Pubdate: Tue, 08 Jul 2003
Source: Olympian, The (WA)
Copyright: 2003, The Olympian
Contact: http://www.theolympian.com/forms/lettrfrm.shtml
Website: http://www.theolympian.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/319
Author: Patrick Condon
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?159 (Drug Courts)

FUNDING FOR DRUG COURTS IS HELD UP

Project Might Hinge On Grant

A federal grant for county drug courts is in jeopardy because of the 
inability of the federal government and the Department of Social and Health 
Services to agree on how to disburse the money.

The $133,000 in grant funds from the Office of National Drug Control Policy 
is earmarked for major improvements to the computer system that links 
Washington's 14 drug courts, including the one in Thurston County. 
Officials working on the project aren't certain it can be completed without 
the federal dollars.

"Frankly, it's completely up in the air right now," said Steve Freng, an 
official with the Northwest High Intensity Drug Traffic Area, which 
administers the grant money.

The state's drug courts were established in 1997 to divert drug users who 
were willing to seek treatment out of the criminal courts.

The courts provide drug users with supervision, drug testing, treatment 
services and immediate sanctions and incentives, with a goal of keeping 
offenders clean and out of trouble -- and out of the clogged court system.

The Office of National Drug Control Policy is a major source of funding for 
state drug courts, having provided about $25 million to the state of 
Washington since 1997. Much of that money has been controlled by Northwest 
HIDTA, which works with county drug courts to tailor programs.

Because of the way federal grant laws are written, HIDTA must have a state 
agency that acts as a "pass-through" for the federal funds, distributing 
the money to the county drug courts. Up until the end of 2002, the Division 
of Alcohol and Substance Abuse at DSHS had filled that role.

Because of the state's budget crunch, DSHS leaders decided late in 2001 
that they could no longer afford the overhead costs associated with acting 
as the pass-through agency. Corki Hirsch, the division's chief financial 
officer, said the workload was enough to keep a half-time employee busy.

"That was part of our budget reduction," Hirsch said. "We had to give up 
some staff. We had to take a look at, basically, our book of business that 
was kind of outside the scope of state business."

Hirsch said DSHS gave its federal counterparts a full year's notice that 
they'd be ending the relationship, as well as an extension of several 
months. The HIDTA team had trouble finding a new pass-through, finally 
securing the help of Educational Services District 105 in Yakima, which 
mainly acts as a pass-through agency for federal education grants.

But there was a short lag, about three months, between the DSHS contract 
and the new pass-through contract -- enough to leave the $133,000 in limbo.

Officials with the Office of Drug Policy said federal law prohibited them 
from passing money through a new agency when it had been awarded in a grant 
from a previous year, under an old contract. DSHS officials said they 
couldn't grant any further contract extensions. HIDTA officials found 
themselves stuck in the middle.

"We're caught in a bind," Freng said. "It's very disappointing."

Freng said plans under way for the new, integrated computer system would 
make communication between drug court judges and other officials much more 
efficient and effective.

"I think we'd be looking at greater outcomes and successes," he said.

The project, on which about $300,000 has been spent so far, has been 
operating on a tight budget already, Freng said, and he questioned whether 
it could continue in the face of losing $133,000.

Hirsch, of DSHS, said the agency believes it gave HIDTA more than enough 
time to find a new pass-through agency.

"We had given them 12 months' notice," Hirsch said. "It seemed to us they 
took a long time."

Marty Lentsch, an official with the Yakima County Drug Court and an 
official in the state Drug Court Association, expressed optimism that an 
agreement would still be met to get the $133,000 to the project, calling 
HIDTA's work "extremely important."

"In any project like this, you're going to hit bumps in the road," Lentsch 
said.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom