FUNDING FOR DRUG COURTS IS HELD UP

Project Might Hinge On Grant

A federal grant for county drug courts is in jeopardy because of the
inability of the federal government and the Department of Social and Health
Services to agree on how to disburse the money.

The $133,000 in grant funds from the Office of National Drug Control Policy
is earmarked for major improvements to the computer system that links
Washington's 14 drug courts, including the one in Thurston County.
Officials working on the project aren't certain it can be completed without
the federal dollars.

"Frankly, it's completely up in the air right now," said Steve Freng, an
official with the Northwest High Intensity Drug Traffic Area, which
administers the grant money.

The state's drug courts were established in 1997 to divert drug users who
were willing to seek treatment out of the criminal courts.

The courts provide drug users with supervision, drug testing, treatment
services and immediate sanctions and incentives, with a goal of keeping
offenders clean and out of trouble -- and out of the clogged court system.

The Office of National Drug Control Policy is a major source of funding for
state drug courts, having provided about $25 million to the state of
Washington since 1997. Much of that money has been controlled by Northwest
HIDTA, which works with county drug courts to tailor programs.

Because of the way federal grant laws are written, HIDTA must have a state
agency that acts as a "pass-through" for the federal funds, distributing
the money to the county drug courts. Up until the end of 2002, the Division
of Alcohol and Substance Abuse at DSHS had filled that role.

Because of the state's budget crunch, DSHS leaders decided late in 2001
that they could no longer afford the overhead costs associated with acting
as the pass-through agency. Corki Hirsch, the division's chief financial
officer, said the workload was enough to keep a half-time employee busy.

"That was part of our budget reduction," Hirsch said. "We had to give up
some staff. We had to take a look at, basically, our book of business that
was kind of outside the scope of state business."

Hirsch said DSHS gave its federal counterparts a full year's notice that
they'd be ending the relationship, as well as an extension of several
months. The HIDTA team had trouble finding a new pass-through, finally
securing the help of Educational Services District 105 in Yakima, which
mainly acts as a pass-through agency for federal education grants.

But there was a short lag, about three months, between the DSHS contract
and the new pass-through contract -- enough to leave the $133,000 in limbo.

Officials with the Office of Drug Policy said federal law prohibited them
from passing money through a new agency when it had been awarded in a grant
from a previous year, under an old contract. DSHS officials said they
couldn't grant any further contract extensions. HIDTA officials found
themselves stuck in the middle.

"We're caught in a bind," Freng said. "It's very disappointing."

Freng said plans under way for the new, integrated computer system would
make communication between drug court judges and other officials much more
efficient and effective.

"I think we'd be looking at greater outcomes and successes," he said.

The project, on which about $300,000 has been spent so far, has been
operating on a tight budget already, Freng said, and he questioned whether
it could continue in the face of losing $133,000.

Hirsch, of DSHS, said the agency believes it gave HIDTA more than enough
time to find a new pass-through agency.

"We had given them 12 months' notice," Hirsch said. "It seemed to us they
took a long time."

Marty Lentsch, an official with the Yakima County Drug Court and an
official in the state Drug Court Association, expressed optimism that an
agreement would still be met to get the $133,000 to the project, calling
HIDTA's work "extremely important."

"In any project like this, you're going to hit bumps in the road," Lentsch
said.