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Fighting crime by investing in kids
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| H&N photo by Andrew Mariman Klamath Falls Police Chief Jim Hunter meets with children at the Klamath Falls Head Start Thursday as member of Fight Crime: Invest in Kids of Oregon, an organization that provides early education as a manner of preventing crime. |
Program promotes early education as a way to stop crime
By MEGAN DOYLE
H&N Staff Writer
Klamath Falls Police Chief Jim Hunter hopes the story he read Thursday to Klamath Family Head Start students will have a lasting impact.
In “Officer Buckle and Gloria,” the preschoolers learned basic personal safety tips — tying their shoes, wearing a helmet and having a buddy.
Hunter, along with Klamath County District Attorney Ed Caleb and Sheriff Tim Evinger, are members of Fight Crime: Invest in Kids of Oregon, an organization that promotes early education as a way to prevent crime. The local Head Start program provides early education for 330 students and works with their families, which are considered at-risk, primarily because of low incomes.
There are 125 children on a waiting list to get into the program. Of the eligible students around the state, only 62 percent are being served because of lack of funding. Evinger, Caleb and Hunter said they would like the state and federal government to approve funding for 80 percent of eligible children.
High school dropouts
High school dropouts, currently about 30 percent of Oregon students, are at least eight times more likely to be incarcerated than those who finished school, according to a 2008 report published by Fight Crime: Invest in Kids Oregon.
“It’s not a statistic to be proud of,” Evinger said. “As far as I’m concerned, doing dropout prevention is crime prevention.”
The report also states that by increasing male high school graduation rates by 10 percent, the state could save about $102 million a year.
Fight Crime: Invest in Kids is a national nonprofit with more than 160 Oregon sheriffs, police chiefs and district attorneys participating. The organization and members call on Congress and the state Legislature to expand pre-kindergarten programs as a way to decrease the high school dropout rate, according to a press release from the organization.
The goal is to get people to lobby lawmakers to provide more state and federal funding for such programs as Head Start, said Martha Brooks, the organization’s state director.
Hunter has been involved with Head Start for a number of years, and is a former board member.
Allyie Lawler, 5, said she learned a lot from the story Hunter read.
“I learned a police dog is a really good buddy,” she said.
In “Officer Buckle and Gloria,” the preschoolers learned basic personal safety tips — tying their shoes, wearing a helmet and having a buddy.
Hunter, along with Klamath County District Attorney Ed Caleb and Sheriff Tim Evinger, are members of Fight Crime: Invest in Kids of Oregon, an organization that promotes early education as a way to prevent crime. The local Head Start program provides early education for 330 students and works with their families, which are considered at-risk, primarily because of low incomes.
There are 125 children on a waiting list to get into the program. Of the eligible students around the state, only 62 percent are being served because of lack of funding. Evinger, Caleb and Hunter said they would like the state and federal government to approve funding for 80 percent of eligible children.
High school dropouts
High school dropouts, currently about 30 percent of Oregon students, are at least eight times more likely to be incarcerated than those who finished school, according to a 2008 report published by Fight Crime: Invest in Kids Oregon.
“It’s not a statistic to be proud of,” Evinger said. “As far as I’m concerned, doing dropout prevention is crime prevention.”
The report also states that by increasing male high school graduation rates by 10 percent, the state could save about $102 million a year.
Fight Crime: Invest in Kids is a national nonprofit with more than 160 Oregon sheriffs, police chiefs and district attorneys participating. The organization and members call on Congress and the state Legislature to expand pre-kindergarten programs as a way to decrease the high school dropout rate, according to a press release from the organization.
The goal is to get people to lobby lawmakers to provide more state and federal funding for such programs as Head Start, said Martha Brooks, the organization’s state director.
Hunter has been involved with Head Start for a number of years, and is a former board member.
Allyie Lawler, 5, said she learned a lot from the story Hunter read.
“I learned a police dog is a really good buddy,” she said.
Reader Comments
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TJ wrote on Nov 21, 2008 8:35 AM:
" What a great idea! I love reading stories like this especially since there has been so much negativity lately. The little girl making the face to the camera is adorable. "
D.A. wrote on Nov 21, 2008 6:13 AM:
" It a wonderful picture of Hunter and the kids. These kids will always have this lasting impression of officers. As far as the kids dropping out of high school, I believe that the city needs to bring back the title 1 program and eliminate all day elementary for year round elementary. Year round is where the kids go to school for 3 months and are off for 1 month. This allows for better retention and for better transition from grade to grade. Also when the title one was dropped nearly all of the titile one students dropped out of school "
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Mother wrote on Nov 21, 2008 1:34 PM: