LEWISTON — Children who grow up in poverty are more likely to be involved in crime, a group calling for anti-poverty legislation said Thursday.
Androscoggin County Sheriff Guy Desjardins, second from right, talks about second-generation repeat offenders he often sees at the jail. Looking on is Deputy Chief James Minkowsky of the Lewiston Police Department, left, Kim Gore, New England director of Fight Crime: Invest in Kids and Chief Phil Crowell of the Auburn Police Department, right.
Kim Gore, New England director of Fight Crime: Invest in Kids, speaks during a news conference in Lewiston on Thursday.
And the Twin Cities have the highest rates in the state for children in poverty: Lewiston at 42 percent; Auburn at 27 percent.
At a joint news conference at the Lewiston police station, law enforcement officials teamed up with the regional director of Fight Crime: Invest in Kids to call for extending federal child tax credits, available to low-income families. The tax credits are due to expire at the end of the year.
As many as 60,000 Maine children could be affected if the legislation isn't passed, the speakers said.
New research shows that raising children out of poverty reduces the crime rate, said Kim Gore, New England director of the group.
“Our mission is to prevent crime and violence across the United States by making wise investments in programs that keep kids safe and give kids the right start in life,” she said.
Waiting until a child is arrested is too late, she said.
“Research shows that when you increase the income for low-income families, it substantially reduces those difficult youth behaviors that are often the precursors to later crime,” she said. “The child tax credit lets low-income working families keep more of their tax dollars, raises their standard of living and it reduces the probability that the children might be involved in crime later on.”
Deputy Chief James Minkowsky of the Lewiston Police Department said most children who grow up poor don't go on to lead lives of crime. But they run a greater risk of becoming adult criminals, he said.
Androscoggin County Sheriff Guy Desjardins said at least one in six children in Maine is living in poverty, placing them at “substantial” risk.
From October 2008 to May 2010, the state's unemployment rate has climbed from 5.9 percent to 8 percent.
Children in families whose income has climbed above the poverty level experience a 40 percent decrease in conduct disorders and opposition defiance disorders, according to a study, Desjardins said.
Those behavior disorders are “closely linked” to juvenile crime, he said.
Auburn Police Chief Phil Crowell said the county's jail population tells the same story: The demographics support the notion that children from poor families are more likely to end up in the criminal justice system.
Pulling children out of poverty not only benefits those children but society as a whole, he said.
For every $1 spent on early childhood education, there is a return of $18 million in savings from avoiding incarceration, Crowell said.
The nonprofit group includes 120 Maine members, including every sheriff and prosecutor as well as about 90 police chiefs and survivors of violent crimes.
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Desjardins looks totally
Desjardins looks totally baffled. As if he had forgotten his lines. And in all probability, he did.
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Bottom line. Get to work. I know times are tough and it's a tough economy. There is something you can do out there! Even if it's raking, mowing or just odd jobs. Stop waiting to "hear" about this job or that one...none of these are going to come knocking on your door! People act as though they are above working at Burger King or at a 7-11. None of us are. Some money is better than no money.
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The bottom line? Most of the families that they are speaking of, do work. They are the working poor in this city. A lot of people work all week, just to have to go for help. These are not people that own their own homes, some don't even own a car. We have single mothers that do work at McDonalds and Burger King....they still are at poverty level and below. We have single fathers that are doing it alone as well, and they too also need help. So please, don't place everyone in the same mold. :(
Some of these people have been out of work for sometime. Yes, they are willing to mow lawns and rake...but who the heck can afford lawn service these days. Nearly everyone is trying to save money....so they do their own. Some money does not pay the rent! I wish everyone would stop thinking they know what another family is doing and not doing. jstmine, if you see someones child roaming the streets, don't assume that they have dead beat parents. Perhaps they are doing exactly what you suggested, working two and three jobs...and no one is home with the children.
I believe that if Lewiston can help even one child, Lewiston is a better place. Stop assuming that people don't want to work, don't assume that people don't care about their children, don't assume because a family lives in town the are bums...we are one people. We need to remember this.
I'm just glad that someone is looking out for the children. :)
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"Cops, we raise your kids because you can't"
Exactly!
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Would you like to respond? Login or create a new account. You'll need to verify your account before you can respond.Bottom line. Get to work. I
Bottom line. Get to work. I know times are tough and it's a tough economy. There is something you can do out there! Even if it's raking, mowing or just odd jobs. Stop waiting to "hear" about this job or that one...none of these are going to come knocking on your door! People act as though they are above working at Burger King or at a 7-11. None of us are. Some money is better than no money.
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Those who lack compassion for others, are also in poverty...they are inwardly poor, themselves.
I'm trying to understand why some seem to
lack even the capacity to truly "see" others.
A kind of spiritual blindness? A lack of in"sight" ?
Which is particularly puzzling, in those who
have known much suffering in their own life.
Why would they not see the pain, in the lives of others?
I have to ask myself "When have I stepped over others,
like Dives - not even seeing them?"
-unknown
Remember there's no such thing as a small act of kindness. Every act creates a ripple with no logical end. We should never look down on anybody unless we're helping them up.
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Everyone has a solution to the problem of kids & crime. But you miss the actual problem. Before these kids get into trouble the first time, ask yourself, "where are the parents".
No matter what you do, without parents actually raising the kids, checking there where abouts, their friends & checking with other parents, to make sure they are where they are supposed to be, this will not work. More money gone, without results.
It's called "Old Fashioned Parenting" it worked for me & it seems to be working for my daughters and their children. It's a 24 hr job, but you brought them into this world, you are responsible to see, they turn out right. No more excuses, for what you do not have, we were poor and turned out all right. Make do, with what you have and help from family, friends, yes and even church. Stop thinking it's all the goverments fault, when your kid gets into trouble, the trouble started at home first, when you neglected to parent your child. Then it becomes, everyone else's problem, again.
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There is a Chinese proverb that says; "Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime."
You don't pull people out of poverty by takning from the "rich" and giving to the "Poor." All that will do is create more poverty. The other fallacy is that education alone is the answer; "If you want to make something of yourself, you need a college education." That is simply just not true.
Help kids find something they are good at and like to do, and help them find (or create) jobs that utilize those skills and watch them excel. Some of the greatest entrepreneurs this country has ever known began their lives in abject poverty.
John Chick
Monmouth, ME
"If a nation expects to be ignorant and free in a state of civilization, it expects what never was and never will be." --Thomas Jefferson to Charles Yancey, 1816. ME 14:384
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actually the real quote is teach a man to fish and you lose a democrat voter.
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And in Lewiston, if you give a man a fish, he nails it to a wall. And invites his friends over for a beer and pot party to show the fish off. In time the fish stinks really bad and the guy and his family are still hungry.
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Great post, John. :)
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if you’re poor (just another term for lazy, irresponsible, ignorant)
IT'S NOT THAT SIMPLE.
Take a look at this cite, one of many thousands on the question: http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0CYZ/is_4_30/ai_111933181/
A short part of what's on that site"
Few questions have generated as much discussion across time as that of the causes of human impoverishment. The sources and origins of poverty have been debated for centuries. As the historian R. M. Hartwell notes, "The causes of poverty, its relief and cure, have been a matter of serious concern to theologians, statesmen, civil servants, intellectuals, tax-payers and humanitarians since the Middle Ages" (1986: 16). The question of causality has found itself at the heart of most debates surrounding poverty and the poor.
In recent times these debates have often been divided into two ideological camps. On one hand, poverty has been viewed as the result of individual failings. From this perspective, specific attributes of the impoverished individual have brought about their poverty. These include a wide set of characteristics, ranging from the lack of an industrious work ethic or virtuous morality, to low levels of education or competitive labor market skills. On the other hand, poverty has periodically been interpreted as the result of failings at the structural level, such as the inability of the economy to produce enough decent paying jobs.
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but I do agree that we should be focusing on providing a better elementary education for our children. Continuing to cut the budget of our education system is adding to the problem! Put the money where it will do the most good. Large classes are ineffective and make it impossible for our wonderful teachers to do their jobs...I have seen way too many behavior problems and impossible-to-manage classrooms since I started working in the Lewiston elementary school system. I find it appalling that ALL children are falling through the cracks because the schools just have to make it through the day (oh, and make sure their classes pass the mandated tests - but that's another story.) If teachers had the time and resources allowing them to connect better with their students, ALL children would have a better chance of avoiding the problems associated with low incomes. Low incomes affect all of our children, not just those who are in fact, lower income.
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My entire family grew up poor, in the days when no one cared. Not one parent, uncle or aunt has been to jail or arrested. What they did become was hard workers and responsible adults!
How about if you’re poor (just another term for lazy, irresponsible, ignorant) and don't have the money to raise a child...... DONT HAVE ONE!!! people who are living in poverty for ligitmate reasons have more sense then to have 5 kids!
A lot of these poor children are not even from here. They come from outside of the state with their folks looking for a free meal ticket.
And when the parents do get some cash for their child (that’s already being paid for by the state). How does anyone even know where the money is spent? Beer, cigarettes, drugs, snacks and soda.
We all feel sorry for the “children”. But all you are doing is enabling their parents!
Take the money and either give it back to the tax payers! or spend it on those programs you said actually help the children!
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I have heard the stories of beat cops also, sourdough. Beat cops walked the streets of down town Lewiston. They often stopped and talked with the children. They at times were more than authority fiqures, they became to be thought of as family members. I have heard stories where when children were heading down the wrong path, a parent was able to confide in this cop. The cop inturn would speak to the child...often they would go the extra mile and get the child involved in a sport, etc.
One police officer I often heard about over the years was, Officer Gardner. I have heard alot of stories, about how this police officer always went the extra mile for all children. We need that today. I remember the garage bands...and the Pal Hops (Police Activities League) put on by the police department. :) Yes, I'm old :) Kid's would get together and practice, practice, practice. :) They would then compete in the battle of the bands. Everyone had their favorite band and cheered them on. I believe it was a good time for all. We need to redirect the children in a way that helps them to take pride in themselves in a healthy way.
There were also many poor children in the day also...yet, I believe that the encouragement they received from some of these beat cops, and the PAL programs, led children to aspire to do something wonderful with their lives. Like I said, I have heard alot of stories over the years, each one was told from smiling adults, each story was about how their childhood and teen years had been made better, by a few good beat cops.
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"For every $1 spent on early childhood education, there is a return of $18 million in savings from avoiding incarceration, Crowell said."
give 'em a thousand bucks and we'll get $18 BILLION in savings. eff yeah.
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Would you like to respond? Login or create a new account. You'll need to verify your account before you can respond."For every $1 spent on early
"For every $1 spent on early childhood education, there is a return of $18 million in savings from avoiding incarceration, Crowell said."..Lets start here...with this statement...If this is true, then WHY are schools constantly being cut back on funds? why are teachers laid off, why are classrooms starting to get 30+ kids, instead of a more manageable 15/20? Why are excellant Early Childhood programs like, Head Start, and Child Development Services, constantly being cut of funds? Centers closing, taechers being let go? If Early Childhood Education is the key to all this, then WHY ARE THEY ALWAYS THE FIRST TO BE CUT?? Programs like Head Start are aimed specificly AT low income families!! Yet they are having to close centers every year for lack of funds..not lack of children and families! The teachers at Head Start programs do NOT make as much as public school teachers but have twice as much 'duties' in their job description...so, if the "key" is Early Childhood Education", lets get it back on track...
wingnut and sourdough, I am so sorry for all that you have been through..I have had to work with families that have been through your same experience...it is very frustraiting....I am sure you have chosen to make your life, and your families, a better one to be in....
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yeah so take it from the working stiffs better yet lets make them work till they drop dead on the job!!! The working people must unite stop being treated as a syphon for those who choose to sit home on thier duffs or who are nothing but leeaches working supposedly for us while pulling the highest wages and benefits in Maine! getting squeezed like a pimple but son the pimple will pop!!
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GOOD LUCK LEWISTON MAINE
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As a kid in Lewiston Maine I had a lot of fun . The Cop's stopped us and just ask what we were doing . AND ?? You always saw cop's around doing there job . History 1st this was 50 something years ago . Thing in Lewiston and Auburn was a lot different > and yes my Family was the so call on poverty . It's just that the COP'S and not doing there job because there are to many thing going on with the CITY . GANGS the big KID'S .... AND all the other thing going around .. COP'S were in the school's you saw them walking the STREETS down town LEWISTON ( DOWN TOWN ) .. The good old day's and maybe ad the good old boy's ????
ALL TALK AND LET'S SEE ..........
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I one thing to ask . With the state so poor where in the hell is it coming from (the $$$$)
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what funny does. I was a victim of being starved, beat'in, sexually abused, and had the Lewistonian Keystone Coppers turned their backs on me when I got up the courage to turn my father in for raping my sister. I got beat as a 12 year old worst than any man alive when I got home from the police station. The cops didn't care and the neighbors heard my screams and did nothing. They got use to it. Your all phonies (a noun) ex.- a nutcase that answers the phone and acts nice, hangs up, and goes back to beat'in his kid 'till he can't swing the belt or his fist no more. My father retired, sailed off to Key West, and I went to jail when I tried to grow up. So you big promise boys are right about one thing. Abused kids end up in jail while their parents lie on the beach with a Magarita and chuckle.
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Would you like to respond? Login or create a new account. You'll need to verify your account before you can respond.There is about a half million dollar
salaries represented by those four individuals. How about we cut that down to fifty thousand apiece and spend the rest on the poor.
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Actually the combined salaries for these 4 individuals is less than $300K based on city & county reports as well as non profit financial disclosure...but if you need a bigger number to make people believe you, no one would be surprised. Just another case of your hatred towards cops.
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