NOT QUITE BREAKING THE CYCLE

IN 1998 Maryland adopted an ambitious program requiring drug testing and
treatment for addicts who are on probation or parole for drug-related
crimes. Lt. Gov. Kathleen Kennedy Townsend promoted the effort, known as
Break the Cycle, as a way to "stop the revolving door of addiction and
crime" by offering addicts treatment, backed up by increasing sanctions if
they failed to stay off drugs.

But a harsh spotlight hit the program last week when it was revealed that
the accused murderer of undercover policeman Edward Toatley was on Break
the Cycle probation and had violated its terms 72 times without suffering
any consequences. His probation officer, now suspended, never reported the
violations to the court prior to the shooting. She was handling 200 cases.

The Post's Lori Montgomery took a look at Break the Cycle last week and
reported that while it has shown success in reducing drug use among those
who show up for treatment and testing, its record of enforcing such
compliance falls far short. Some treatment providers reported that only
half the offenders identified as needing treatment actually showed up for
it. And when parole officers find offenders breaking the program's rules,
they seek sanctions only about a quarter of the time, an audit found last
summer. That's actually an improvement from an earlier study that found
parole officers were so swamped that they were responding to just 3 percent
of violations. But for a program that was supposed to back up the effects
of treatment during probation with swift punishment for defaulters, the
numbers are awful.

Lt. Gov. Townsend drew a distinction last week between the handling of the
particular case of Kofi Apea Orleans-Lindsay, the alleged killer, and the
broader operation of the Break the Cycle program. That's fair, but only to
a point. The average caseload for the program's probation officers remains
at about 100, far too high. The state is moving to hire new agents but far
too slowly. It's a serious problem. The lieutenant governor, who has made
criminal justice issues her special responsibility, needs to step up to it.