Pubdate: Mon, 04 Dec 2000
Source: Contra Costa Times (CA)
Copyright: 2000 Contra Costa Newspapers Inc.
Address: 2640 Shadelands Drive, Walnut Creek, CA 94598
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Website: http://www.contracostatimes.com/
Forum:  Don Thompson, Associated Press

OPINIONS VARIED ON IMPACT OF DRUG TREATMENT INITIATIVE

The State Department Of Corrections' Estimates Of Savings Are Less Than 
Those Generated By The Legislative Analyst's Office

Impact On System

Here are the conflicting estimates of the impact on California's prison 
system from Proposition 36, which requires treatment instead of prison or 
jail for those convicted of possessing or using drugs for the first or 
second time: The Legislative Analyst's Office predicts a reduction of 
24,000 inmates, meaning the system will need 9,000 to 11,000 fewer beds. It 
projects an annual savings of $200 million to $250 million in operating 
costs, plus one-time savings of $450 million to $550 million because the 
state won't have to build new prisons as rapidly.

The Department of Corrections predicts a reduction of 19,000 inmates, 
meaning the system will need about 6,000 fewer beds.

It predicts lower savings, in part because drug offenders are usually in 
cheaper dormitory-style prisons. Most of those are private prisons, 
operated under contract with the department.

It says it needs more prisons to house hard-core inmates.

STOCKTON -- The Department of Corrections is disputing projections it will 
need 9,000 to 11,000 fewer beds because of a voter initiative that bars 
many drug users from prison.

Prison officials say that those estimates are overblown and that cost 
savings to taxpayers are overestimated as well.

They say they must expand their drug treatment programs despite voters' 
approval of Proposition 36 last month. Once the initiative takes effect 
July 1, it will require that those convicted of using or possessing drugs 
for the first or second time be sent to community treatment programs.

"There won't be a precipitous drop in the number of inmates as soon as this 
goes into effect, but there will be a decline as more inmates are released 
and more inmates are diverted to drug treatment," said department spokesman 
Russ Heimerich.

The department estimates the initiative will lead to a need for about 6,270 
fewer beds in five years. That compares with projections by the nonpartisan 
Legislative Analyst's Office that the proposition will free up at least 
9,000 beds -- the equivalent of two to three prisons.

The legislative office predicts that will save taxpayers $200 million to 
$250 million annually in operating costs, plus one-time savings of $450 
million to $550 million because the state won't have to build new prisons 
as rapidly.

Department officials said the savings will be less because many drug users 
go to dormitory-style prison camps or community correctional centers, most 
of which are run by private firms. It costs an average of $23,000 to house 
an inmate in prison for a year. However, a dormitory-style prison costs 
$15,000 to $17,000 annually.

The projections by both the department and the legislative office rely in 
large part on guessing whether California's 58 county prosecutors will 
refuse to negotiate plea bargains with drug dealers, knowing that a drug 
use or possession conviction will bring no prison time.

Convictions for more serious charges will bring longer sentences. In 
addition, some drug users who would have gone to prison could commit new 
crimes while they remain free and thus wind up incarcerated for longer periods.

Dan Carson, who wrote the legislative office's report, said prison 
officials underestimated the benefits of treatment in keeping drug users 
out of prison, as well as the number of repeat offenders who will avoid 
extended sentences under the initiative.

"Basically, they assumed no effect at all from drug treatment programs, 
which is kind of an awkward argument for the administration when they've 
asked for hundreds of millions of dollars each year for treatment, on the 
presumption treatment works," Carson said.

Three years ago, the department had 400 drug treatment beds. It now can 
provide drug treatment for 5,000 inmates at a time, and this year's budget 
adds 3,000 more beds.

That's still far short of the need, said Ernest Jarman, the department's 
assistant director for substance abuse programs.

The crimes committed by at least 70 percent of inmates have some connection 
to drugs, such as a burglary to support a drug habit, Jarman estimated. He 
said at least 80 percent of inmates have a current or past drug problem.

The department has a Dec. 31 deadline to present a plan to provide 
treatment to every inmate who needs it by 2005. But then it's up to the 
governor and Legislature to decide whether to go ahead with the expansion.

California has recently become a national leader in inmate drug treatment 
with programs like the one offered at the Northern California Women's 
Facility at Stockton, said professor David Deitch.

Studies in Delaware, New York, Texas and California show intensive prison 
treatment programs can be "startlingly effective," said Deitch, who heads 
the federally financed Pacific Southwest Addiction Technology Transfer 
Center at UC San Diego.

They can cut the rearrest rate for hard-core addicts as much as 30 percent 
after three years -- but only if they are combined with community-based 
treatment programs that support the inmates once they leave prison.

Because of budget constraints, only half of California inmates go through 
those post-release programs.

The 15-month-old Stockton program is too new to have valid recidivism 
statistics. But a study last year of three California programs found about 
25 percent of those who completed post-release programs returned to prison 
within two years, compared with half of those who had treatment only in 
prison and two-thirds of those who had no treatment.

"I didn't want the program, but amazingly, it's paid off for me. I have 
grandchildren now -- I don't need to be in prison," said inmate Linda 
Jones, 49, of Stockton. "I never had a grandmother, and I want them to have 
one.

"I'm really out for change," said Jones, who became addicted to heroin 14 
years ago. "I'm hoping SAP (the substance abuse program) can give me the 
change that I need."

The prison system's new emphasis on treatment hasn't been an easy sell to 
some prison employees, said correctional counselor Velda Dobson, who helps 
run the Stockton program.

"We're used to working on the correctional side, not the treatment side," 
she said.

In the beginning, employees would disparage what they termed "the 
hug-a-thug program," she said, though things are getting better.

"I've got skid marks down the sidewalk" from dragging some corrections 
officials into supporting the program, Dobson said.
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