STATE BUDGET CUTS AND THE COUNTY JAIL

The problems at the Cook County jail will only get worse when the
state's drastic budget cuts to substance abuse treatment take effect
("Feds blast conditions at Cook County jail," July 18).

The Illinois House voted on July 16 to override Gov. Rod
Blagojevich's veto of $43 million for state alcohol and drug abuse
prevention and treatment programs. The Illinois Senate must follow
suit.

If the budget cuts stand, substance abuse treatment in Illinois will
be slashed by nearly 50 percent.

Half of those in state-funded treatment in Illinois are referred to
treatment by the justice system. This is no wonder since at least
half of felony offenders have a substance abuse problem requiring
intervention.

Treatment is effective in reducing addiction-driven crime. A national
study showed that a year following treatment, arrests declined 64
percent among former users.

In Cook County, the costs and consequences of the budget cuts to our
criminal justice system will occur immediately.

Justice will stall as waiting times swell for clinical assessments,
court processing, and drug treatment access.

One example: Judges mandate thousands of nonviolent, addicted
offenders to supervised substance abuse treatment. When
community-based treatment is not available, the alternatives are to
send addicted offenders back to the community or send them to jail or
prison -- at nearly five times the cost to taxpayers.

As your article shows, incarceration hardly amounts to
rehabilitation.

The Senate can sit idle as 42,000 people in Illinois are kicked out
of care, as current waiting lists of 7,500 are doubled, as the wheels
of justice are slowed, and as public safety decreases.

Or the Senate can restore the state's budget for treatment and avert
the costly consequences to families, communities, and taxpayers.

The Senate must act. We implore Senate President Emil Jones and the
Senate leadership to call a special session so that a vote can be
held on the veto overrides passed by the House.

Melody M. Heaps

President

Treatment Alternatives for Safe Communities, Inc.

Chicago