Pubdate: Mon, 02 Jul 2001
Source: Daily Press (CA)
Copyright: 2001 Daily Press
Contact:  http://www.vvdailypress.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1061
Author: Ellie Moon
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/prop36.htm
(Substance Abuse and Crime Prevention Act)

LOCAL AGENCIES BRACE FOR PROP. 36 TO TAKE EFFECT

Treatment : New law puts drug offenders into rehabilitation centers instead 
of jail cells.

Zero hour is here and local agencies are bracing for a state law that sends 
nonviolent drug offenders to treatment instead of jail.

Prop. 36 takes effect today and courts are set to start funneling drug 
offenders into treatment Monday, the first business day under the new law.

Under the proposition, an estimated 36,000 Californians a year will qualify 
for a treatment program instead of jail or prison time with a first or 
second arrest for being under the influence of illegal drugs or possessing 
them.

It appropriates $120 million a year to expand existing drug treatment 
programs statewide and will make $60 million more available to boost 
treatment capacity immediately.

The New York-based Lindesmith Center offered San Bernardino County some 
harsh criticism this week, giving it the

only failing grade in a report card judging the preparations of 
California's 11 largest counties from reports they submitted to the state 
Department of Alcohol and Drug Programs.

The Lindesmith Center was formed by billionaire financier George Soros and 
worked to push the law into existence when it was before voters in November.

The drug policy foundation criticized the county's budget for drug 
treatment, lack of treatment services and failure to involve the public in 
planning meetings.

"San Bernardino County has ignored the will of the voters," the report 
says. "It has designed an implementation plan that is likely to fail."

The foundation gave San Francisco County an A and Los Angeles County a B minus.

Whitney Taylor, director of implementation for Prop. 36 at the Lindesmith 
Center, said San Bernardino County is missing several programs they think 
are important, including literacy and vocational programs for recovering 
drug addicts and family housing.

"We think that's very important because not only do we have to get people 
off drugs, we have to help them become productive members of society and 
their families," she said.

David Wert, county spokesman, said he didn't put much credence in the 
failing grade.

"Any contention that the county isn't taking this seriously is ridiculous," 
he said.

He cited the drug court program as a model for the country.

Drug Court accepts mainly people who would be eligible for treatment 
through Proposition 36 and does not admit people who were caught selling or 
making drugs.

Charges are dismissed when the offender finishes a yearlong program and 
another six months of drug treatment.

If the offender backslides, the judge uses jail time as punishment. But 
under Prop. 36, the stick in the carrot-and-stick equation is no longer 
much of an option.

"That's the problem," Wert said. "That stick and carrot approach has worked 
very successfully in San Bernardino County.

"Jail time has been found to be very good motivation to help people get 
clean," he continued. "Not mollycoddling has made San Bernardino County 
very successful in keeping people out of jail."

Wert said people associated with the county's 70 percent success rate are 
leery of the untested Prop. 36.

"The county believes the approach the county has taken will be successful 
in the long run," he said. "We don't have same confidence in Prop. 36."

Superior Court Judge Margaret Powers runs Victorville's Drug Court program 
and said she's not all that worried about it being eclipsed by Prop. 36. 
She said she expects the programs to run parallel instead.

"There are people who are eligible for Drug Court who are not eligible for 
Prop. 36," Powers said.

"There will be some overlap. Some people, if they qualify, will opt out of 
Drug Court and go into Prop. 36. It is their option."

Cheryl Norton is community relations director with St. John of God Health 
Care Services, a drug rehabilitation center in Victorville.

She said workers there are ready for an influx, but unsure of what to expect.

"It's a new project and it's going to be hard the first one or two years to 
put everything together," she said. "Trial and error."

St. John of God has the only 90-day recovery home in the High Desert, she 
said, as well as a 30-bed outpatient facility. The residential program has 
66 beds, 13 of which are now reserved for Prop. 36 clients.

"We're prepared for anything that comes our way," Norton said.

County officials expect to refer up to 6,500 people into Prop. 36 treatment 
programs the first year, the vast majority of whom will be outpatient, 
according to its Prop. 36 plan.

Wert did not have an estimate on how many people will enter the treatment 
programs through Prop. 36 locally.

"Often times the county falls short in providing services to the High 
Desert simply because there aren't that many services available," Wert said.

The county Board of Supervisors approved contracts with 32 treatment 
centers countywide worth $18 million at its Tuesday meeting.

Taylor said she hoped the Lindesmith Center's report had enough of a Ghost 
of Christmas Future quality to prompt change.

"The thing we have to remember is that these grades can be easily improved 
by the county by just a shift in tone from a criminal issue to public 
health," she said.

"San Bernardino County will find it bumpy and will hopefully say 'Hmmm, 
maybe we should go back and look at how we're approaching this.' "
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