The Cost of Doing Nothing in our Communities
The following information, ranging from the regional to national community levels, provides insight into some costs and trends affecting various community issues.
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Early Childhood (ages 0-5)
- 10% of all births in Dakota County are considered to be at-risk. Vocabulary at age three is highly correlated with reading comprehension at age nine and 12.
- Per pupil costs, in addition to those pupils on a regular track, for primary disability areas of special education that could be prevented or improved through Early Childhood Education are: $16,169 for Developmental Cognitive Disabilities: Mild-Moderate, $28,502 for Developmentally Delayed Education, $14,188 for Emotional/Behavior Disorder, $7,575 for Specific Learning Disability, $6,057 for Speech/Language Impaired.
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Education
- 12% of Dakota County children are considered dismally unprepared for kindergarten (does not know how to hold a crayon or book, vocabulary of fewer than 800 words).
- Per year the K-12 MN school system loses $42 million of per-pupil aid because of students dropping out before graduation.
- High School dropouts from the Class of 2007 alone will cost the nation nearly $329 billion in lost wages, taxes, and productivity over their lifetimes.
- High School dropouts have higher rates of cardiovascular illnesses, diabetes and other ailments, and require an average $35,000 in annual health-care costs, compared with $15,000 for college graduates.
- A one-year increase in average years of schooling reduces murder and assault by almost 30%, motor vehicle theft by 20%, arson by 13%, and burglary and larceny by about 6%.
- Increasing the high school completion rate by just 1 percent for all men ages 20-60 would save the U.S. up to $1.4 billion per year in reduced costs from crime.
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Public Safety
- An effective Youth Intervention Program that keeps children out of Juvenile Justice returns benefits of $4.89 for every dollar of cost.
- Health-related costs of rape, physical assault, stalking, and homicide by intimate partners exceed $5.8 billion each year. Of this total, nearly $4.1 billion is for victims requiring direct medical and mental health care services.
- Lost productivity and earnings due to intimate partner violence accounts for almost $1.8 billion each year. Intimate partner violence victims lose nearly 8.0 million days of paid work each year; the equivalent of more than 32,000 full-time jobs and nearly 5.6 million days of household productivity
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