MANY WORRY PROBATION OFFICES GET TOO MUCH FUNDING

SACRAMENTO, Calif. - Backers of the initiative that puts drug offenders in
treatment programs instead of prison are warning that some county probation
offices are swallowing too much of the $120 million pie.

One of their prime examples is Sacramento County, where more than a third
of the money set aside for Proposition 36 will go to the county probation
department.

"Based on what I know, Sacramento County is the highest at this point,"
said Bill Zimmerman, executive director of the Campaign for New Drug
Policies in Santa Monica and the campaign manager for Proposition 36.

Zimmerman and other initiative backers say the probation departments are
creating unnecessary work for themselves in an attempt to get money to beef
up their inadequate budgets.

That money will cut into the treatment programs at the heart of the
initiative, they say.

Proposition 36 offenders are not dangerous and don't need that kind of
supervision, Zimmerman said.

"Public safety is not the main concern for this population," he said.
"Curing drug addiction is the main concern."

Sacramento County takes a different view. A group of criminal justice
officials decided to give probation a significant role to make sure that
the initiative doesn't erode public safety. On Tuesday, the Board of
Supervisors approved the group's plan, including the hiring of 14 new
probation officers, a supervisor and a clerk. The law requires the new
staff to be used only for the Proposition 36 offenders, said Toni Moore,
Sacramento County's alcohol and drug administrator.

Steve DeRoss, the county's assistant chief probation officer, said
Sacramento County's plan "balances the needs of public safety and
treatment. To do it right, you need the accountability and you need someone
there to make sure the people are going to the treatment and being
drug-tested."

Proposition 36 was approved by 61 percent of voters in November. It calls
for first-or second-time non-violent drug offenders to get treatment
instead of time behind bars. The law goes into effect July 1, and counties
are gearing up to handle a swell of offenders.

The initiative calls for funding of $120 million a year, but doesn't spell
out exactly how much can be spent for services other than treatment.

San Francisco is spending only 5 percent on probation. Santa Clara County
is also using very little for probation, relying instead on the treatment
programs themselves to update the courts electronically about how offenders
are faring, Zimmerman said.

San Diego County initially wanted half to go to probation, but has since
reduced the amount to a quarter, he said.

Sacramento County's probation department will get 34 percent in the first
year and 40 percent in the second. Overall, the county will receive $4.2
million a year of the Proposition 36 money, but plans to use other sources
to boost the annual budget to $5.5 million.

Around the state, probation and drug treatment officials have been
skirmishing over the allocation, a battle made especially fierce because
both services have been perennially cash-starved.

"Both have been inadequately funded from the get-go," Moore said. "Then put
in something like this and in essence underfund it, and naturally it sets
up that kind of struggle."

The Lindesmith Center, a drug policy reform organization, sent a letter to
the state Department of Alcohol and Drug Programs in March asking director
Kathryn Jett to limit counties to spending 16.7 percent of their
allocations on things other than treatment.

Jett declined to take such an action, saying she prefers to give the
counties flexibility. There's also some question about whether she has the
authority to impose such a cap. Proposition 36 backers say it may take
action by the Legislature, which is unlikely to get involved until there's
a track record.

In Sacramento, the probation department will use the money to assess how
risky offenders are to the community, make sure they comply with treatment
and keep the courts updated. Some probation officers will have offices at
the treatment centers, DeRoss said.