Pubdate: Sun, 18 Nov 2001
Source: Tulsa World (OK)
Copyright: 2001 World Publishing Co.
Contact:  http://www.tulsaworld.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/463
Author: Barbara Hoberock

MORE DRUG TREATMENT URGED FOR INMATES

OKLAHOMA CITY -- For a drug- addict or alcoholic in prison, it can be a 
long wait before help arrives, if ever.

"It is fairly common knowledge that up to 85 percent of people in prison 
get there related to substance abuse," said Ben Brown, deputy commisioner 
for substance abuse of the Oklahoma Department of Mental Health and 
Substance Abuse Services.

They steal to get money for drugs or commit a crime while on drugs or 
abusing alcohol, said Brown, who also is a former state senator.

Despite that, former inmates and inmate rights advocates say drug and 
alcohol programs inside state prisons are few and far between.

A recent report indicates many of the programs are ineffective.

"The waiting period can be years long," said Tulsan Lynn Powell, president 
of Citizens United for the Rehabilitation of Errants. "When an addict needs 
help and he is willing to admit he needs help, there is no reason there 
shouldn't be a drug program at every single facility."

Inmates have complained that substance abuse treatment requirements imposed 
by the state parole board as conditions of release are difficult to meet 
because of the lack of programs or the waiting list to get into the program.

Former Oklahoma Department of Corrections Director James Saffle recently 
approached the parole board, asking them to impose the treatment conditions 
after release, forcing the inmate to take the program in the community.

The board has tried to comply, said parole board Executive Director Terry 
Jenks.

One unacceptable alternative would be for inmates to go untreated in prison 
and serve out their sentence, meaning they would go back on the streets 
with no supervision and no treatment, he said.

Now the board receives more updated information and pays attention to the 
projected release date of the inmate, Jenks said.

Inmates with a parole board stipulation to complete a program as a 
condition of release are moved to the top of the list, said Mary Smith, the 
department's programs administrator.

"I think we are going to have a waiting list in our programs," said Smith. 
"We don't have sufficient programs to handle the numbers coming in."

Saffle and his successor Ron Ward have said prison drug and alcohol 
programs aren't where they should be.

Both have stressed the need to concentrate on effective programs.

In 1999, Dr. Edward Latessa, of Cincinnati, Ohio, evaluated the 
department's programs. He used what is called the Correctional Program 
Assessment Inventory to look at effective treatment and rate programs.

His findings showed that nine of 22 programs scored unsatisfactory, 
according to a department report to the Board of Corrections.

Dixie Pebworth is director of New Wings of Freedom, a transitional living 
house for women and children. He is also a minister at Cavalry Temple 
Assembly of God in Tulsa. He is a former inmate.

Pebworth said it was a prison drug program that helped him admit he had a 
cocaine problem. But it was a religious affiliation that made him stop 
using drugs. He has been clean since October 1987.

Powell said some inmates go into prison without a drug problem and develop 
one on the inside.

The department used Latessa's evaluation to make improvements in programs, 
Smith said.

The corrections department is working with the mental health department to 
improve the programs it offers, she said.

"No, we are not satisfied," Smith said regarding the effectiveness of 
programs. "I hope we never get to point were we are satisfied. I want to 
constantly be improving. But I think we are moving in the right direction."

The amount of money spent by the department of drug and alcohol abuse 
programs has been increasing. In fiscal year 1997, the department spent 
$423,863 in state funds and $19,725 in federal funds on substance abuse 
treatment. In fiscal year 2001, it spent $3.9 million in state funds and 
$539,583 in federal funds.

"In the past, there hasn't been the emphasis placed on treatment in our 
state," Brown said. "The trend nationally has been more on the punishment 
side and locking them up. Now, there is an increasing awareness of the need 
to provide treatment to deal with the causes that get the people there."

Drug convictions accounted for the largest category of incarceration at the 
end of fiscal year 2000, representing 26 percent of the inmate population. 
Another 4.5 percent were locked up for driving under the influence.

For the entire inmate population, the recidivism rate was 9 percent at the 
end of the first year, a figure which rose to 43.7 percent by the 10th 
year, ac cording to the department.

The recidivism rate for drug possession was 28.4 percent and 7.8 percent 
for drug trafficking.

Powell looks at the lack of drug treatment programs behind bars as an 
economic issue, as well as a humanitarian issue.

"We should try to do something before we send them to prison," she said. 
"They should have programs at every prison. It would save the taxpayers an 
awful lot of money."

Barbara Hoberock, World Capitol Bureau reporter, can be reached at (405) 
528-2465 or via e-mail at  ---
MAP posted-by: Keith Brilhart