Higher Preschool Attendance Linked to Lower Arrest Rate

Can preschool be the difference between a productive citizen and a career criminal? Some local law enforcement officials think so.

Joined by State Rep. Emily McAsey (D-Lockport), Romeoville Police Chief Mark Turvey and Crest Hill Deputy Chief Brad Hertzmann spent the morning visiting preschoolers at the as part of a campaign to emphasize the importance of early education in preventing crime.

Tim Carpenter, Illinois state director for the anti-crime coalition Fight Crime: Invest in Kids, cited Michigan’s Perry Preschool Project, which compared the outcomes for disadvantaged kids who participated in a high-quality preschool program versus a control group who did not.

The project tracked the students and their counterparts over four decades and found that by age 40, nonparticipants were 86 percent more likely to have been sentenced to jail or prison.

“It’s been proven to help keep kids away from a life of crime,” Carpenter said.

A similar study in Illinois showed that students who attended the Chicago Child-Parent Centers were 70 percent less likely to be arrested for a violent crime by age 18. Between the ages of 18 to 24, those not in the program were 24 percent more likely to be incarcerated.

In Illinois, the Preschool for All program provides state-funded early education for students whose parents cannot afford to pay for preschool. Like every other social service, however, funding to the program is limited.

Valley View Early Childhood Center student resource team leader Lisa Cipriano said the campus has 60 spots for at-risk kids. Countywide, state-funded programs including Preschool for All and Head Start serve 2,120 kids ages 3 and 4.

“We always have a waiting list,” Cipriano said. “It’s always hard to determine who gets to come but we make the best choices based on those risk factors.”

Student eligibility is determined by several variables, including the size of the family, income level and other factors including relatives with a history of mental illness, according to Early Education Assessment team member Jackie O’Donnell.

“Really, it’s income and those major family [stress points],” Cipriano said.

According to Fight Crime: Invest in Kids, there are 8,828 children in Will County who are not enrolled in a state preschool program but who fit the eligibility requirement of coming from families of four or more earning $80,000 per year or less.

Turvey is one of a dozen Will County law enforcement officials who supports “Fight Crime: Invest in Kids,” which has roughly 300 members statewide.

“I certainly do believe that preschool is a good thing for kids,” he said, adding that his daughter is a teacher.

“She can definitely see the difference between kids who had preschool (and those who didn’t),” Turvey said.

Hertzmann said Crest Hill Police try to foster positive relationships with at-risk kids, particularly at the preschool and elementary levels.

“Anytime I had the opportunity to get into the schools and [let the kids] see us as somebody other than the guy who comes when something bad happens, it was great for us,” said, Hertzmann, a former D.A.R. E. officer. “Those contacts we have with those kids, they go on forever.”

Cipriano said Early Childhood Center staff members work to foster not just learning, but also social and emotional growth for at-risk kids.

“We just try to really promote that positive piece,” she said.

Pay now or pay later?

Improving kids’ chances for success isn’t just good for them, according to Carpenter — it’s also good for the state’s bottom line.

“We know that the spending on corrections in Illinois doubled between 1982 and 2008,” he said. “We can choose to pay now or pay far more later for corrections costs. If we care about safety, we really need to invest in our children’s education today," Carpenter added. 

Tough decisions ahead for lawmakers

With state budget talks slated to get under way soon, Carpenter is hoping lawmakers keep cuts away from early education programs.

“Demand is growing, so we’re really hoping that we can at least get through the year at least maintaining our budget,” he said. “We know that times are tough.”

State Rep. McAsey predicted a “difficult few weeks” as legislators work to craft a state budget.

“We’ll be working to make cuts that are very necessary like many families are making cuts,” she said. “As a former criminal prosecutor here in Will County it’s so important to invest in students.”

McAsey added that she also worked as an eighth-grade teacher and “as a former educator … I recognize how important it is to begin at the ground level, building block after block with the things students need to be successful.”

 By the numbers

•  Will County’s number of available state-funded spots has increased by 1,500 since 2001.
• Despite the increase, roughly 75 percent of the need is unmet, with 8,828 at-risk students in need who not enrolled in state preschool or Head Start programs.
• Data from the Perry Preschool Project showed that those who attended a state preschool program were 44 percent more likely to graduate from high school.
• In 2010, the state of Illinois spent $1.3 billion on corrections.
• In the same year, Illinois spent $342 million on state preschool programs.

Source: Fight Crime: Invest in Kids Illinois. Data sources include the Illinois Early Childhood Asset Map, Illinois State Board of Education, U.S. Head Start Bureau and U.S. Census Bureau.