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| Center on Juvenile and Criminal Justice, 54 Dore Street, San Francisco, CA 94103 | Tel: (415) 621-5661 | Fax: (415) 621-5466 |
With almost 75 percent of all Wisconsin prisoners fighting alcohol or drug abuse issues - many of them put behind bars because of it - the state decided to punch back.
With big money.
To that end, state Department of Corrections Secretary Matt Frank was in Washington County on Tuesday to award a $130,000-plus grant to county officials to fund substance abuse prevention and treatment programs as part of a new Treatment and Diversion (TAD) program.
The grants, Frank told the Daily News, were parceled out in a "very competitive" application process with 25 other state counties. Washington County was one of seven counties awarded the grant, Frank said.
"Washington County's grant application rose to the top," he said.
The TAD program is a new county alcohol and drug abuse alternative program created in the 2005-07 state budget signed by Gov. Jim Doyle that seeks to address the overwhelming need for substance abuse treatment in communities and in the state prison system, Frank said.
The Office of Justice Assis-tance, the Department of Correc-tions, and the Department of Health and Family Services collaborate to administer the program.
"In the long run, by focusing on prevention and treatment in addition to effective law enforcement, combined with increasing the options we have available to hold offenders accountable, Wisconsin can enhance public safety and reduce future costs for the criminal justice system," Frank said.
The grant request was supported by the judges, the sheriff, the district attorney, the public defender and local treatment personnel, said Washington County Circuit Judge Annette Ziegler.
In Washington County, the $130,950 in TAD grants will fund the hiring of two recovery support coordinators. They will establish and administer treatment plans and recovery support services to offenders of nonviolent alcohol- and drug-related crimes, Frank said.
The coordinators will provide intensive case management services, including individual and group counseling sessions and skill-building training courses.
The client will be involved in all aspects of program and treatment planning, including the establishment of a recovery support team consisting of criminal justice officials, family members, and child welfare, mental health and other social service providers where needed.
"This program is not for the chronic or serious offender," Ziegler said.
"The program has the potential to provide a reasonable alternative to the current problem of jail over-crowding, lack of treatment options and accountability for those who are in the community. It may also be used for certain people who are on probation or as a re-entry program for inmates who would otherwise be released into the community without those safeguards," she said.
The grant received bipartisan support in the Legislature, Frank said.
Local justice officials estimate that approximately 75 percent of people booked in jail have a substance abuse problem - totaling 36,400 bookings in 2005.
Through alternative sentencing, 135,000 days in prison and up to 27,500 days in the House of Corrections will be saved, and 3,000 days in jail awaiting trial will be saved through pre-trial diversion screening, the DOC said.
By establishing new programs that divert second time Operating While Intoxicated (OWI) and non-violent AODA offenders to appropriate treatment facilities and services away from long jail-stays, the county will save an estimated $840,000 annually that is spent on jail over-crowding, staffing, and current programs serving offenders who are now eligible for the TAD program.
It is estimated that 65 percent of offenders entered into the TAD program will not relapse and re-enter the criminal justice system within a year of enrollment, according to John Dipko, a DOC spokesperson.
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