Cradle to Prison Pipeline® Campaign

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Cradle to Prison Pipeline Campaign of the
Childrens Defense Fund
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What Fuels the Pipeline?

• Pervasive Poverty
• Institutionalized racism
• Inadequate Access to Health Care
• Gaps In Early Childhood Development Programs
• Disparate Educational Opportunities
• Intolerable Abuse and Neglect
• Unmet Mental Health Needs
• Rampant Substance Abuse
• Overburdened and Ineffective Juvenile Justice
  Systems

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The most dangerous place for a child to grow up
in America is at the intersection of race and
poverty.
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Pervasive Poverty
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Pervasive Poverty

• A baby is born into poverty in America every 35
  seconds.
• Approximately 13 million children (1 in 6) live
  in poverty.
• About 5.5 million of those children live in
  extreme poverty.
• The majority of poor children live in working
  families.

Source U.S. Current Population Survey, Annual
Social and Economic Supplement, March 2007.
Calculations by the Childrens Defense Fund.
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Child Poverty in New York State

• New York has the 15th highest child poverty rate
  in the nation.

Source  U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of
the Census, American Community Survey 2006. 
Calculations by the Childrens Defense Fund-New
York.
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Pervasive Poverty

• Obtaining a high-school diploma is among the
  most important strategies to prevent poverty in
  adulthood.

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Child Poverty in America Quiz

• 1. True or False?
• In America, more White children are poor than
  children from any other racial or ethnic group.

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Answer TRUE

• In number, the 4.2 million White children who are
  poor exceed the 3.8 million Black and the 4.1
  million Latino children who are poor.
• However, Black and Latino children are more
  likely to be poor than White children
• 1 in 3 Black children is poor,
• 1 in 4 Latino children is poor,
• 1 in 10 White children is poor.

Source U.S. Current Population Survey, Annual
Social and Economic Supplement, March 2007.
Calculations by Childrens Defense Fund.
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• 2.True or False?
• Most of the increase in child poverty since
  2000 has been among children who are just below
  the poverty line.

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Answer FALSE

• Since 2000, child poverty has increased by 1.2
  million children but most of the increase about
  900,000 children- was among children living in
  extreme poverty, or with family income below half
  the federal poverty level (FPL).

• Source U.S. Current Population Survey, Annual
  Social and Economic Supplement, March 2007.
  Calculations by Childrens Defense Fund.

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• 3. True or False?
• The FPL is based each year on an
• analysis of the minimum amount a
• family needs for their basic necessities.

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Answer FALSE

• The FPL in 2008 representing 21,200 for a
  family of four with two children-- is rarely
  enough to meet all basic necessities such as
  housing, food, child care, education, and health
  care.

Source Federal Register / Vol. 73, No. 15 /2008
for a four person family - Poverty Guidelines for
the 48 Contiguous States and the District of
Columbia.
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Source Economic Policy Institute, Basic Family
Budget calculator, 2005. 2008 Federal Poverty
Guidelines.
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Basic Family Budget2004
Monthly costs for a family with 2 parents and 2
children in New York, NY needed for a safe yet
modest standard of living
Housing    1,075 Food 587 Child
care 1,195 Transportation 321 Health
care 514 Other necessities
449 Taxes 747 Monthly Total
4,888 Annual Total 58,656
35 of people in New York, NY (1,106,000 people)
had incomes below the annual level required for
that city in 2004.
Source Economic Policy Institute, Basic Family
Budget calculator, 2005. 2008 Federal
Poverty Guidelines.
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• 4. True or False?
• With the institution of the new minimum wage, a
  single parent with 2 children working full-time
  at the minimum wage will have an income in 2008
  about the federal poverty level.

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Answer FALSE

• A full-time, minimum-wage worker in 2008 will
  earn about 13,000, whereas the FPL for a family
  of 3 this year is 17,600.

Source Federal Register / Vol. 73, No.15 /2008
for a three person family - Poverty Guidelines
for the 48 Contiguous States and the District of
Columbia. Calculations by the Childrens Defense
Fund.
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Inadequate Access to Health Care

• If your family has money, you get psychiatric
  interventionif your family has no money, you get
  the prison psychologist.
• Ed Latessa
• University of Cincinnatti Criminologist

Source United Nations Childrens Fund (UNICEF),
The State of the Worlds Children 2008 (December
2007), Tables 1 and 2. Calculations by Childrens
Defense Fund.
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Inadequate Access to Health Coverage
Devante Johnson 1993-2007
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Inadequate Access to Health Coverage

• There are 9.4 million uninsured children in
  America. An estimated 384,000 children are
  uninsured in New York.
• In New York, Black, Asian and Latino children are
  twice as likely as white children to be
  uninsured.

Sources U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of
the Census, Current Population Survey, Annual
Social and Economic Supplement, 2007.
Calculations by the Childrens Defense Fund.
United Hospital Fund, Health Coverage in Ne w
York, 2003-2004, Urban Insitute and and the
United Hospital Fund, November 2006.
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Inadequate Access to Health Care

• The U.S. ranks 25th among industrialized nations
  in infant mortality rate and 22nd in the
  percentage of babies born at low birthweight.

Source United Nations Childrens Fund (UNICEF),
The State of the Worlds Children 2008 (December
2007), Tables 1 and 2. Calculations by Childrens
Defense Fund.
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Inadequate Access to Health Care

• One in 12 babies born in the U.S. is born at
  low birthweight, a rate that has been growing
  steadily since 1984.
• Black babies are about twice as likely as
  Hispanic or White, non-Hispanic babies to be born
  at low birthweight.

Source U.S. Department of Health and Human
Services, National Center for Health Statistics,
National Vital Statistics Report, Vol. 56, No. 6,
"Births Final Data for 2005" (December 5, 2007),
Table 33. Calculations by Children's Defense Fund
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Inadequate Access to Health Care

• A child born at low birthweight is about 50
  percent more likely to score below average on
  measures of both reading and mathematics at age
  17.
• A childs ability to succeed in the classroom
  depends on his or her healthy development.

Source Naomi Breslau, Nigel S. Paneth and
Victoria C. Lucia, The lingering academic
deficits of low birthweight children,
Pediatrics, Vol. 114, No. 4 (October 2004), pp.
1035-1040.
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Gaps in Early Childhood Development Programs
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Gaps in Early Childhood Development Programs

• Studies have shown that the quality of early
  childhood development programs has broad impacts
  on the well-being of children, including reduced
  rates of teen pregnancy, better health, lower
  drug use, reduced criminal activity, and
  increases in lifetime earnings.
• Only about 3 percent of eligible infants and
  young children (0-3) are enrolled in Early Head
  Start.

Sources W. Steven Barnett and Clive Belfield,
"Early Childhood Development and Social
Mobility," Future of  Children 16, no. 2 (Fall
2006) 85 National Head Start Association and
National Womens Law Center.
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Gaps in Early Childhood Development Programs

• A U.S. Department of Education study of 22,000
  kindergarteners (class of 1998-1999) found that
  Black and Hispanic children were substantially
  behind when they entered kindergarten.

Source U.S. Department of Education, National
Center for Education Statistics, Americas
Kindergarteners, Early Childhood Longitudinal
StudyKindergarten Class of 1998-99, NCES
2000-070 (Feb 2000), Tables 2, 3 and 4.
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Disparate Educational Opportunities
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Disparate Educational Opportunities

• Poor children tend to be in schools with limited
  resources.
• New York City spends 17 times more to incarcerate
  a child in a juvenile detention center than to
  educate a child in a public school.

Sources 2008 New York City Mayors Management
Report
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Disparate Educational Opportunities

• Black children are almost twice as likely as
  White children to repeat a grade.
• In New York City, The 2001 suspension rate for
  City schools was 8.3 percent for black students
  and 4.8 percent for Latino students, compared to
  only 2.5 percent for white students.

Sources U.S. Department of Education, National
Center for Education Statistics, Status and
Trends in the Education of Blacks (September
2003), Supplemental Table 3.2 and Eskenazi,
Michael, Gillian Eddins and John M. Beam. Equity
of Exclusion The Dynamics of Resources,
Demographics, and Behavior in the New York City
Public Schools. Fordham University National
Center for Schools and Communities. October 2003.

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Disparate Educational Opportunities

• In New York City, 49 percent of Black and 54
  percent of Latino fourth graders cannot read at
  grade level.
• Examples of fourth grade words include

Emergency Mayor President Ambulance Eyeglasses Vol
unteer Library
Office Weight Length Inches Foot Public Museum
Source National Assessment of Education
Progress, 2007 Trial Urban District Assessment
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Disparate Educational Opportunities

• In New York City, 55 of Black and 48 of Latino
  eighth graders cannot perform math at grade
  level.
• An example of an eighth grade math problem is

• 2x-7 13

Sources U.S. Department of Education, National
Assessment of Education Progress, The Nations
Report Card Math 2007 (2007), Tables A-8 and
A-9. Calculations by Childrens Defense Fund.
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Disparate Educational Opportunities

• In 2006, only 54.6 of Black, 50.8 of Latino,
  and 76.9 of White students graduated from a New
  York City high school with a regular diploma.
• When Black children graduate from high school,
  they have a greater chance of being unemployed
  and a lower chance of going to college full-time
  than White high school graduates.

Sources U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of
the Census, "School Enrollment -- Social and
Economic Characteristics of Students October
2005," Table 9, at http//www.census.gov/populatio
n/www/socdemo/school/cps2005.html .
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Disparate Educational Opportunities
Only 48,000 Black males earn a bachelors degree
each year. But An estimated 1 in 3 Black males
ages 20-29 is under correctional supervision or
control. Approximately 579,000 Black males are
serving sentences in state or federal prison.
Sources U.S. Department of Education, National
Center for Education Statistics Digest of
Education Statistics 2007 (March 2008), Table
274 U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of
Justice Statistics, Prison and Jail Inmates at
Midyear 2006 (June 2007), Table 13 U.S.
Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice
Statistics, Probation and Parole in the United
States, 2006 (December 2007), p. 2 and U.S.
Department of Commerce, Bureau of the Census,
"Annual Estimates of the Black or African
American Alone or in Combination Population by
Age and Sex for the United States April 1, 2000
to July 1, 2006," at http//www.census.gov/popest/
national/asrh/NC-EST2006-asrh.html . Calculations
by Children's Defense Fund.
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Zero Tolerance Policies
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Zero Tolerance Policies Would you call the police
if All these events actually
happened.

• A 10-year old elementary school student took a
  pair of scissors out of her backpack during
  class?
• A 6-year old child had a temper tantrum?
• A 5-year old boy was misbehaving in school?
• Two 4-year olds refused to take their nap?

Sources MSNBC. 10-year-old arrested over
scissors. Dec. 11, 2004 New York Times.
6-Year-Olds Under Arrest. Apr. 9, 2007 NY
Daily News. 5-year-old boy handcuffed in
school. Jan. 25, 2008 New York Post. Public
Enemy No.1 March 10, 2008.
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Intolerable Abuse and Neglect
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Intolerable Abuse and Neglect

• A child is confirmed as abused or neglected every
  36 seconds almost 900,000 each year.
• Four in ten of the children who are abused or
  neglected get no help after the initial
  investigation.

Sources U.S. Department of Health and Human
Services, Administration on Children, Youth and
Families, Child Maltreatment 2005 (2007), Tables
3-3 and 3-6 and p. xv. Calculations by Childrens
Defense Fund.
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National vs. NY State Data Children in foster care

• 62.8 were neglected
• 16.6 were physically abused
• 9.3 were sexually abused
• 7.1 were psychologically or emotionally
  maltreated
• 2 were medically neglected
• 14.3 other types of maltreatment

91.5 were neglected 11.2 were physically
abused 3.9 were sexually abused .7 were
psychologically or emotionally maltreated 9.4
were medically neglected 24.8 other types of
maltreatment
Sources of Data Child Maltreatment 2005, U.S.
Department of Health and Human Services,
Administration for Children, Youth and Families,
July, 2005 and Child Maltreatment Reports,
Victims and Fatalities, National Center on Child
Abuse Prevention Research, Prevent Child Abuse
America, May 2006.
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Intolerable Abuse and Neglect

• Black children are at particularly high risk of
  being in foster care. Although they comprise
  only 16 percent of all children, Black children
  represent 32 percent of the foster care
  population.

Source U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of
the Census, Statistical Abstract of the United
States 2007 (2006), Table 14 and U.S.
Department of Health and Human Services,
Administration for Children and Families, AFCARS
Report 13, Preliminary FY 2005 Estimates as of
September 2006 (October 2006), at
http//www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/cb/stats_research/
afcars/tar/report13.pdf. Calculations by
Childrens Defense Fund.
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Unmet Mental Health Needs
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Unmet Mental Health Needs

• A Congressional study found 15,000 children in
  juvenile detention facilities, some as young as 7
  years old, solely because community mental health
  services were unavailable.
• In 2007, 67 of youth incarcerated in NYC
  Department of Juvenile Justice detention centers
  have mental health disorders.

Sources U.S. Congress, House of
Representatives, Committee on Government Reform,
Minority Staff Special Investigations Division,
Incarceration of Youth Who Are Waiting for
Community Mental Health Services in the United
States (July 2004), at http//oversight.house.gov/
documents/20040817121901-25170.pdf and 2008 New
York City Mayors Management Report
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Rampant Substance Abuse
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Rampant Substance Abuse

• The streets are open and available to our
  children 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
• Alcohol and substance abuse treatment for youth
  and for parents are in too short supply.

Source U.S. Department of Health and Human
Services, Substance Abuse and Mental Health
Services Administration, National Survey on Drug
Use and Health, 2006 results, at
http//oas.samhsa.gov/NSDUH/2k6NSDUH/2k6results.cf
m
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Ineffective Juvenile Justice Systems
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Ineffective Juvenile Justice Systems

• In New York State, black juveniles are about
  seven times as likely as their white peers to be
  incarcerated.
• Nationally, Black juveniles are almost five times
  as likely and Latino juveniles about twice as
  likely as White juveniles to be incarcerated for
  drug offenses.

Sources New York State Division of Criminal
Justice Services, and National Center for
Juvenile Justice, Census of Juveniles in
Residential Placement Databook, at
http//www.ojjdp.ncjrs.org/ojstatbb/cjrp/.
Calculations by the Childrens Defense Fund.
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Moments in America for All Children
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Moments in America for All
Children

• Every second a public school student is
  suspended.
• Every 10 seconds a high school student drops out.
• Every 17 seconds a public school student is
  corporally punished.

Source Calculations by the Childrens Defense
Fund. 2008. Based on calculations per school day
(180 days of seven hours each).
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Moments in America for All
Children

• Every 9 minutes a child is arrested for a violent
  crime.
• Every 18 minutes a baby dies before his or her
  first birthday.
• Every 3 hours a child or teen is killed by a
  firearm.

Source Calculations by the Childrens Defense
Fund. 2008.
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Moments in America for All
Children

• Every 5 hours a child or teen commits suicide.
• Every 6 hours a child is killed by abuse or
  neglect.
• Every 14 hours a woman dies from complications of
  childbirth or pregnancy.

Source Calculations by the Childrens Defense
Fund. 2008.
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A Call To Action
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A Call To Action

• The urgent challenge for each of us and for our
  nation is to prevent this waste of our childrens
  lives and our nations capabilities.

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A Call To Action

• We must end child poverty through investments in
  high quality education for every child, livable
  wages for families, income supplements, job
  training and job creation, and work supports.

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A Call to Action

• We must make early childhood development programs
  accessible to every child by ensuring such
  programs are affordable, available and of high
  quality.

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A Call to Action

• We must ensure our schools have adequate
  resources to provide high quality education for
  every child, to help each child reach his or her
  full potential and succeed in work and life.

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A Call to Action

• We must expand prevention and specialized
  treatment services for children and their
  parents, connect children to caring permanent
  families, improve the quality of the child
  welfare workforce and increase accountability for
  results for children.

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A Call to Action

• We must reduce detention and incarceration by
  increasing investment in prevention and early
  intervention strategies such as access to quality
  early childhood development and education
  services and to the health and mental health care
  children need for healthy development.

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• For those children who do get caught in the
  deeper end of the Pipeline,
• we must accelerate reforms of juvenile justice
  policy at the federal, state and local level to
  ensure that troubled youth get the integrated
  services needed to put them on a sustained path
  to successful adulthood.

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You Can HelpDismantle the Pipeline.
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Childrens Defense Fund www.childrensdefense.org