At age 48, Curtis Ray Bowman is a multi-millionaire Alabamian. He did not win the lottery or become a multi-millionaire on Wall Street. Instead, he has cost Alabama taxpayers tens of millions of dollars for his care and society’s protection.
Curtis Ray has spent 25 years in adult correctional institutions (for burglary, armed robbery, possession and sale of a controlled substance, and assault), and more than 3 years in a juvenile correctional facility. His prison time has cost Alabama citizens approximately $328,000 (25 years at $13,320 a year), his juvenile treatment an additional $131,400 ($120 a day for three years) and when he did spend time on probation, it cost the citizens $2,463 at $2.25 a day for a parole officer. Because Curtis was always in and out of trouble, the expenses for court costs, prosecution and his appeals totaled more than $150,000. Special medical bills for preventable neurological disorders have added $180,000 to the total.
Curtis Ray‘s mother did not have a high school diploma and she lived most of her life in poverty, sometimes on public assistance. When she gave birth, she had no prenatal care and Curtis was born prematurely and at a low birth weight. Curtis suffered from hyperactivity and a chaotic home environment. His mother was unable to control him by the time he was 7 years of age - his stepfather abused him.
A disciplinary problem at school, Curtis did not complete the tenth grade and with the help of other drop-outs began his criminal career with petty larceny, sale and possession of drugs, which ultimately landed him at a DYS detention facility.
After aging out of the DYS facility at 18, he fathered two children, one who has been in foster care homes and now is a candidate for a juvenile correction facility. Out of frustration, Curtis shook his other child when she was only a baby when it would not stop crying.
Alabama has spent more than 1 million dollars annually treating Curtis's daughter for the injuries she received as a shaken baby - she is now sixteen and another 100s of thousands of dollars for psychological and other support needs for his other child through foster care homes and DYS time.
And the irony is, Curtis may have virtually assured that Alabamawill have yet another generation of multi-millionaire Alabamians. In Curtis's case we can find places where action could have been taken that would have resulted in a better outcome for Curtis, his family and society.
If Curtis's mother had received support, counseling, prenatal care and home visitation, she might have given birth to a normal birth weight baby without
If she had received enhanced training, employment and family development opportunities, she might have been able to provide a more economically secure home.
If a quality early learning program had been available, Curtis might have started school on a par with his class-mates ready to succeed.
If primary and preventative health care had been provided while Curtis was an infant and a toddler he might not have needed so much medical attention as an adult.
If Curtis's family had participated in parenting programs and home visitation, he might not have been abused as an infant and become an angry teenager.
If Curtis had participated in life skills training in after school or mentoring programs, he might have completed high school and developed his own career.
Finally, if Curtis had received family support or been involved in a parenting program, he might have been able to stop the cycle of abuse and violence.
In short, preventive investments--in thousands rather than millions of dollars--in the early years of Curtis Ray Bowman’s life might have helped him become a contributing member of society, rather than a threat and a huge financial liability to society.
If Curtis had earned even three-fourths of the median income for his age group during this period, he would have paid in Alabama taxes, over a 30 year period, more than $43,000. More importantly, his children would be on a path to success, not dependency. Overall,
Curtis would have contributed to society rather than draining society of these amounts.
Community-based Child Abuse and Neglect Prevention programs are research-based and proven to be effective in breaking the cycle of child maltreatment which is the engine that fuels problems such as these. By strengthening families and raising healthy, well-adapted children, we can put a stop to the budget breaking and life stealing tragedy of these Alabama multimillionaires.
