RICHMOND JAIL: SOLUTIONS

Richmond officials' recent trip to Durham to study how that city is
helping convicted drug offenders re-enter society brought back this
encouraging datum: Relapse among those who have been through the
two-year Triangle Residental Options for Substance Abusers program is
a mere 8 percent after one year -- compared with a roughly 50 percent
relapse rate elsewhere.

What's more, the two-year TROSA program is largely self-financed. Only
5 percent of its revenue comes from government grants. That's a huge
selling point during extraordinarily tight fiscal times.

There's good reason for Richmond to ponder what a TROSA-like program
could do here. Much of the city jail's overcrowding problem is driven
by nonviolent drug offenses. But stacking addicts up like cordwood
doesn't put them on the path to recovery. All it does is turn the
jail's entrance into a revolving door.

Drug courts have proven an effective method of helping offenders stay
clean and sober. And while they save money long-term, they're not
cheap. Setting up a solid incarceration alternative that puts
offenders on the straight and narrow path for good -- at very little
cost -- sounds almost too good to be true. If it is truly as good as
it seems, the city would be crazy not to start a similar program here.