CLINTON ADVOCATES MORE SUPERVISION FOR NEWLY RELEASED PRISONERS

Reno Pushes For Post-Prison Release Drug Treatment

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- U.S. President Bill Clinton is urging Congress to act
without delay to fund a public safety initiative that would provide greater
supervision for inmates after they are released from prison.

Meanwhile, Attorney General Janet Reno on Monday announced $57 million in
grants for state and local prisoner drug treatment programs, but said such
programs must be expanded to include treatment of offenders after they are
released.

Clinton said the public safety initiative is needed because "an
unprecedented number of individuals will be released from prison in the
coming years."

Nearly 600,000 of the 1.9 million people in federal and state prisons and
local jails will be released in the next year, according to the White House.

'A serious public safety risk'

The federal initiative will "promote responsibility and help keep
ex-offenders on track and crime- and drug-free," the president said in a
statement.

"This population poses a serious public safety risk," Clinton's statement
said. "Studies show that nearly two-thirds of all released offenders will
be arrested again within three years."

In his 2001 budget, Clinton called for $147 million to be spent on
"innovative reentry programs" aimed at encouraging responsibility among
inmates when they are released. The money would be divided among three
departments -- Justice ($60 million), Labor ($75 million) and Health and
Human Services ($10 million) -- and would fund "reentry partnerships" among
police, correctional agencies, service providers and community organizations.

It would also fund job-training and education programs, increased law
enforcement and "reentry courts," based on the drug-court model, to
supervise offenders.

In the appropriations process, the Senate and House have not provided
nearly the funding the White House wants for the Justice and Labor
Departments' reentry initiatives.

Few inmates get pre-release treatment

Reno called for passage of a Senate bill that would increase to $145
million funding for inmate treatment programs and extend treatment to
offenders returning to their communities.

If approved by Congress, groups could obtain funding to help former inmates
find jobs, housing, drug treatment, emotional counseling and other critical
services in their home neighborhoods, Reno said.

"Treatment for drug-abusing offenders works, but we need to go beyond just
treatment while they're incarcerated," Reno said during an appearance in
Baltimore, Maryland.

"We must do all we can to ensure that these individuals reentering our
communities go back drug-free and stay crime-free," said Mary Lou Leary,
who heads Reno's Office of Justice Programs.

A Justice Department study has estimated that about 70 to 80 percent of
state prison inmates are in need of substance abuse treatment, but only
about 15 percent complete treatment programs before they are released.

Shifting resources

The $57 million for in-prison treatment announced Monday is nearly
identical to the 1999 funding, and down slightly from the $59 million in
grants announced in 1998. Prison drug treatment grants first authorized by
Congress in the Crime Act of 1994 have now totaled $230 million.

Reno's announcement, made while meeting with Maryland state and civic
leaders, reflects a broader effort by the Clinton administration to shift
resources away from prison building toward community-based crime reduction
measures.

"It's absolutely critical for us to give inmates the chance to learn life
skills and work skills" when they come home, she said. "I don't want to
wait. I want to make sure we figure out everything we can do to solve these
problems."