Albuquerque Chief of Police Says Early Childhood Programs Pay Off in Fighting Crime

 

Report shows New Mexico corrections costs tripled between 1982 and 2008;

Crime fighters release new report showing early education cuts crime, reduces prison costs

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ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (September 9, 2011) Albuquerque law enforcement leaders today called on state policymakers and Governor Martinez to support funding for high-quality early education as a critical strategy to reduce crime, lower prison costs and save taxpayers money. They noted that New Mexico taxpayers spent over $280 million a year on corrections in 2011a figure that could be reduced by offering more at-risk kids high-quality early education opportunities.

Albuquerque Chief of Police Ray Schultz signaled support for early learning during a visit to the PreK classroom at YDI Heights Cluster, where he read to children in the early learning program and discussed the value of early childhood education.

 

Chief Schultz released a new research report from Fight Crime: Invest in Kids called Pay Now or Pay Much More Later showing that providing at-risk children with high-quality early care and education steer them toward success and away from later involvement in crime, saving taxpayers far more than it costs on the back end from reduced corrections costs. He called on the state legislature and Governor Susana Martinez to provide funding for early care and education to ensure that more young children have the opportunity to benefit from high-quality early learning services.

Despite some declines in local crime rates and recent cuts to corrections spending, New Mexico still spent over $280 million in the 2011 fiscal year on corrections with over 6,500 adults locked up in either state or federal prisons, as of the first day of 2010. According to the U.S. Department of Justice and U.S. Census Bureau, New Mexicos corrections spending tripled between 1982 and 2008.

Weve got a choice here, and it boils down to dollars and common sense. Corrections expenses alone cost our state over $280 million a year. We know that investing in early learning cuts crime and incarceration rates, which delivers a substantial return to taxpayers, Chief Schultz said. If we invest in our kids today, well have more money for the most important priorities, instead of devoting hundreds of millions to pay for crime and corrections.

New research findings published this June in the prestigious journal Science strengthen the argument that high-quality early education can reduce crime. 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. An earlier analysis of the preschool programs found that taxpayers ultimately saved $10 for every $1 spent because of reduced crime, corrections and other costs to society.

During the current legislative session, Governor Martinez and state policymakers may consider proposals to ensure that more children are on track for reading at grade level by 3rd-grade. The report from Fight Crime: Invest in Kids shows that New Mexicos pre-kindergarten program, launched in 2005, is already seeing strong results in improved literacy and other outcomes:Across the first three years of the initiative, participating children answered an average of 24 percent more questions correctly on a literacy test.

• An evaluation of participants from the fourth year found that early literacy scores for participants were much higher on average than scores for non-participants.

• Pre-k participants also showed significant improvements in vocabulary for three of the four initial years and math for all four years.

• Every $1 invested in New Mexico PreK returns an estimated $5 to society from reduced education costs.

New Mexico PreK served 4,400 children in the 2011 fiscal year for a cost of $15.3 million. However, the program serves less than one out of every five of the states 4-year-olds, so there is still significant room for serving more eligible children. Unfortunately, eligibility for child care assistance has been reduced, and there is a waiting list of thousands of children not being served.

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About Fight Crime: Invest in Kids: Chief Schultz is a member of Fight Crime: Invest in Kids, the national anti-crime organization of police chiefs, sheriffs, prosecutors, other law enforcement leaders and violence survivors with 55 in New Mexico and over 5,000 members nationwide.