Pubdate: Mon, 05 Oct 2015
Source: Arizona Republic (Phoenix, AZ)
Copyright: 2015 The Arizona Republic
Contact: http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/opinions/sendaletter.html
Website: http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/24
Author: Craig Harris

COULD REHAB PROGRAMS CUT PRISON COSTS?

TUCSON - Heather McNeeley already had spent one birthday behind bars 
for using drugs, and she was looking at another 3.5 years in prison 
for possessing and trying to sell heroin in 2012.

Pima County Attorney Barbara LaWall, however, gave McNeeley a chance 
to stay out of the pokey.

McNeeley was allowed to enroll in the county's Drug Treatment 
Alternative to Prison (DTAP) program - the only one of its kind in Arizona.

LaWall said DTAP, started in 2010 and funded mostly by federal 
grants, costs less than half of what it takes to send a non-violent 
drug offender to prison. LaWall, a prosecutor for nearly 40 years, 
added that the state could save millions of dollars if it shifted 
money to drug treatment instead of adding more private prison beds.

The attorney, a Democrat, is among a growing number of elected 
officials and community activists calling on the 
Republican-controlled Legislature and Gov. Doug Ducey to end the 
state's growing reliance on private prisons. Lawmakers and the 
governor have said private prisons save the state money, but have not 
offered independent research to back up their claims. The state has 
16 prisons, with private companies operating six.

Just one private-prison company, Corrections Corporation of America, 
on Sept. 30 submitted a bid to provide up to 2,000 more 
medium-security beds that could cost taxpayers nearly $50 million.The 
Arizona Department of Corrections is asking Ducey for 2,500 more 
inmate beds, with most possibly going to a private contractor, in 
next year's budget. The agency declined to comment for this story.

"We are saving the state money, and we would like a steady stream of 
funding to keep this program going. But there are a lot of challenges 
that anyone will face to replace incarceration with drug treatment," 
LaWall said. "It's very difficult for the public to wrap their heads 
around: that repeat criminals can be rehabilitated."

Heather McNeeley (left) and Tabitha Frable share memories of a 
recently passed client during a break at Haven Rehabilitation Center 
in Tucson on Sept. 30, 2015. (Photo: John Samora/The Republic)

McNeeley said she had plenty of doubters, including her parents, who 
were unsure that entering a residential, therapeutic 
community-treatment system in lieu of prison would keep her clean.

Yet today, McNeeley said she's been alcohol- and drug-free for nearly 
four years. And she's working full time at The Haven, the women's 
residential center that helped her end her addictions.

"DTAP gave me a chance, and no one wants to give a chance to heroin 
addicts and ex-felons," said McNeeley, 28. "Prison doesn't teach you 
anything. There is no help."

Joyce Morgan, The Haven's clinical-services chief, said McNeeley is a 
model employee and has helped others find stable housing.

"She is a real blessing. Every day she is in recovery gives our 
clients hope," Morgan said.

He was homeless, on heroin and wanted to die. Then, he was rescued.

Along with drug treatment, DTAP provides short-term housing, food 
assistance, bus passes, even dental care.

"We give them an incredible amount of services," LaWall said. "Some 
come into the program who are meth addicted. If they have been 
longtime meth users, their mouths are a wreck. We get them new teeth. 
How can you go out and interview for a job or try and get hired in an 
office or an agency when you look like a meth addict?"

To get into DTAP, a drug offender must be a Pima County resident 
facing a mandatory prison sentence, and have no history of violent or 
sex crimes and no other pending felonies. Offenders enter a 90-day 
residential treatment center or an intensive outpatient 
substance-abuse treatment program, where they reside in 
probation-approved housing.

Since it began, DTAP has had 113 participants. It has an overall 
success rate of 70 percent, according to LaWall's office. There were 
43 defendants in the program in fiscal 2015. Those who fail and 
return to drugs are sent to prison.

The program was unable to add new defendants in the last three months 
of 2013 because of a lack of funding. It received an additional $1.1 
million in federal grants last year to keep the program going for 
four more years. Tucson and Pima County have provided some funding, 
and the Legislature gave the program $250,000.

Resident managers Henry Morgan (left to right) and Denice Hotchkiss 
share a laugh while Heather McNeeley checks client paperwork at Haven 
Rehabilitation Center in Tucson on Sept. 30, 2015. (Photo: John 
Samora, John Samora/ The Arizona Republi)

Meanwhile, state funding for Corrections has increased nearly 46 
percent over the past decade, to $1 billion annually. The biggest 
impact in additional inmates comes from convicted drug traffickers 
and marijuana users, according to the Arizona Prosecuting Attorneys' 
Advisory Council.

State budget records show funding for private prisons has more than 
tripled to nearly $152 million during that era, as private-prison 
companies have made campaign contributions to key Republican 
legislative leaders and current and former governors.

At the same time, K-12 education funding has increased just more than 
9 percent.

LaWall said if her program received the same amount of money as 
private prisons, DTAP could "do some bang-up work with drug-treatment 
alternatives."

LaWall said the average cost of placing a convict in DTAP is $12,593. 
The average cost to incarcerate a person for one year is at least 
$23,730, according to the DOC. LaWall said a typical drug offender 
spends about 18 months in prison, raising the cost of incarceration to $35,595.

In its budget request to Ducey, the DOC said it "lacks the resources 
to offer treatment to the majority of offenders with substance-abuse issues."

Corrections said it released 19,773 inmates from custody during the 
past fiscal year. Of those who served their sentences, approximately 
77 percent needed substance-abuse treatment. However, DOC only 
graduated 2,009 inmates from drug-treatment programs.

The agency is seeking $665,100 for additional substance-abuse 
programs for inmates. It also is asking for $17.6 million to start 
the process of adding more private-prison beds,

LaWall, first elected Pima County attorney in 1996, said she began 
the DTAP program because she was tired of seeing low-income drug 
offenders continually cycle through the courthouse in Tucson with 
similar, new charges after spending time behind bars. She said those 
charged with drug offenses who had financial means could seek a plea 
bargain that exchanged prison for drug treatment.

"That was really nice for people who had resources, but what about 
the mass number of people on my docket who had a public attorney and 
couldn't afford rehabilitation?" LaWall said. "They are certainly not 
getting it (drug rehabilitation) in prison."
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom