Pubdate: Fri, 16 Feb 2001
Source: San Diego Union Tribune (CA)
Copyright: 2001 Union-Tribune Publishing Co.
Contact:  PO Box 120191, San Diego, CA, 92112-0191
Fax: (619) 293-1440
Website: http://www.uniontrib.com/
Forum: http://www.uniontrib.com/cgi-bin/WebX
Author: Greg Moran, Staff Writer
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/prop36.htm (Substance Abuse and Crime 
Prevention Act)

COUNTY CRAFTS PLAN TO TREAT DRUG ABUSERS UNDER PROP. 36

County officials are moving closer to a plan to implement Proposition 36, 
the sweeping measure that calls for treatment instead of jail for some drug 
addicts, but some key issues are unresolved.

"We're plowing some virgin territory," Rich Robinson, a deputy chief 
administrative officer with the county, said at a community forum at 
Mission Bay yesterday.

Proposition 36, passed by voters in November, calls for drug treatment 
instead of jail for first-and second-time drug offenders convicted of 
nonviolent, drug-possession charges. They will be placed on probation and 
ordered into a drug-treatment program for up to a year.

Yesterday's forum was attended by representatives from numerous 
drug-treatment programs and nonprofit agencies who will provide treatment 
for the offenders.

A task force of representatives from the court system, county government, 
the Probation Department, the District Attorney's Office and the county 
Public Defender have been meeting for months to put together a plan, said 
Robinson.

Current estimates are that 5,000 Proposition 36 cases per year will enter 
the court system. The measure allocates $120 million per year statewide, 
with San Diego County's share estimated at about $9 million.

But that is not enough to offset estimated costs of running the program 
that Robinson said could run as high as $21 million three years from now.

Those figures do not include revenues that will be collected to offset the 
costs. Those sentenced to treatment will be expected to pay all or part of 
the costs associated with the treatment, Vaughn Jeffery, a project manager 
for the county, said after the meeting.

"We'll have to do everything we can to find additional revenues that we can 
apply to the program," said Jeffery.

Officials are also struggling to find treatment space for the new cases. Al 
Medina, alcohol and drug services administrator for the county, said 300 or 
400 additional beds for intensive residential treatment will be needed.

Those needing residential treatment are expected to be only a small portion 
of the total, with most offenders requiring nonresidential services. 
Currently, the county has contracts for proving drug treatment with 60 
providers in about 40 locations, Robinson said.

Those providers can increase their capacity by about 2,000 spaces, said 
Jeffery. That leaves a potential shortfall of several thousand treatment 
spaces, meaning either new programs will have to be licensed and set up or 
current providers will have to expand.

But that could be a problem, because proposals to establish drug-treatment 
facilities can run into a buzz saw of neighborhood opposition, officials said.
- ---
MAP posted-by: Jo-D