Reducing Crime and
Cutting Costs Through Early Childhood Education and Intervention Programs
Dear Friends,
Despite the ongoing ramifications of the recession, the
Legislature was able to pass a $28 billion budget that reflects our current
economic climate. Even though we were focused on closing this year's $1.1
billion deficit, the Legislature must look to reduce government spending in the
long term. This is not always as simple as cutting costs and eliminating waste,
though it is a good place to start. The fastest growing state departments are
education, welfare, and corrections—budgets that cannot simply be cut.
Investments in education are necessary and ongoing in order to ensure a
competitive workforce and decent standard of living. However, unlike education,
there is little return on the state's investments in welfare and corrections. A
great portion of welfare spending goes towards federally mandated entitlement
programs that cannot be eliminated. Corrections spending has skyrocketed in
recent years due to 48 percent of released inmates returning to prison, and a
high rate of non-violent drug crime. Welfare and corrections spending are not
sustainable at their current rate of growth. We are already spending more on
corrections than on higher education. While we cannot simply release inmates,
or deny those who are dependent on public assistance, we must reach those who
are at risk of becoming involved in both of these systems early in life.
Research shows that early learning
and intervention programs are highly effective at keeping at-risk children and
youth on track. They are proven to reduce dependency on public assistance and
involvement in the criminal justice system, reduce drug use, and increase high
school graduation and college attendance. Many behavioral and learning problems
can be identified early in a child's life and addressed before they have long
term consequences such as truancy, delinquency, addiction, or violent behavior.
The Pew Research Center reports that the number one predictor of behavioral
problems is if a child cannot read by the third grade. The programs used are
evidence based, meaning that they have been proven successful on a large scale
with real life, measurable results. There are many programs that sound good,
but are unproven, and a potential waste of time and money.
A landmark study of the High/Scope Perry Preschool Program in Chicago tracked two
groups of at-risk 3 and 4 year olds throughout their lives. By age 40, those
who participated in the program were almost twice as likely to have earned an
Associate's degree than those left out. By age 27, those at-risk children who
had not attended the program were five times more likely to be chronic law breakers.
Many programs do exist in Pennsylvania, but they are underutilized and underfunded. The state's current
investment of $3,073 per child is well below the national cost of providing for
high quality early learning programs which is $8,700 per child. The cost of
high quality early learning programs is nominal compared to the $35,000 per year
to house an inmate, also far less than the cost of public assistance. The
non-profit organization, Fight Crime, Invest in Kids, estimates that one quarter
of Pennsylvania's $1.8 billion Corrections Budget can be cut if early learning
programs were fully funded—a savings of $450 million per year.
While Pre-K Counts, Head Start,
and other early learning programs have been working in Pennsylvania, thousands
of eligible children are still denied access to early learning programs due to
lack of funds. The federally-funded Head Start program for children in poverty
serves only half of eligible children nationwide due to inadequate funding.
Early Head Start serves about three percent of eligible infants and toddlers
nationally. In Pennsylvania, state-funded pre-kindergarten programs like Pre-K
Counts and state subsidized Head Start serve more than 60,000 at-risk
Pennsylvania children from low-income families. That still leaves 65 percent of
at-risk three- and four-year-olds who are not served according to Fight Crime,
Invest in Kids.
While it is effective, early
education is only half the solution. Intervention programs are often needed for
families in crisis with children at a greater risk of suffering life-long
consequences as a result of their circumstances. While these children are often
placed in foster care, some of Pennsylvania's foster placements have had poor
success. Many children have lengthy stays in foster care, with multiple
placements, often aging out of the system with little support from family or the
community. The Pennsylvania Department of Public Welfare's Office of Children,
Youth and Families is working to reverse the trend and train human services
staff to keep children with their own families whenever possible. Their
approach has been developed in conjunction with the National Governor's
Association Center for Best Practices. Plans for safely reducing the number of
children in foster care are underway in 16 counties, which will hopefully be
used as models for the rest of the state. The paradigm for dealing with
families in crisis has changed dramatically over the years from a reliance on
institutionalization to an acknowledgment that every family has assets.
Professional counselors work to solve problems on a case by case basis, with a
focus on keeping families together and bringing permanency to the lives of
children. Special attention is given to meeting children's educational and
emotional needs. They may address academic difficulties, truancy, or domestic
violence and neglect at home.
York County has experienced
dramatic results using these principles. The county's child welfare system was
reduced from 611 children in June, 2007 to 250 in June, 2010. The county has
also been able to eliminate its juvenile detention facility, combining it with
nearby Lancaster County. This is an enormous success, considering that a high
percentage of all children involved in the child welfare system will end up in
prison. Once allowed to languish in an institution, they rarely gain the skills
necessary to function in society and resort to criminal behavior. According to
county human services officials, many inmates are victims of some form of
childhood abuse or neglect. The United States spends billions each year on
neglect and abuse victims for special education, mental health treatment,
juvenile justice, and the criminal justice system.
This year's budget was certainly a
challenge, but things will not be any easier in 2011. It is imperative that we
begin to more aggressively implement evidence based programs that are proven to
reduce the number of individuals that must be supported by the state or under
its supervision. Not only can the state save money, but can realize a larger tax
base and a more competitive workforce. It is better to invest in children early
than spend millions of dollars on them over the course of their lifetime. As we
look towards the next budget cycle, I will ask the Legislature to consider these
findings and join me in supporting early education and intervention programs for
children.
For more information visit
www.senatorgreenleaf.com.
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Offices
Harrisburg Office
Senate Box 203012
Harrisburg, PA 17120-3012
(717) 787-6599
800-848-5013
(717) 783-7328 Fax
District Office
711 North York Road
Suite 1
Willow Grove, PA 19090-2124
(215) 657-7700
800-924-3300
(215) 657-1885 Fax
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