Nation's Law Enforcement Leaders Issue New Plan to Prevent Youth Violence

As community seeks answers to violence, law enforcement urges focus on at-risk
kids

WASHINGTON, Oct. 8 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- In the wake of the beating
murder of a 16-year-old Chicago honor student Derrion Albert and growing
national concern about youth violence, America's law enforcement leaders are
calling upon the nation's elected leaders to get serious about preventing
youth violence. Fight Crime: Invest in Kids, an anti-crime organization led by
5,000 police chiefs, sheriffs, prosecutors and violence survivors, released a
new plan detailing the best-proven approaches for reducing youth violence.

Fight Crime: Invest in Kids members Los Angeles County Sheriff Lee Baca,
Minneapolis Police Chief Tim Dolan, and Brooklyn District Attorney Charles J.
Hynes, along with U.S. Rep. Danny Davis (IL-7), held a conference call today
at 11 a.m. (EDT) with reporters to express their support for evidence-based
solutions as a way to prevent such violent crimes.

The plan details effective interventions for at-risk kids that cut crime,
prevent violence and save taxpayer dollars, including 1) high quality early
education for at-risk kids from birth to age five, 2) voluntary parent
coaching through home visits for at-risk new parents, 3) effective
after-school programs, and 4) proven interventions to turn around troubled and
delinquent kids.

"It's a lot easier to teach a boy than to mend a man," said Sheriff Baca,
Chair of the Fight Crime: Invest in Kids Board of Directors. "If we make sure
children have a solid foundation from birth to age five, we can reduce the
likelihood that they'll be doing twenty to life later on."

High-quality early education programs help at-risk children succeed in school
and avoid delinquency and criminal activity. A long-term study of a
high-quality preschool in Michigan found that by age 27, at-risk children who
did not participate were five times more likely to be chronic offenders
compared to similar children who did participate.

Voluntary parent-coaching programs prevent child abuse and neglect and reduce
later criminal behavior. Survivors of child abuse and neglect are nearly 30
percent more likely to be arrested for violent crimes as adults, compared to
children who grow up free from abuse and neglect. Quality home-visiting
programs send trained professionals to help at-risk parents learn about child
health and safety and avoid abuse and neglect. A study of the Nurse-Family
Partnership home-visiting program found that it cut child abuse and neglect in
half among at-risk families who participated and reduced later arrests of
children by 60 percent.

Between the hours of 3 and 6 p.m. on school days, juvenile crime soars. High
quality after-school programs teach kids skills and values while cutting
crime. A study of Boys & Girls clubs showed that housing projects without the
clubs had 50 percent more vandalism and 37 percent worse drug activity than
projects with the clubs.

"After the school bell rings, it's the prime time for juvenile crime. We need
safe and constructive places for school-age kids to go, so they aren't making
decisions that could land them in a squad car or behind bars," Chief Dolan
said.

Enrolling troubled teens and their parents in research-based programs can curb
delinquent behavior and prevent repeat arrests. For example, the Functional
Family Therapy (FFT) model provides youth offenders and their families with
access to mental health services instead of placement in the juvenile justice
system. A study of FFT found that it cuts repeat arrests among juveniles in
half.

"There isn't a silver-bullet to prevent every violent act, but these programs
are based on the best research and focused on the most at-risk kids. Not only
will investing now in what works save a lot of lives, like Derrion's, but it
will save a lot of taxpayer dollars," D.A. Hynes said.

"A parent living through the violent death of a child is absolutely tragic. If
some good can come of this, it's that we take immediate action to build safer
communities for the future," said , Chief Operating Officer of Fight Crime:
Invest in Kids. "The research overwhelmingly shows that reaching the most
at-risk kids must be part of our plan for preventing future tragedies."

The law enforcement leaders and crime survivors of Fight Crime: Invest in Kids
are calling on all federal, state and local officials to implement this
four-part plan to cut crime and violence by investing in proven programs
serving at-risk children and youth. Congress has opportunities in the coming
months to take real steps forward to reduce youth crime, including through
early learning legislation, home visiting provisions in health reform, "No
Child Left Behind Act" expansion of after-school availability, and
strengthening of federal delinquency programs.

SOURCE Fight Crime: Invest in Kids

Matt Lambert of Fight Crime: Invest in Kids, +1-202-631-0128,
mlambert@fightcrime.org