Rick Allen: “I want to raise a fascinating study that I heard about a couple of weeks ago in Sacramento County, California. The study…”

“I want to raise a fascinating study that I heard about a couple of weeks ago in Sacramento County, California. The study period looked at all of those 9- to 12-year-olds who had been arrested for a crime. During the study period there were 132 9- to 12-year-olds who were arrested for a crime. It turned out that exactly one-half, 66 of those children, were already known to the California Department of Human Services as being alleged victims of abuse or neglect, and half of them were not known to the department. That is very interesting, because in Sacramento County at that time there were 1,100 children between the ages of 9 and 12 who were known to the Department of Human Services as being victims of abuse or neglect. There were 73,900 other children who were not so known. So if we think about the likelihood that someone who has been a victim of abuse or neglect will commit a crime, it is not double or triple or ten times or 20 times or 50 times. On the basis of that study, you are 67 times more likely to commit a crime between the ages of 9 and 12 than a child who is not a victim of abuse or neglect. Every conservative, every person who believes we have to conserve our public money, ought to support investment in children, because dollars put into taking care and improving the lot of kids who are victims of abuse or neglect will pay off a thousandfold down the road.”