Connecting Kids to Success Will
Prevent Crime and More
Tuesday, April 25, 2017
Barrie Becker
Director of Special Projects, Western Region
Council for a Strong America
Martha Brooks
Director, Western Region
Council for a Strong America
Introduction
The Council for a Strong America
Fight Crime: Invest in Kids
More than 5,000 police chiefs, sheriffs,
prosecutors and violence survivors
ReadyNation
Nearly 2,000 business leaders
Mission: Readiness
More than 700 retired admirals, generals,
and other retired senior military leaders
Wyoming by the Numbers
Population:
585,501
(US Census Bureau: July 2016)
Median Income:
$60,925
(US Census Bureau: July 2016)
Graduation Rate:
80%
(Wyoming Department of Education 2015-16)
Wyoming Juvenile Justice
Functional Family Therapy (FFT) – for youth on
probation
•Cost: $3,427 per youth
•Benefit:$6.51 for every $1 invested
•Impact:
– In one study FFT cut re-arrests in half.
– Another study found juveniles receiving FFT were
one-fourth as likely to be placed outside their home in
juvenile justice custody, in a psychiatric placement, or in
foster care.
Wyoming Juvenile Justice
Multisystemic Therapy (MST) – for juvenile
justice-involved youth
• Cost:
$7,731 per youth
• Benefit: $1.74 for every $1 invested
• Impact:
– A 22-year follow-up of one randomized trial of MST
showed that those who did not receive MST were three
and a half times more likely to be arrested for a violent
felony than those who received the treatment.
– MST reduced the days youth were held in juvenile justice
facilities, psychiatric hospitals or other out-of- home
placements from an average of 12 days per month to
4 days per month.
Wyoming Juvenile Justice
Aggression Replacement Training (ART) – for youth
on probation
•Cost: $1,585 per youth
•Benefit:$7.78 for every $1 invested
•Impact:
– Juveniles returning to their communities following custody
who did not receive ART were almost three times more
likely to be re-arrested for a crime than those who went
through the training.
– Another trial with gang members showed that those
without ART were four times more likely to have been
arrested following treatment.
Wyoming by the Numbers
Dropout Prevention & School Discipline
•If graduation rates increased by 10 percentage points, research
shows that murders and assaults would be cut by 20%.
– In Wyoming, 2 murders and 174 aggravated assaults
would be prevented each year.
•When suspensions and expulsions—early indicators for
dropping out—are used for relatively minor incidents, the
primary result is a missed opportunity for learning without
addressing any underlying issues contributing to the
misbehavior.
– In Wyoming, there were 2,681 total out-of-school
suspensions in 2014.
Wyoming by the Numbers
Preschool
•Research has found that high-quality preschool boosts high
school graduation rates by as much as 44%. Increased graduation
rates are linked to crime prevention.
•Wyoming is one of five states without a state-funded preschool
program.
Wyoming by the Numbers
After School
•Evidence shows that quality after-school programs can help
reduce crime and increase graduation.
– Five housing projects without Boys & Girls Clubs were
compared to five receiving new clubs. At the beginning, drug
activity and vandalism were the same. But by the time the
study ended, the housing projects without the programs had
50 percent more vandalism and scored 37 percent worse on
drug activity.
– After school programs can also increase school-day attendance
and test scores, improve English language fluency, and reduce
grade repetition and dropouts. After school programs also have
an impact on Deeper Learning, Career Technical Education, and
STEM.
Wyoming by the Numbers
Total
K-12
Enrollment
(2011-12)
Free and
Reduced
Price Meal
Eligible
(2010-11)
English
Language
Learners
(2011-12)
4-Year-Olds
Enrolled in
State Pre-K
(2015)
4-Year-Olds
Enrolled in
Federal Pre-K
(2015)
Graduation
Rate
(2013-14)
Out of
School
Suspension
Rate
(2011-12)
Montana
140,935
41.20%
2.30%
0%
22%
85%
4.40%
Utah
596,782
38.20%
7.70%
0%
13%
83%
2.50%
49,605,534
48.10%
9.60%
-
29%
82.30%
6.40%
South Dakota
128,327
37.10%
3.30%
0%
23%
82%
3.40%
Wyoming
93,493
37.10%
2.80%
0%
24%
78%
3.70%
Idaho
284,297
45%
5.60%
0%
13%
77%
3.30%
Colorado
863,751
39.90%
12.20%
23%
14%
77%
4.90%
State
National
Spotlight on Graduation Rates
Impact of Graduation Rates on Crime
 If graduation rates increased by 10 percentage
points, research shows that murders and
assaults would be cut by 20%.
 In Wyoming, 2 murders and 174 aggravated
assaults would be prevented each year.
Spotlight on Graduation Rates
What Works to Improve Graduation Rates
High-Quality Early Education
•Two long-term studies show that high-quality
preschool for at-risk kids increases high school
graduation rates by as much as 44%, while
also cutting crime.
Targeted Dropout-Prevention Programs
•The Check & Connect program uses monitors to “check”
that high-risk students are in school and “connect” them to
needed services. Ninth grade students not in the program
were three times more likely to drop out than participating
students.
Spotlight on Graduation Rates
Why High-Quality Early Education?
• One study found that by age 18, 3- and 4-year-olds excluded
from the government-funded Child-Parent Centers in Chicago
were 70 percent more likely to be arrested for a violent crime.
• Another study spanning four decades found that by age 27,
the at-risk 3- and 4-year olds excluded from the High
Scope/Perry Preschool Program were five times more likely to
grow up to be chronic lawbreakers than those who attended.
• By age 40, those who did not attend the Perry Preschool
Program were twice as likely to be arrested for violent crimes
and four times as likely to be arrested for drug felonies as
those who attended.
Spotlight on Graduation Rates
What is Deeper Learning?
In classrooms where deeper learning is the focus, you find students
who are motivated and challenged—who look forward to their next
assignment. They apply what they have learned in one subject area to
newly encountered situations in another. They can see how their
classwork relates to real life. They are gaining an indispensable set of
knowledge, skills, and beliefs, including:
1. Mastery of Core Academic Content
2. Critical Thinking and Problem Solving
3. Collaboration
4. Effective Communication
5. Self-directed Learning
6. An “Academic Mindset”
Spotlight on Graduation Rates
Why is Deeper Learning Important?
The 2009 Programme for International Student Assessment, shows that
American students—including those from middle-class backgrounds—are
lagging far behind their international peers in key subjects. Deeper learning is
the key to making our schools more effective, because it prepares students to
succeed in the world they will find after school, whatever that might look like.
How Does Deeper Learning Prepare Students?
A survey of Fortune 500 companies and a separate survey of members of the
National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE) both show that the
most valuable skills an employee can have in the twenty-first century are
teamwork, problem solving, and oral communication—all focal points of
deeper learning. Students who have mastered the full deeper learning skill
set—including an academic mindset and self-directed learning—can set their
own goals, adapt to new circumstances, accept feedback, and persevere.
Why Deeper Learning
BY 2018,
63 PERCENT
OF ALL U.S. JOBS
WILL REQUIRE SOME EDUCATION
BEYOND HIGH SCHOOL
Source: Profile of the California Partnership Academies 2009-2010, UC Berkeley (2011)
Linked Learning:
A Successful Approach in California
Source: SRI International California Linked Learning District Initiative Evaluation, 2014; executive summary, full report
Partnerships
Connecting the Dots:
• Parents, Schools and Afterschool Programs
• Health/Mental Health and Schools
• Police and Schools
• Businesses and Schools
– FAFSA Time
– Work-Based Learning
Q&A
Questions?