One of the most eye-opening parts of last night's forum on crime was when the candidates were asked what they would do if the city suddenly found itself with $50 million dollars to spend fighting crime.
Also present that night was Susan Badeau, executive director of the Philadelphia Children's Commission (which is one of the groups that have partnered with The Next Mayor as part of our Next Mayor Community Network).
That question struck a real chord in her.
She wrote us to express how she felt $50 million in found money should be used. Read her response after the jump.
The 50 Million Dollar Question
At last night’s forum, the candidates were asked, “Suppose you become mayor and you suddenly receive $50 million in new money. You have to use it to help reduce violent crime, but you can spend it on only one aspect of your crime plan. Which one would it be?”
I was pleased to hear that more than one of the candidates used this as an opportunity to talk about the importance of prevention and investing in children and families as the most effective approach to stemming the tide of violence. It should be literally a “no-brainer” to grasp the fact that if we do not invest wisely and well in the needs of our youngest citizens, the social illness of violence, crime, poverty, addictions and despair will continue to grow and spiral out of control.
If I had that $50 million, how would I spend it?
My primary goal would be to ensure that Every child is connected . . . . to a strong family, to caring adults, to effective schools, to a safe and nurturing community and to a vision of hope for their own future. In my experience, which is corroborated by research, it is the children who grow up disconnected ~ feeling alone, lacking a sense of belonging to a family, a school, a neighborhood ~ drifting rootlessly and aimlessly through their childhood and adolescence ~ who are most likely to lose hope, sink into despondency and despair, drop out of school, or turn to lives filled with drugs, crime and violence.
If I had to spend $50 million on one - and only one - initiative to create, nurture and support these critical connections, I would use the funds to support an array of positive, effective programs and activities for children of all ages during the hours between 3:00 PM and 10 or 11 at night (for the older teens). The research on the importance of out-of-school time and the costs of school failure is indisputable. Studies by the FBI and others conclude that the peak hours for juvenile crime and victimization are from 2 p.m. to 8 p.m. Children who tend to be unsupervised after school are more likely to have poor grades and higher rates of truancy, risk-taking behavior including smoking, drinking and pre-mature sexual activities. Unsupervised after school time is even associated with the rise in childhood obesity due to the unhealthy snacks and inactivity that often characterizes the time of “latch-key children.”
More importantly, afterschool programs provide an opportunity for parents, other caring adults in the community and children to receive services, gain skills, interact – in short to connect. Visit the Honickman Learning Center in North Philadelphia at 1515 Fairmount St, or any of the city’s Beacon centers, such as the one at the Hunter School, 2400 N. Howard St in Norris Square during these after school hours and you will see (and hear!) a vibrant mix of children, teens and adults staying safe, engaged in learning and connecting with each other and their community. In other neighborhoods, it is the one mom, dad, grandma, or aunt that provides a safe, nurturing and supervised “afterschool” hangout for neighborhood children. Perhaps with a little more encouragement, training and support, we could create more opportunities to establish and nurture these “safe homes” throughout the city.
The two centers mentioned above are part of the city-wide and multi-system continuum of strategies to support children, youth and families during these crucial after school hours, and to re-engage older youth who have left school without graduating in new opportunities for success that are already underway. These efforts are yielding promising results, and represent a great down-payment on our future - but much more needs to be done.
Afterschool programs can have many benefits for children ranging from helping children complete their homework, and improve academic skills, to helping children in foster care connect with adults who can lend stability and even permanence to their lives. For parents, these programs provide the peace of mind of knowing their children are safe, as well as opportunities to gain parenting, job and other skills.
And returning to the original question, these programs help keep our city safer and reduce crime. Since Philadelphia began these initiatives in 2000, crimes committed by juveniles during the after school hours (from 3:00 P.M. to 6:00 P.M.) have fallen by more than 19%. In addition, over a three-year period, Philadelphia’s after-school programs helped to save over $30 million dollars in child welfare and child care service costs alone. This did not include likely savings to the court system and other government agencies from these investments.
Now that would be $50 million dollars well spent.
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Posted by best car | January 18, 2012 2:03 PM