Billings, Yellowstone County Law Enforcement Leaders Say Quality Early Childhood Programs Pay Off
Sheriff, chief, county attorney urge Senator Baucus to work to avoid cuts that would undermine the nations most cost-effective programs
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Contact: Martha Phelps Brooks
Cell: 503-577-4715, Desk: 503-649-9438
Contact: Dave Curry
Cell: 406-723-8067, Desk: 406-558-4732
BILLINGS, Mont. (October 25, 2011) While acknowledging the many challenges involved in reducing the nations deficit, law enforcement leaders urged U.S. Sen. Max Baucus (D-MT) to prevent additional cuts to discretionary spending in order to protect proven crime reduction strategies, including highly effective programs that provide as much as $10 in returns for every dollar spent. Sen. Baucus is a member of the Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction (the so-called Super-Committee).
Yellowstone County Sheriff Mike Linder, Billings Chief Rich St. John and County Attorney Scott Twito singled out high-quality early care and education as being among the nations most cost-effective programs. Recent research shows that these programs can reduce crime, lower corrections costs and save taxpayers millions of dollars over the long term.
They signaled their support for early learning during a visit to a Billings Head Start classroom, where they read to children in the program and discussed the value of early childhood education. The group called on Sen. Baucus to work to reduce the deficit without putting programs at risk that improve outcomes for kids and increase public safety. The Super-Committee has a number of options as it looks to find an additional $1.5 trillion in deficit reduction savings over 10 years, and the law enforcement leaders asked that they refrain from further cutting discretionary spending, already substantially reduced as part of the budget deal in August.
With the great threat of our nations debt crisis, we need to set priorities now more than ever by putting programs benefiting our youngest children first. The research tells us that if we give these children the right start through early education, we can steer them away from crime and save taxpayers far more in the long run, Sheriff Linder said. We urge members of the Super-Committee to avoid any further cuts to discretionary spending that may have a negative impact on young childrens education.
Access to quality early childhood education prevents future incarceration. An early learning program, like the one we are visiting today, is a solid investment in preventing crime and cheaper than building and filling more prisons, said County Attorney Scott Twito. Everyone knows that the deficit is out of control and that we face tough choices. We hope that Senator Baucus and the Super-Committees reduction plan doesnt risk funding for programs that serve thousands of Montanas children and prevents crime at the same time. 
The law enforcement leaders released a new research report from the group Fight Crime: Invest in Kids called Pay Now or Pay Much More Later showing that at-risk children who attend high-quality early care and education programs are significantly less likely to commit crimes and end up in prison. They also noted that Montana taxpayers spent more than $170 million on corrections in the 2010 fiscal year. According to the U.S. Department of Justice and the Census Bureau, Montanas corrections spending quadrupled between 1982 and 2008.
New research findings published in the prestigious journal Science this June strengthen the argument that high-quality early education can reduce crime and save substantial taxpayer money. A follow-up at age 28 of over 1,400 low-income children in Chicago found that those who did not attend the Child-Parent Center preschools were 27 percent more likely to have a felony arrest by age 26 and were 39 percent more likely to have spent time in jail or prison than those who had participated.
Unfortunately, funding for early care and education programs is at-risk as the federal government and states face severe budget deficits. Any reduction in federal funding for early care and education programs could compound major cuts at the state level, causing even more children to lose access to these services. More than 650 law enforcement leaders and crime survivors from all 50 states signed a letter this year urging Congress to maintain their support for early care and education programs.
As public officials, well defend good fiscal choices. Early childhood education for at-risk kids is a smart fiscal choice and can save us the unwanted cost of crime and corrections, Chief St. John said. Its a whole lot cheaper to give kids a solid chance at success through early learning, than to pay for the cost of their failure. We respectfully request that the Super-Committee takes into consideration the points made here today as they work on a deficit-cutting plan.
Chief St. John, Sheriff Linder and County Attorney Twito are members of Fight Crime: Invest in Kids, the national anti-crime organization of police chiefs, sheriffs, prosecutors, other law enforcement leaders and violence survivors with 75 members in Montana and over 5,000 nationwide.
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