Prevention and Early Intervention

1. Prevention and Early Intervention Linking Long-Term Vision with Short-Term Costs Jeffrey Poirier, B.A. Mary Magee Quinn, Ph.D. American Institutes for Research (AIR) National Center on Education, Disability, and Juvenile Justice (EDJJ)

2. Overview • The role of school-based prevention in meeting the needs of at-risk youth • The importance of ensuring at-risk youth are educated • The costs of not preventing juvenile/adult crime • The long-term benefits and savings associated with reduced delinquency WWW.EDJJ.ORG

3. The Need for Prevention • An 18 year old is five times more likely to be arrested for a property crime than a 35 year old • In 1997, 15-19 year olds comprised 7% of the overall population but 20% of arrests for violent offenses and 1/3 of all property crime arrests • Overall, teenagers are responsible for 20-30% of all crime WWW.EDJJ.ORG

4. Levels of Prevention Tertiary Secondary Primary WWW.EDJJ.ORG

5. Primary Prevention • Strategies applied to intact groups or populations, such as a school-wide discipline plan used to help all students in a school meet behavioral and academic expectations • Focuses on avoiding the initial occurrence of a problem WWW.EDJJ.ORG

6. Reading Programs • Youth in Correctional Facilities • Median age 15.5 years • 9th grade (placement) • 4th grade reading (mean) • > 1/3 read below 4th grade • Adults • 19% completely illiterate • 40% functionally illiterate WWW.EDJJ.ORG

7. Adult Literacy WWW.EDJJ.ORG

8. Reading Programs • Prison-based literacy programs significantly more effective than boot camps or shock incarceration • The more education a prisoner receives the less likely they are to be re-arrested or re-imprisoned WWW.EDJJ.ORG

9. Literacy • Quality reading programs can reduce recidivism by 20%. • Probationers had significantly lower re-arrest rates (35% vs 46%) • Recipients of GED had significantly lower re-arrest rates (24% vs 46%) • Inmates with 2 years of college (10% vs 60%) WWW.EDJJ.ORG

10. Education Level WWW.EDJJ.ORG

11. Levels of Prevention Tertiary Secondary Primary WWW.EDJJ.ORG

12. Secondary Prevention • Focus on preventing repeated occurrences of problem behavior through more targeted interventions • Efforts provide additional support when universal preventative efforts are not sufficient WWW.EDJJ.ORG

13. Secondary Prevention • Example: students who have more than one disciplinary referral in a given month for fighting may be provided with special instruction in conflict resolution or social skills WWW.EDJJ.ORG

14. High/Scope Preschool Programs • Benefits • fewer acts of misconduct • higher grade point averages • higher rates of employment • lower rates of welfare dependence WWW.EDJJ.ORG

15. High/Scope Preschool Programs • Costs • $39,278 per child • $ 964 increased need for funds for secondary education programs • Savings • reduced need for special education • reduced crime rate • $6,495 lifetime tax payments WWW.EDJJ.ORG

16. Tertiary Prevention • most intensive level of support and intervention • attempts to reduce the impact of a condition or problem on the individual's ability to function in the least restrictive setting WWW.EDJJ.ORG

17. Tertiary Prevention • Example: the needs of students identified as having an emotional/behavioral disability are addressed through special education services and behavior intervention plans so that they may benefit from the educational program • Includes outside agency support WWW.EDJJ.ORG

18. Home Visit Programs • Costs • $2700/year from third trimester through age 2 • $6000/year for day care and early childhood education • Benefits • 11 serious crimes prevented per million dollars spent WWW.EDJJ.ORG

19. Parent Training • Costs • $500/year per family for instruction and supplies • $2500/year per family for program management • Benefits • 157 serious crimes prevented per millions dollars spent WWW.EDJJ.ORG

20. High School Graduation • Adult Inmates in State Facilities • 70% have not completed high school • 46% have had some high school • 16.4 % have had no high school at all WWW.EDJJ.ORG

21. Graduation Incentives • Costs • $3130/year for 4 years for each youth • Benefits • 258 serious crimes prevented per million dollars spent WWW.EDJJ.ORG

22. Delinquent Programs • Costs • $10,000/year per youth (conservative estimate) • Benefits • 72 serious crimes prevented per million dollars spent WWW.EDJJ.ORG

23. WWW.EDJJ.ORG

24. Students with Disabilities • The arrest rate among high school dropouts with disabilities was 56 percent, compared with 16 percent among graduates, and 10 percent among those who "aged out" of school. • Among dropouts with serious emotional disturbances, the arrest rate was 73 percent, three to five years after secondary school WWW.EDJJ.ORG

25. The Costs of Crime • Lost property and wages • Medical expenses • Decreased productivity • Pain and suffering • Decreased quality of life/societal well-being (e.g., fear of crime, changing lifestyle due to risk of victimization) WWW.EDJJ.ORG

26. The Costs of Crime • Incarceration (prisons/correctional facilities) • Increased demand for criminal/civil justice services • Opportunity costs (forgone activities due to reduction of public resources) WWW.EDJJ.ORG

27. Who incurs these costs? • Crime victims • Government agencies • Taxpayers • Society • Offenders WWW.EDJJ.ORG

28. Cost of Victimization • 23% of all U.S. households victimized • National Crime Victimization Survey: crime victims lost $17.6 billion in direct costs in 1992 • Includes losses from property theft or damage, cash losses, medical expenses, and amount of pay lost because of injury/activities related to the crime • Crimes included attempts and completed offenses of rape, robbery, assault, personal and household theft, burglary, and motor vehicle theft WWW.EDJJ.ORG

29. Expenditures for the Criminal and Civil Justice System • Total: $147 billion in 1999 (for police protection, corrections, and judicial/legal activities) • 309% increase from 1982-1999 • Local government funded half of these expenses WWW.EDJJ.ORG

30. Expenditures for the Criminal and Civil Justice System • States contributed another 39% • Criminal and civil justice expenditures comprised 7.7% of all state and local expenditures WWW.EDJJ.ORG

31. Lifetime Costs of Career Criminals • A life of crime costs society $1.5-$1.8 million • Lifetime cost of a juvenile career: • Victim costs: $62,000-$250,000 • Criminal justice: $21,000-$84,000 • Total: $83,000-$335,000 • For every 10 crimes committed, only one is caught WWW.EDJJ.ORG

32. Lifetime Costs of Career Criminals • Lifetime cost of an adult career • Victim costs: $1,000,000 • Criminal justice: $335,000 • Offender’s lost productivity: $64,000 • Total: $1,400,000 WWW.EDJJ.ORG

33. High/Scope Preschool Programs • Costs • $39,278 per child • $964 increased need for funds for secondary education programs • Savings • reduced need for special education • reduced crime rate • $6,495 lifetime tax payments WWW.EDJJ.ORG

34. Costs of Dropping Out • Lost wage productivity: $300,000 • Nonmarket losses: $95,000-$375,000 • Total: $243,000-$388,000 • Annual cost of providing for youth who fail to complete high school and their families: $76 billion • Approximately $800 for each taxpayer WWW.EDJJ.ORG

35. Conclusion • Intervention efforts targeting at-risk youth will not eliminate juvenile crime but can reduce it • If these efforts succeed at least some of the time, they will pay for themselves through savings and benefits to both society and the juvenile WWW.EDJJ.ORG

36. Conclusion • The savings and benefits are the costs that were prevented • It is important to have a long-term vision when considering the short-term costs of prevention programs WWW.EDJJ.ORG