The Prison Explosion, Part 3d

DRUG TREATMENT PROGRAMS

Intensive Treatment Alternative Program

Get sent to the Dutchess County Jail and you'll be screened for substance
abuse. One of the treatment programs that can be recommended is the
Intensive Treatment Alternative Program operated jointly by the Dutchess
County Department of Probation and Community Corrections and the Dutchess
County Department of Mental Hygiene.

Participants -- usually first-time felons or repeat misdemeanor offenders
-- have to agree to enter the program. Participation is often in lieu of
incarceration, but some offenders may have to serve some jail time, as
well, in order to meet the legal guidelines.

Most ITAP participants are in the program longer than the minimum six
months, said Michael North, unit administrator with the county's mental
hygiene department.

The mental hygiene department operates the day treatment program from 9
a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Monday through Friday. Probation officers monitor therapy
and make home visits to verify participants are following therapy and are
substance-free.

North said about 30 percent of participants recidivate from treatment, but
of those who complete the program, the recidivism rate is 10 to 15 percent
over a three year period.

Some ITAP participants start out in Transitional Housing, a 38-bed secure
facility that also houses offenders awaiting treatment for substance abuse
elsewhere, such as at Daytop or Turning Point at St. Francis Hospital.

Without Transitional Housing, said Karen O'Connor, unit administrator of
special programs at the probation department, people would wait in jail.

"Most of the people who finish our program...go on to lead productive
lives," said Dutchess County Commissioner of Mental Hygiene Kenneth M.
Glatt. "They're not mugging, thugging, thieving, getting caught up in the
criminal justice justice system...Treatment does work and treatment saves
money, that's something I want to shout from every building in Poughkeepsie."

Transition Program

The transitions program at the Dutchess County Jail is aimed at offenders
convicted of misdemeanor crimes who usually are in jail for a few months at
most.

"Our intent is focusing on transition -- what they do when they leave the
jail and transition to the community," said Gary Christensen, assistant
correction administrator at the Dutchess County Jail. "Our overall premise
is that it's really for the citizens of the county so (the inmates) can
transition without affecting other citizens." More than 90 percent of the
jail's inmates return to Dutchess County communities, Christensen said.

Participation is voluntary and anywhere from 50 to 100 inmates participate
at any given time, Christensen said. Specially trained corrections officers
screen the population every day, seeking eligible participants. The
Dutchess County Department of Mental Hygiene also has assigned some staff
to the jail to participate in screening.

"The jail program is more difficult than the rest of jail. There's a lot of
introspection that they are asked to complete. It's structured. They have
to be out of bed at a certain time, exercise...others don't want to be
bothered," Christensen said.

James Alston, 19, and homeless, in jail for violating parole, said he views
the transitions program as an opportunity.

"There's really nothing left for me out there," Alston said. "I really
don't want to make this (jail) a career. Even though this is jail, this
shows there's still a way out."

Transitions corrections officers Brooke Jones and Gary Charles said the
program can give inmates hope.

"Now the inmates believe they can change their lives," Charles said. "It's
satisfying to see them doing better," said Jones.

The recidivism rate since inception in November 1998 to September 2000 is
27 percent, Christensen said. On any given day, 70 percent of the regular
jail population has been incarcerated there one or more times before, he said.

"Nationwide statistics say that an active substance abuser will commit well
over 100 offenses a year," said Christensen. "For one success you save (a
number of) of felonies -- however many that might be."

Drug Courts

A drug court in the City of Kingston in Ulster County could be functioning
by January.

The City of Poughkeepsie is one of nine jurisdictions where drug courts are
being planned. Planning for 18 drug courts in other jurisdictions is
scheduled to begin this year. At this time, 19 drugs courts operate in New
York state.

The lure for the offender is avoiding the possibility of a long incarceration.

"...There is almost a guarantee that the offender will spend a substantial
amount of time in jail and the only way he can avoid jail is to become
actively involved in the drug court program," said Dutchess County District
Attorney William Grady.

Kingston's drug court would handle mostly misdemeanors and some low-level
felonies; Poughkeepsie's plan is to concentrate on people charged with
misdemeanor offenses. Drug treatment is essential to the program, which
also can include other steps, such as acquiring job skills, employment,
schooling and other counseling.

According to The New York State Commission on Drugs and the Courts, studies
have shown that drug courts are successful: For instance, 13 percent of
graduates from the Jefferson County (Kentucky) Drug Court were reconvicted
of a felony within a year, as compared with 60 percent of non-graduates and
55 percent of a comparison group that declined to participate.

Although he is supporting the drug court in Kingston, Ulster County
District Attorney Donald Williams questioned whether it is fair to the
community and whether it will be cost effective.

"It most certainly is not a simple situation," said Williams. "Yet the
problem of drug addiction and selling continues."

It's time to try something else concerning drug-addicted offenders, said
Poughkeepsie City Court Judge Ronald McGaw, who would be Poughkeepsie's
drug court judge.

"A definition of insanity is doing the same thing over again and expecting
the same result," McGaw said. "And to the degree we've dealt with people in
the traditional way hasn't worked. That's not to say incarceration is not
useful or appropriate. What we're trying to do is find a balance that works."

For information about the drug courts in New York state, log on to
www.courts.state.ny.us.