UPDATE: Cuts in After School Funds Mean More Crime, Leader of Law Enforcement Group Fight Crime Says

2/3/2003

From: Phil Evans, 202-776-0027 ext. 109; 301 949 5630 Clay Wilkinson, 202-776-0027 ext. 108 both of Fight Crime: Invest in Kids web: http://www.fightcrime.org

WASHINGTON, Feb. 3 -- The chairman of a national anti-crime organization said today that a drastic cut in federal funding for after-school programs will lead to increased crime and violence.

Seattle Police Chief R. Gil Kerlikowske, board chairman of Fight Crime: Invest in Kids, commented on the 2004 Department of Education budget released today. It called for a cut of $400 million in the 21st Century Community Learning Centers Program, the federal government's principal program supporting after-school activities for children and teens. Currently the program is funded at $1 billion.

"It is a tragic mistake to slash spending for after-school programs and cut off half a million kids from adult supervision during the prime time for juvenile crime," Kerlikowske said.

Fight Crime: Invest in Kids is a non-profit, bi-partisan organization of 2,000 police chiefs, sheriffs, prosecutors and victims of violence. Its members have taken a hard-nosed look at what works to prevent juvenile crime. Along with leading law enforcement organizations such as the International Association of Chiefs of Police, the Fraternal Order of Police and the National Association of Attorneys General, Fight Crime: Invest in Kids has called on government to invest in after-school programs to prevent crime and violence.

Crime statistics show that juvenile crime soars in the hours immediately after school lets out. Those also are peak hours for kids to be the victims of crime and to experiment with drugs and alcohol. A national survey conducted for Fight Crime: Invest in Kids by Mason-Dixon Polling & Research showed that, compared to teens with adult supervision five days a week, teens unsupervised three or more days a week were two and one-half times more likely to say they had committed a crime and four times more likely to say they had used drugs or been a victim of crime.

Currently, an estimated ten million children and teens are home alone or hanging out without adult supervision after school, Kerlikowske said. He added, "a budget that includes $670 billion in tax cuts and slashes an after-school program that will cut crime and save lives is a budget with the wrong priorities."

Sanford Newman, president of Fight Crime: Invest in Kids, said a study released today by the Department of Education shows that Congress and the states should invest in improving the quality of after-school programs to help kids succeed in school and in life.

"The study by Mathematica Research Corporation shows that 21st Century-funded after-school programs are already boosting academic performance, especially for African Americans and Hispanics," Newman said.

"States and the federal government need to provide more help with program development and training to make these programs even better, so they can fulfill the rest of their potential to help kids succeed."

Newman said the fact that the program has not achieved all of its goals in its first two years is no justification for cutting funding.

He noted that a Department of Education release quoted Under Secretary Eugene Hickok saying, "thanks to this study, we found areas where we can improve."

"I wholeheartedly concur," Newman said. "Instead of cutting funding for after-school programs, let's improve the quality and cut crime."

Editors: Please note updated text.