Head Start reaches fewer than half of the eligible children due to funding constraints. A comprehensive study of drug treatment in California found that every dollar spent on substance abuse treatment saved taxpayers over seven dollars in reduced crime and health care costs. Current capacity of drug treatment facilities nationwide is inadequate to handle the need for treatment. Parks and recreational opportunities like midnight basketball are proven effective at reducing crime. The cost of the program was 60 cents per person.
Education is the route to decent jobs and out of crime.
In 1991, for the first time in U.S. history, cities spent more on law enforcement than education. Jurisdictions around the country are cutting education budgets because they lack sufficient funds while unquestioningly setting aside huge sums for law enforcement. Job training is useless if there are no jobs. National measures of unemployment often do not include people who are underemployed, and they mask high levels of unemployment in certain communities. We must make a national commitment to genuine full employment.