Other People’s Children Are Not Society’s Problem – Senator Ron Johnson

 

Annual Spending Per Child – Child Care Internationally

Wisconsin Senator Ron Johnson is not alone in publicly stating an expensive and mean spirited political platform.  This policy has also been expressed by several MN Governors recently.

It’s expensive, becauses the almost 90% nine year recidivism in

America’s prison system cost taxpayers a great deal of money.

Minnesota’s former Supreme Court Chief Justice Kathleen Blatz has pointed out that “90% of the youth in Juvenile Justice have passed through Child Protective Services” and that “The difference between that poor child and a felon, is about eight years”.

Children’s Defense Fund founder Marion Wright Edelman calls it a pipeline to prison.

It’s easy math.  30 to 50 years in and out of juvenile and criminal courts, jails and prisons at 40 to 50 thousand dollars/year quickly run into the millions.

Many states have higher costs – Riker’s Island New York Juvenile Justice is over $250,000 / per juvenile inmate per year. This goes without considering the very real costs of the crimes committed and the suffering and community fear and chaos we all live with because of it.

Children born into poverty, homelessness, abuse & neglect suffer traumas that define their lives when the community ignores them. The cost of early childhood programs to help them live normal lives saves tons of money and makes communities safer and a better place to raise a family.

Ron Johnson is wrong. His policy is cruel, costly, and creates thousands of dysfunctional youth that fill our courts and jails and damages schools and neighborhoods.

Let Ron Know that It’s bad politics and a hateful ethical choice.

KARA reports on the issues of child well-being

All Adults Are the Protectors of All Children (thank you Don Shelby)

This article submitted by CASA volunteer Mike Tikkanen

KARA Signature Video (4 minute)

Public Service Announcement( 30 Second)

Comprehensive Cost of Crime Data Below;

 

Young families and at risk youth were not doing well in America pre COVID. Our society talks big about the value of children but the statistics prove otherwise. School performance, poverty, healthcare, crime and prison population data for decades have put us behind most other advanced nations.  Brutal policing, limited help for young families and child poverty that has exceeded 25% historically.

 

100 million Americans have a criminal record, 77% of inmates are arrested for a new crime within five years of their release from prison,

30.2% of Americans are arrested by their 23rd birthday, African Americans are incarcerated at 5 times the rate of whites & Black children 42% of children who are detained & 52% of children whose cases go to criminal court.

37% of American children are reported to Child Protective Services by their 23rd birthday,

Abused children are 9 times more likely to be involved in criminal activity.  ACE study from 2006 criminality* in families.  Richard Ross Children in prison

Annually, 200,000 juveniles charged as adults.

• A criminal record can reduce the likelihood of a callback or job offer by nearly 50 percent. The negative impact of a criminal record is twice as large for African American applicants.
• Infectious diseases are highly concentrated in corrections facilities: 15% of jail inmates and 22% of prisoners – compared to 5% of the general population – reported ever having tuberculosis, Hepatitis B and C, HIV/AIDS, or other STDs.
• Spending on prisons and jails has increased at triple the rate of spending on Pre‐K‐12 public education in the last thirty years.

Each burglary costs $41,288.00, (1,410,000 crimes * $41,288.00= $59,216,080,000.00) Washington University St Louis Study Iowa State University Cost of Crime Study

Each armed robbery costs $335,733.00, 41% of 332,198 robberies were committed with a gun * 136,201.00 = $45,727,170,333.00

Each aggravated assault costs $145,379.00 (744,000 crimes * $145,379.00 = $108,161,976,000.00

Each rape costs $448,000.00 (99,856 crimes * $448.000.00 = $44,735,488,000.00)

Each murder costs $17,252,656.00 * 17,250 murders = 297,608,316,000.00

Cases without the death penalty cost $740,000, where the death penalty is sought cost $1.26 million. Maintaining each death row prisoner costs taxpayers $90,000 more per year than a prisoner in general population.

There are 2708 Americans on death row;

2708 at $131,000,000 yr avg cost to maintain * 15 yr avg on Death Row =1,965,000,000.00 (2708 prisoners cost 2 Billion dollars)

Shootings Cost $174 billion Annually in the U.S.

America has 5% of the world’s population and 25% its prison population. 2,220,300 Americans in jails and prisons & 4,751,400 on parole.

Recidivism is near 80%

66% of incarcerated juveniles have mental health problems & half that number have multiple, serious and chronic mental illness.

 

Annual actual cost of crime in America is more than 1 trillion dollars Iowa Cost of Crime Study;

THE COST OF;	COST PER CRIME	NUMBER OF CRIMES	ANNUAL COST
Burglary	41,288.00	1410000	58,216,080,000.00
Armed Robbery	335,733.00	136201	45,727,170,333.00
Aggravated AssaulT	145,379.00	744000	108,161,976,000.00
Rape	448,000.00	99856	44,735,488,000.00
Murder	17,252,656.00	17250	297,608,316,000.00
			554,449,030,333.00