AREA COUNTIES BRACE FOR PROP 36 IMPACTS

California's Plan To Treat, Rather Than Jail, Drug Offenders Begins Next
Week, And Local Officials Say They're Ready.

For what, they're not exactly sure.

Counselors, probation officers and judges in the Northern San Joaquin
Valley and foothills aren't sure how many people will come their way
under Proposition 36, the measure offering treatment instead of jail to
nonviolent, small-time drug users.

They're not sure they have enough money to see the program past the
first year, or to pay for drug testing.

And they're not sure people will get the intensive counseling and
supervision they need to kick their habits.

"Still, I think we're going to be able to meet the need as it develops,"
said Stanislaus County Superior Court Judge Donald Shaver, who serves on
a state committee to implement Proposition 36. "There's rarely any
governmental agency that says, 'I've got enough money and I don't need
any more.'"

Proposition 36, favored by 61 percent of the state's voters in November,
shifts some drug offenders -- including those convicted of possessing
and using for the first and second times -- from jail to probation and
treatment programs.

Some 36,000 people throughout the state are expected to go to treatment
instead of jail each year. In the Northern San Joaquin Valley and
foothills, estimates range from 300 people in Tuolumne County to more
than 1,300 in Stanislaus County.

Number Of Offenders Unknown:

The figures represent the best guesses of probation departments and
parole offices, and officials expect offenders to trickle in as they
plead guilty. Still, it's not known how many people will opt for
treatment or how soon they'll begin to hit the courts.

Another unknown is precisely what level of treatment people will need.

Counselors will determine which people are suited for short-term
education and therapy and who needs longer, more intensive programs.
Some offenders may do better in live-in treatment centers.

Officials worry there won't be enough programs for people needing
intensive counseling and close supervision by probation officers.

"We'll have to weaken the treatment levels," said Troy Fox, director of
Merced County's Mental Health Department. "Or, we'll have to get more
money to subsidize this from somewhere else."

Officials could ask county supervisors to revisit the share of the state
money that goes to treatment. Or, they could ask supervisors to dip into
county general funds. If offenders have health insurance, billing the
health plans also may be an option.

Officials hope to avoid giving watered-down treatment and supervision to
those who need it most.

"We're not knowingly going to refer anybody to a level of care we think
they're going to fail at," said Larry Poaster, director of Stanislaus
County Behavioral Health and Recovery Services.

Proposition 36 provides $120 million per year for the counties. Larger
counties like Stanislaus and San Joaquin will get more than $1 million
each.

Money will go to probation and county treatment programs as well as to
private treatment facilities, some of which plan to expand to take on
offenders.

Tuolumne County:

That's not the case in Tuolumne County, where county-run treatment
programs will have to suffice. The county's only private treatment
facility isn't interested in accepting Proposition 36 offenders, said
Karen Bachtelle, a program manager with the county.

Tuolumne County doesn't run residential drug treatment. The cost is too
great. Instead, counselors there help drug users with a stepped-up
outpatient program, which includes group and individual counseling and
12-step meetings.

"It's much more intensive than other day programs," Bachtelle said.

Bachtelle said offenders could report to treatment programs within three
days of their court appearances. Other counties in the region also aim
to get people into treatment quickly, usually within seven working days.

"If they're told it's going to be three weeks until their first session,
how long can they maintain with no support?" Bachtelle said. "Chances
are they're going to blow out of treatment before they even get there."

In Stanislaus County, Judge Shaver said it will be possible for
offenders to enter treatment soon after appearing in court. A new county
treatment facility, to be housed in the old Memorial Hospital in Ceres,
should help prevent wait lists, he said. The Stanislaus County Recovery
Center will provide space for 245 people in outpatient and residential
treatment.

"Waiting lists are a sure way to kill anyone's desire for treatment," he
said.

Drug Testing:

Shaver and many others would like to be able to use some of the
Proposition 36 money to test offenders for drug use. The law forbids
that.

Some believe drug testing is necessary because it identifies addicts who
relapse and provides positive reinforcement for those who remain sober.
Opponents, however, fear a "dirty" drug test would send a person to
jail.

A bill by Senate President Pro Tem John Burton, D-San Francisco, would
give counties throughout the state $18 million for drug testing.

Testing is part of the existing Drug Court program, in which judges
closely monitor defendants to ensure they stick with treatment. In
Stanislaus County, only about 12 percent of Drug Court graduates in the
past six years have gone on to commit other crimes, compared with 40
percent to 50 percent of felons on probation who did not go through Drug
Court.

Julian Montoya of Oakdale, a 39-year-old Drug Court graduate, said the
drug testing and counseling regimen helped him own up to his addiction.

"Drug testing's got to be there for accountability," he said. "If you
don't have to get tested, drug addicts will go in dirty. I know I would
have."

Montoya now works as a painter and helps facilitate Narcotics Anonymous
meetings in his hometown.

"Drug Court saved my life," he said.

Unsettled Issues:

In theory, Proposition 36 would give thousands of people a chance to
turn their lives around. Whether some offenders get those chances,
however, could depend on how a handful of legal issues are settled.

Among the questions: When will a troublesome offender be removed from
treatment and sent to jail? Can offenders demand difficult-to-provide
drug treatment, such as methadone maintenance programs for heroin
addicts?

"Still, everybody I talk to believes the issue is money," said Fox, the
Merced County mental health director. "The amount of money is inadequate
to do what we need to do."