day of 2010. According to the U.S. Department of Justice, Maines corrections spending has tripled from 1982 to 2008.
Budgets are tight, but we know that investing in high-quality early education programs like the one here at the Auburn Family Development Center pays great dividends for these children in terms of reduced need for special education, higher graduation rates and lower crime, Desjardins said. After many years of working in law enforcement, we know that we pay for at-risk kids one way or another. The best choice is paying a much lesser amount on the front end by providing youngsters with a solid chance for success. The alternative is we pay a lot more later for their failure. Providing more at-risk kids with high-quality learning opportunities helps us prevent crime and can help reduces future court and incarceration costs.
A long-term study of Michigans 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.
There is a huge need for high-quality early learning, Crowell said. Federally-funded Head Start programs like the one we are visiting today served less than 30 percent of eligible kids in Maine, due to lack of funding. The youngest children, birth to three years old, are even more dramatically underserved. These programs are wise investments for our future and help me keep our communities safe by reducing future crime.
Law enforcement leaders are urging policymakers to protect and strengthen early care and education programs. Chief Crowell and Sheriff Desjardins are encouraging Maines congressional delegation, specifically Senators Snowe and Collins, to support maintaining the funding that was put in place for these programs in FY 2011.
Chief Crowell and Sheriff are members of Fight Crime: Invest in Kids, the national anti-crime organization of police chiefs, sheriffs, prosecutors, attorneys general and violence survivors, with more than 110 members in Maine and over 5,000 members nationwide.
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