State must protect services for kids

As sheriffs, our careers have been dedicated to fighting crime. From our point of view, a key way to fight crime is laying the groundwork when it matters most - from birth to age five.

Intensive home visiting programs and quality preschool are two strategies proven to give very young kids and their families the boost they need to succeed in school and avoid later criminal behavior. We are concerned the proposed state budget threatens fragile progress we've made for both these interventions for at-risk families.

Intensive, voluntary home visiting programs have proven results for families most at-risk for abuse and neglect. Trained coaches work with these families to promote healthy development, nutrition and early learning. One such program, the Nurse-Family Partnership, was so effective that it cut child abuse and neglect in half and reduced kids' later arrests by 60 percent.

Quality preschool is another program with proven crime-prevention results. A highly-respected long-term study of children who attended the Chicago Child-Parent Centers has documented that by age 18, the kids who did not attend the Chicago Child-Parent Centers were 70 percent more likely to have been arrested.

Under the Governor's proposed budget these essential crime prevention programs face large cuts.

This will mean Kane County will be forced to deny preschool to more than 700 kids who are currently enrolled.

In DuPage County, more than 500 kids will lose preschool.

Even during tough times, cutting investments to these programs costs us all too much when it comes to the future of our communities.

John Zaruba

DuPage County Sheriff

Patrick Perez

Kane County Sheriff