PRISONS IMPLEMENT SPECIAL DRUG-TREATMENT PROGRAMS

Shane Pinkerson was 16 when he started drinking. He was 18 the first time
he was arrested for possession of stolen property. Five years later, he was
sent away for the fifth time when he broke into a home to score some money
to feed his cocaine habit.

Sentenced to 41/2 to nine years for robbery, last year Pinkerson was
transferred to a new prison - one the tall, softspoken inmate says may
finally end his revolving-door ways.

The State Correctional Institute in Chester, Pa., which opened its doors in
August, is part of a small but growing movement in the nation's prison
system to deal with the unique needs of substance abusers - and thus try to
keep them from filling jail beds in the future.

The medium-security facility - which looks a like a brick office building,
until you step inside - provides full-time treatment for inmates with drug
or alcohol problems. It is one of three such specialized prisons in the
nation.

The state's experiment here, if successful, may offer a glimmer of hope for
America's justice system. With 7 of every 10 inmates having substance-abuse
problems, expectations are that the repeat-offender rate could drop
significantly if such prison programs become widespread.

"What drives our prison growth is drugs," says Steve Amos, an official of
the Department of Justice Corrections Program. "If we want to impact public
safety, we need to treat those people.

"Locking up inmates in prison is a short-term response. The question is,
will they be back to the same behavior when they get out?" says Amos. The
average treatment length is nine to 12 months and costs $3,000. It costs
$30,000 per year to lock someone up. "'Treatment' is a cheap investment."

Sonjia Paige, director of SCI-Chester's prison program, agrees, and points
out another benefit of treating inmates: a captive audience. "In prison, we
can do an excellent job of providing inmates with tools they need to change
attitudes and behaviors."

A change in behavior is desperately needed. Inmates who do not receive
adequate treatment are more likely to become repeat offenders and have
caused an explosion in the prison population, found a study by the National
Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University. From 1980
to 1996, the number of inmates in state, federal, and local prisons tripled
from 500,000 to 1.7 million.

In 1997, the Federal Bureau of Prisons spent $25 million, or less than 1
percent of its budget, on drug treatment.

But Todd Craig, chief spokesman for the Federal Bureau of Prisons, says the
percentage is misleading, because the number of federal inmates in need of
treatment is lower than at state prisons.

The $70 million prison has a no-tolerance policy on all drugs, including
nicotine. It costs $61.40 to house and treat an inmate at SCI Chester - the
average for inmates in Pennsylvania state prisons.

SCI-Chester contracts with Gaudenzia, a private drug-and-alcohol-treatment
provider in Norristown, Pa., to treat inmates. Drug counselors are on site
12 hours a day, and treatment ranges from Alcoholics Anonymous meetings to
one-on-one sessions with a counselor.

According to Paige, structure is a key component of the treatment program.
Each day, 250 inmates must make their own beds and shine their shoes in
addition to other chores. They spend most of the day in counseling and
vocational education programs.

When inmates are ready, they move to a halfway house, where they continue
treatment and take part in a work/education program.

That continuity of care is a key to success. Seventy-one percent of inmates
who took part in both prison treatment and a work-release program remained
out of prison 18 months after release, compared with 48 percent who only
had prison-based treatment, according to a study of Delaware inmates by Jim
Inciardi, professor at the University of Delaware.

There are certain complexities to running such a prison, however. Paige
points out that the problem with getting inmates into a treatment program
like SCI-Chester is that inmates won't admit to a drug problem, which might
damage their records or hurt chances of parole. Second, many of the inmates
at SCI-Chester are not there voluntarily.

"Some are mad that they're here. It takes us a little while to get them to
understand where they are and why," says Paige. However, she adds, the
outlook is usually good if they can get inmates past the initial 35 to 40
days to a point where they can recognize their problem.

Pinkerson and Bruce Jenkins, another inmate who was convicted of a
drug-related assault, say their stay at SCI-Chester has given them a sense
of direction.

Both plan to go back to school - Pinkerson to get a degree in computer
programming; Jenkins to get an associate degree that would let him work for
the prison treatment center.

They say the strict schedule is a stark contrast with previous state prison
experiences, where treatment is offered a few hours a week and inmates are
often idle.

"It gave me a reality break," says Jenkins. "We can see what we've done
with our lives and the people we've hurt, and we're facing up to a lot of
responsibilities. Our lives don't have to go to a complete waste."