Twenty-one years ago, MN Federal Reserve Board Director Art Rolnick & Economist Rob Grunewald completed a study demonstrating that early childhood programs returned the best financial investment a government could make – 18% Return on Investment. The study proved early childhood programs children = school success and a productive life for at risk kids. Not providing it is the difference between smiling lovable children, teen and preteen moms and violent carjacking juveniles.
Many of us working with abused and neglected children know the pain and trauma abused children carry with them through an entire lifetime. We see the chaos that generations of traumatized children are visiting on our schools, public health and public safety. We also see the cost in dollars, public health, failing schools and prisons.
We also know that the gifts that keep on giving are prenatal care, early childhood programs and mental health services for at risk families and their children. Providing these things could make it Christmas all year round with safer communities, better school performance and a healthier society.
All Adults Are the Protectors of All Children
One of my CASA guardian ad Litem case boys, a seven-year old, cost the county 3 million dollars by the time he aged out of foster care. A calculation that does not include consideration for the teacher he beat up, the person he stabbed, many other crimes and the terrible things he did to most of the 29 foster home he passed through as a state ward child. He was hard on himself too – he suffered through multiple suicide attempts.
More troubling than any single traumatized State Ward child with a lifetime of hurting himself and others would be the larger families of tortured state ward children becoming criminals and preteen mothers without parenting skills, drug habits and violent boyfriends and the generations of damaged children they bring into the world. It only ends when the community steps in to break the cycle and save the child.
Two families in my caseload stand out, one of seven children the other of eight. I estimate that those families have cost our counties tens of millions of dollars without considering their crimes or future families. Those children went on to have families, each new family living a life just like the home they grew up in.
County Auditors & law makers have not been able to understand or draw public attention to what has to be the most significant expense growth areas of the last 20 years.
Add to that the millions spent on prisons, jails & the growing cost traumatized children have on schools and public health systems plus the high turnover in teaching, social work and policing due to stress and failure.
The real cost of not funding crisis nurseries, health and mental health care and other early childhood programs is recurring crime, broken children & communities, school failure, recidivism and fear.
Blaming children for not having a healthy childhood is pointless and cruel.
Expecting them to behavior better without help is just yelling into the wind.
No one should have to raise a child with gangsters, drugs and gunfire next door.
No one should have to raise a child without access to adequate health and mental health care and childhood services that can save a family.
We haven’t saved any money by not doing these things – it would serve us all to engage in a holiday spirit of generosity for at risk children this new year.
You and I and our legislators need to solve this problem. It is the only way it will be solved.
WHEN YOU Share KARA’s reporting with FRIENDS, INSTAGRAM & FACEBOOK and most of all, your State Representative (find them here) change will come. When enough of us become informed and speak up for abused and neglected children, we will improve their lives and our communities!
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This post provided by former CASA volunteer Guardian ad Litem MikeTikkanen
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