The following is from Pat Willis, executive director of Voices for Georgia’s Children.
Georgia began last year looking at a growing reserve fund, but begins a new year with budget cutting and juggling of finances like most other states to stay afloat. That’s just the reality and there’s no way around it. It’s important now to get through these tough times and maintain a solid foundation for future growth when better times return. And they will.
Congress passed economic recovery legislation to jump start the process which includes large-scale spending on infrastructure. Given the current global outlook, these are important moves to create jobs. But how can we, as a country and state, make this long-term debt pay off for future generations rather than burdening our children and grandchildren with payments for years to come? If a healthy portion of the spending is devoted to strategic investments in our children, we could set in motion an economic stimulus that may keep paying us a healthy return for decades to come.
Even in the best of times, Georgia’s children haven’t fared well. Their health, education, safety, and employability outcomes have consistently rated among the lowest in the country as underscored by Georgia’s ranking of 40th in meeting its children’s needs according the 2008 Kids Count report issued by the Annie E. Casey Foundation. That ranking doesn’t bode well for Georgia’s future economic growth.
But we can step up in rankings while improving our financial prospects if all of us — consumers, educators, business leaders, clergy and legislators — step up for our children. Let’s take a look at what a stimulus package might look like in terms of priorities:
Education Pre-Kindergarten (Pre-K) builds a foundation for higher educational achievement, which in turn creates higher earning potential. President-elect Obama’s announced $10 billion investment in early learning is a significant leap of faith, but it remains to be seen how that program will be implemented. Georgia’s lottery-funded Pre-K program hasn’t met its original promise to four-year olds as slots are limited and participation has never exceeded 56 percent. Thousands of children are on waiting lists for available slots. Using the economic stimulus package to build quality centers can help take care of the waiting list and operations can be supported without additional taxpayer or federal dollars by tapping existing lottery reserve funds.
Child care With about 300,000 Georgia mothers of children under six in the workforce and 14,000 families on waiting lists for Georgia child care subsidies, how can we expect a productive, reliable workforce? Research shows that just $1 invested in a high quality child care program resulted in a public benefit of $7.16. Based on current services, when we combine child care and Pre-K in the state, we infuse $2.4 billion in gross receipts into the economy, and we support $13.6 billion in parental earnings.
Child abuse prevention Georgia’s children must be safe, especially in their own homes. Yet, 50 percent of Georgia’s abuse and neglect cases, close to 20,000 cases in 2005, occur among 0-6 year olds. Home visitation and other family supports could greatly ameliorate this problem, save child welfare dollars down the road, and strengthen family self sufficiency in the short and long run.
Health Studies show accessible, consistent medical care allows more kids to grow up to be healthier, more productive adults. Georgia’s health coverage for children ranks in the bottom third of states in terms of access and quality. About 300,000 of Georgia’s children are uninsured and vulnerable. Georgia’s State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP), “PeachCare for Kids”, which is designed to insure children in working families, should get a boost from the recently passed SCHIP reauthorization in Congress, but Georgia legislators must still decide on spending and eligibility.
Juvenile Justice In 2006, 2,631 children in Georgia were in juvenile detention and correctional facilities on any given day, enough children for over 100 classrooms. Georgia’s Juvenile Code, the laws that set the rules and procedures that govern the way that the Juvenile Court addresses deprived and delinquent children, is out-dated, disorganized and difficult to apply to contemporary situations. It should be updated in short order.
These are some of the most pressing needs that will only cost the state more in the long term if we do nothing. We need to be smart. It is essential to embrace the idea of tax dollars spent on children not an expense but as an investment that saves money later and, most importantly, ultimately generates tax revenues from healthy, productive adults. If our governments are committed to spending hundreds of billions of our tax dollars in the coming months on infrastructure as a means of economic stimulus, why don’t we demand that they look beyond physical roads and bridges? After all, children make up the foundation – infrastructure, if you will – of our society’s future prospects that can be the highway for global competitiveness and economic growth.
We can’t afford to panic now. Let’s stimulate the economy and, at the same time, stimulate prospects for our kids with smart investment.
Pat Willis is executive director of Voices for Georgia’s Children. Voices engages in research, analysis and advocacy to assist the state’s leadership in developing sound policy decisions that improve the well being of children. The independent non-profit seeks to build consensus on a long-term agenda based on measurable goals that will significantly impact children’s health, safety, education, connectedness and employability.
