Tribune/Debra Reid - Jesse Almond, center, and dog Malibu wait as wife Christy Almond, left, visits with friends Angela and Patty. Christy holds the couple's 4-month-old son Mikole. "We want to give him the best life that didn't we have," Christy said. Of new family tax credits, Christy said anything would help. In November, Jesse was laid off by Incline Glass and the family is getting by on unemployment insurance until he finds another job.
"There's no excuse for this teen's behavior and the judicial system is handling this case appropriately," Rombardo said. "However, no kid in this country should ever be placed in this situation to steal food."
Poverty and crime, local law enforcement officials said Wednesday, are well-connected, but both could take a tumble in Nevada with a proposed provision that would make it easier for more families to claim up to $3,000 for a child tax credit.
The organization Fight Crime: Invest in Kids announced in a press conference Wednesday at the Washoe County Sheriff's Office that it is calling upon Sen. Harry Reid to urge congressional leaders to support a decrease in a threshold of the Child Tax Credit.
Lowering the current limit of $8,500 would help working families receive a tax refund and reduce child poverty and crime rates, according to Fight Crime vice president Jeff Kirsch.
"The best way to help struggling families is to help them become more eligible for the child tax credit, and in this time of economic uncertainty, every little bit helps," Kirsch said.
Fight Crime is an anti-crime organization of which more than 4,500 police chiefs, sheriffs, prosecutors and victims of violent crimes belong.
Congress is considering the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, which would jumpstart the waning economy, Kirsch said. The Child Tax Credit proposal is included in the Act, but there's a debate among the Senate and House of Representatives as to what the new threshold should be.
Kirsch said Fight Crime is pushing for the House version because it would be more helpful to families.
Rombardo said the credit would help 96,000 Nevada children, as well as stimulate the economy.
"The families that would receive these fully refundable credits are the ones likely to spend the money and not save it," he said.
The child tax credit can be applied up to three children. At $1,000 per child, families can receive a maximum of $3,000. It would only make a dent in the families' financial needs, Kirsch said, but it could do much more to prevent violent crimes, such as robbery, thefts and even murder, among youth.
Lower-income families that currently earn less than $8,500 are eligible for the tax credit. According to Carson City Sheriff Ken Furlong, the Senate seeks to lower the limit to $6,000 while the House of Representatives is pushing for the first earned dollar of income.
Nevada Attorney General Catherine Cortez Masto said crime has a close relationship with child poverty.
"By eliminating the earnings requirement on the tax credit, more families can benefit and more crime can be prevented," Cortez Masto said. "Research indicated that when parents' income is increased to above the poverty level, children are less like to fall into a life of crime."
At-risk children are more likely to end up behind bars, Rombardo said, having seen many such youth in court rather than the classroom.
According to the Cutting Crime by Cutting Child Poverty report released by Fight Crime, In Nevada a smaller proportion of children are living in poverty than in America as a whole. Still, Nevada children are twice as likely to be living in poverty than Nevada adults ages 45 to 54, the report states.
Although it's the responsibility of law enforcement to investigate and stop criminals, Kirsch said, the root of the problem must first be dealt with by preventing youth of low-income families from committing crimes.
"Fight Crime: Invest in Kids and our members say that one of the most effective ways of doing that is ... trying to change the odds so that kids are less likely to move toward crime and more likely to graduate from high school, more likely to get training to get a job, to be a good parent, to raise good kids themselves," Kirsch said. "This injection of returning tax dollars to these working families that are struggling is just one piece of a process that helps families take care of themselves and helps kids be strong."
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