Don't cut funds for at-risk kids

I'm concerned that federal spending cuts proposed for this year expect law enforcement to fight crime with both hands tied behind their backs. On one hand, there are proposals to slash federal aid to local law enforcement agencies. On the other hand, several hundred thousand (including 10,000 in Illinois) at-risk kids could lose access to early care and education programs.

We have a fiscal crisis at our front door, and it's time to make tough decisions. But as DuPage County Sheriff, I believe gutting early education programs would be shortsighted, both from a community safety and fiscal perspective. There's no substitute for tough law enforcement, but cleaning up after the consequences of crime is far more expensive than preventing it in the first place.

We need to do more to establish and improve programs that prevent at-risk kids from ever becoming criminals. Research shows these programs can help reduce violent crime, improve community safety, and save taxpayers far more than they cost in the long run.

A long-term study of Michigan's Perry Preschool found that children left out of the high-quality program were five times more likely to be chronic offenders by age 27 than children who did attend. The program saved taxpayers $180,000 for every child served, with the vast majority of the savings coming from the reductions in crime costs.

Cutting support for law enforcement and early childhood programs will hurt public safety and our ability to prevent crime on the front end. I hope Illinois' elected leaders, including Senators Richard Durbin and Mark Kirk, will oppose these cuts and speak in favor of funding to strengthen and expand federal early care and education programs like Head Start. Our future public safety and our fiscal well-being depend on it.

Sheriff John E. Zaruba

DuPage County Sheriff