The last post I wrote was about how children are damaged by the incarceration of their parents. Yesterday, I read about research estimating the actual cost of incarceration in the U.S. at $1 trillion. [LINK HERE] Stories abound of the direct cost of incarceration, but reading about the real human cost is rare.
Think about what $1.2 trillion represents. For 2015 the U.S. budget was $3.8 Trillion. [LINK HERE] The federal budget approximates about 21% of gross domestic product. Incarceration costs us about 6% of our gross domestic production. That’s a huge sum. Is there another way we can deal with crime and its impact? I totally believe so, and that we can use our understanding of adverse childhood experiences to address the underlying cause of crime.
Before I move on to a discussion of the study, I want to make a couple of points I always mention. But this time, I have more ammunition. This point is that we do not, and let me emphasize this point, DO NOT, give poor nutrition enough emphasis when addressing crime in the United States. A family member just underwent a patch test for allergens that contact the skin and cause distress. As a former medical care executive, I like to know the exact details of a testing protocol and the diagnostic values it embeds. I walked away surprised. This family member has a strong reaction to nickel, and a significant reaction to cobalt. [LINK HERE] The persistence in the U.S. is 3% for men, 17% for women. It is common among our population. And the sources of nickel are legion. Many, many common foods contain nickel, including many vegetables, nuts and margarine. Ingesting nickel can express itself in rashes, particularly around the hands. But when looking at other negative outcomes, included are joint pain, depression, chronic fatigue, cognitive impairment and fibromyalgia. That’s quite a list. I am adding metal hypersensitivities to my restoration to health hypotheses in the nutrition section along with omega 3, vitamin D3 and B vitamin supplementation.
Now, on to the study. Conducted by Washington University in St. Louis, MO, the study estimated the social costs along 22 different measurement parameters. One such measure was the “Increased criminality of children of incarcerated parents.” What we find in the ACE Study is that children with more ACEs will commit more crimes. The cost of this measure is estimated at $130.6 billion. According to the study, the actual total cost of incarceration on the federal level is $80 million. That’s a huge penalty to pay for a strict policy of incarceration.
Children suffer great detriment, according to the study. I should point out that the study recognizes that the costs are born mostly by people other than the prisoner, in many cases children. For education level and future wages of children of incarcerated parents, that cost is estimated at $30.2 billion. Child health care costs are not segregated out for children, but are substantial at $1.02 billion. Infant mortality costs are estimated at $1.2 billion. Child welfare costs are estimated at $5.3 billion.
Bear in mind that the costs are estimated for just ONE ACE. There are nine more that were studied, and many more that exist and were not studied.
From a public policy point of view, we need to make our legislators and government executives aware of different policy options, including the most important one, a system for identifying and intervening with families that are perpetrating trauma on their children. It will not be an easy task, but one that we, as childhood trauma activists, must do. We have a start in some states. We need to let Congress know what can be done as well.
Let’s get to work.
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