News

February 28, 2009

Rallying for family programs

Advocates say programs will reduce cost in the long run by cutting down on crime rate.

WILKES-BARRE – Concerned that at-risk family programs might get axed as the state Legislature struggles to produce a budget, area legislators, law enforcement officials and advocates convened at the county courthouse to explain how spending on the programs now will reduce costs later.

“In short, we all know that crime is a drag on the economy,” said Bruce Clash, the Pennsylvania director for Fight Crime: Invest in Kids, a multi-state organization that unites law enforcement with victims’ rights advocates to combat crime.

State Rep. Phyllis Mundy, D-Kingston, has been a persistent advocate for early intervention programs such as Pre-K Counts, Head Start and the Nurse-Family Partnership, which links nurses with first-time mothers to ensure children are receiving fundamentals. The programs are funded through budget line items, she said, so the event was scheduled to underscore the programs’ support in reducing spending in the criminal-justice system.

The programs are “an economic imperative as we seek to balance the budget,” she said. “It’s important that we show our support for these programs because they’re so fiscally responsible. We can no longer afford to incarcerate our way out of this problem. We need to prevent on the front end.”

Mundy was joined by local officials, including state Reps. Todd Eachus, D-Hazleton; Edward D. Pashinski, D-Wilkes-Barre; and Karen Boback, R-Harveys Lake; state Sen. Raphael Musto, D-Pittston Township; county District Attorney Jackie Musto Carroll; and county Sheriff Michael Savokinas.

“These are difficult budget times, but what we will not do in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives is abandon our children in this crisis,” said Eachus, the house majority leader.

Statistics predict increasing graduation rates by 10 percent would drop murder rates by 20 percent, Musto Carroll said, saving the state $576 million in criminal-justice costs. Programs like these help families escape the cycle of criminals raising criminals, she said, relating a story of a drug dealer from New York who was testifying for the commonwealth. He was a life-long criminal, she said. He told her he hadn’t received an education and therefore couldn’t get a job and expected that his six children would end up the same way. Savokinas said corrections are the third-largest expense in the state budget. “If we could deter crime at a younger age, then obviously we could reduce costs to taxpayers,” he said.

Rory Sweeney, a Times Leader staff writer, may be reached at 970-7418.

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