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Wyden Pledges to Seek Increased Funding for Head Start

Posted on: Thursday, 22 February 2007, 00:00 CST

SALEM, Ore., Feb. 21 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- U.S. Senator Ron Wyden (D- OR) joined state law enforcement leaders at a Head Start center today and pledged to work to substantially increase funding for the federal early education program proven to cut future crime and violence.

"When it comes to our future, the smart approach is always to put your first dollar into prevention, and that means programs like Head Start." Wyden said. "Head Start prepares children to succeed in school and in life, and it ultimately saves taxpayers money. I am going to continue fighting for the funding to ensure that every eligible child in Oregon can attend Head Start."

Joining Wyden at a news conference at the Hawthorn Center were Marion County District Attorney Walt Beglau and Marion County Sheriff Raul Ramirez, president of the Oregon Sheriffs Association. Beglau and Ramirez are members of Fight Crime: Invest in Kids Oregon, an organization of 137 police chiefs, sheriffs, district attorneys and crime survivors.

The law enforcement leaders said they would stand with Wyden to push for increased funding for Head Start and educational child care in next year's federal budget.

Currently, 54 percent of eligible children from low-income families in Oregon are not served by Head Start due to inadequate funds. A report by Fight Crime: Invest in Kids Oregon shows that 500 kids a year could be prevented from committing violent crimes as adults if Head Start were available to all of Oregon's eligible children.

"Head Start gives children positive life lessons, but what happens to those at-risk kids who miss out?" Ramirez said. "Too often we end up arresting them later in life."

Numerous studies confirm that Head Start and educational child care prevent crime. Beglau cited a study of the Perry Preschool in Michigan that tracked at-risk children who attended the program and similar children left out until age 40. At age 40, those left out as children were four times more likely to have been arrested for drug felonies and twice as likely to have been arrested for violent crimes.

Beglau said he had "a simple, but powerful message: the law enforcement community in Oregon wants full funding for Head Start and other educational child care programs. They cut crime."

Fight Crime: Invest in Kids Oregon

CONTACT: Martha Brooks of Fight Crime: Invest in Kids Oregon,+1-503-649-2743

Web site: http://www.fightcrime.org/or

Source: PRNewswire-USNewswire

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