Within the past few decades, state legislators and their constituents have been concerned about the number of juvenile offenders in the justice system. Recently, lawmakers in states such as Tennessee, North Carolina and Washington have implemented policies focusing on the importance of access to quality early childhood education (ECE) as a solution to bringing down the crime rate. Researchers have in fact discovered a correlation between high quality ECE and a reduction in juvenile delinquency.

Although ECE generally addresses the development of children from the time of infancy to the age of 8, the term usually refers to children starting preschool. Preschool programs should be, the experts have concluded, designed to provide early literacy, to help build a child’s self-confidence and to stimulate a child’s creativity. A quality ECE consists of well-qualified teachers and small class sizes, which integrate interactive learning across the curriculum. The following is a compilation of some of the data produced by several studies done on the benefits of ECE and its effectiveness in preventing juvenile delinquency.

• The landmark High/Scope Perry Preschool Study showed that high quality ECE can reduce the level of juvenile arrests.¹
• The study found that 55% of children who had not received a quality ECE were arrested five times or more compared to 36% of those that had received the same quality education.
• Adolescents who had not received quality ECE were twice as likely to commit a violent crime, seven times more likely to be arrested for possession of dangerous drugs, and four times more likely to be arrested for drug felonies.
• Adolescents that had attended quality ECE programs had been sentenced to significantly fewer months in jail or prison compared to adolescents that had not received such education.
• The 22-year study indicated that children left out of a high quality preschool program were 5 times more at risk to becoming chronic lawbreakers.
• For every dollar invested in high quality ECE, the public saved $7.16 in reduced special education, welfare, and criminal justice costs as well as receiving an increase of revenues from taxes and increased incomes.
• A study of Chicago's Child-Parent Centers revealed that children who did not participate in their quality preschool programs were 70% more likely to be arrested for a violent crime by the age of 18.²
• Researchers concluded that these programs could prevent up to 33,000 crimes by the time children participating enter into adulthood.
• This study showed that quality ECE programs could cut crime among juveniles by one-third.
• ECE programs can also be effective in preventing chronic delinquency. Children who exhibit problems with behavior earlier are at a much greater risk to becoming teen delinquents and adult criminals.³
• Research findings indicate that preventive intervention needs to occur early on, since youth who begin committing acts of delinquency by the age of 13 are much more likely to become violent offenders as they grow older.⁴
• In one survey, nearly 9 of 10 police chiefs rated expanding quality child care programs as the most effective tool for crime prevention.⁵
• A publication of the U.S. Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention has reported that although most juvenile delinquents had a history of disruptive behavior during the preschool period, the majority of children with disruptive problems who attend preschool do not go on to become offenders.⁶
• Researchers have discovered that preschoolers develop a basic understanding of the impact of their behavior toward others and are better able to control their behavior according to social norms.
• Children who participate in quality early childhood programs exhibit more positive social relationships with their peers than those who do not.
• Studies indicate that children that have participated in quality ECE programs are less hostile and less likely to engage in fights, while children who did not participate in those programs were continually rated as disruptive and hostile after a five to eight year follow up.⁷

¹ Schweinhart, L.J., Montie, J., Xiang, Z., Barnett, W.S., Belfield, C.R., & Nores, M. (2005) Lifetime Effects: The High/Scope Perry Preschool Study Through Age 40. Ypsilanti, MI: High/Scope Press.

²A Report from Fight Crime: Invest in Kids Pennsylvania. (2006)“Head Start and Pre Kindergarten in Pennsylvania: An Investment in Crime Prevention.” 4-13.

³Hirokazu, Yoshikawa.(1995) “Long-Term Effects of Early Childhood Programs on Social Outcomes and Delinquency”. The Future of Children Vol. 5, No. 3, Winter 1995.

⁴Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (2004). “Causes and Correlates: Findings and Implications.” Juvenile Justice. Vol. IX, No. 1. September 2004: 16-17.

⁵Fight Crime Invest in Kids. (1999). “Poll of Police Chiefs” conducted by George Mason University Professors S.D. Mastrofski and S. Keeter, Washington DC.

⁶Loeber, Rolf, Farrington, David P., Petechuk, David, “Child Delinquency: Early Intervention and Prevention.” Child Delinquency Bulletin Series. May 2003: 5-6.

⁷Johnson, D.L., and Walker, T. (1987) Primary prevention of behavior problems in Mexican-American children. American Journal of Community Psychology 15: 375-85.