Pubdate: Sun, 22 Jun 2003 Source: Rochester Democrat and Chronicle (NY) Copyright: 2003 Rochester Democrat and Chronicle Contact: http://www.democratandchronicle.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/614 Authors: Michael Zeigler, Gary Craig BROOKLYN PUTS NEW TWIST ON DRUG COURT DTAP Shows 'We Should Not Write Off Repeat ... Offenders' Everyone wanted Kristopher R. Collins to get drug treatment. The judge, the defense attorney and the prosecutor agreed that Collins, who stole $9,000 from eight elderly or middle-aged Monroe County residents after gaining their confidence, desperately needed help for an addiction that began at age 12, when a grandmother introduced him to crack cocaine. But extensive in-patient drug treatment wasn't a realistic option because Collins' addiction was so fierce and his crimes were considered so serious that he faced a mandatory state prison term. In April, the 20-year-old Collins was sent to prison for five years by a judge who called him ''probably one of the most tragic cases I have had.'' Collins' case points to the difficulty in securing treatment -- other than the limited treatment available in prison -- for offenders who commit felony crimes. Rochester's Drug Treatment Court is now handling some felony offenses, but they are a small portion of the overall caseload. ''It's a very, very small percentage of people who do get the opportunity to participate in drug treatment court,'' said county Public Defender Edward J. Nowak. ''What happens to the others?'' Nowak and others say upstate localities such as Monroe County should pay attention to the success of a Brooklyn program called the Drug Treatment Alternative-to-Prison, or DTAP. Similar in its model to Rochester's Drug Treatment Court, Brooklyn's DTAP often takes felons whom the local drug court wouldn't. ''DTAP demonstrates that we should not write off repeat, drug-involved offenders,'' the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University wrote in a March evaluation. How DTAP works Offenders who enter DTAP plead guilty to a felony before they begin treatment. They then enter the treatment program before their sentencing, allowing them to defer the time for a mandatory prison sentence. If they complete treatment, the charges can be dismissed or reduced to a misdemeanor. Otherwise, they still face mandatory prison time. The program doesn't accept those who commit acts of physical violence. DTAP relies on three months or more of treatment in a residential rehabilitation facility, followed by continued treatment, employment assistance and monitoring. If offenders fail, they'll likely be sent to prison to serve their terms. ''Having a hammer over somebody's head that keeps them in treatment is key,'' said Robert Lebman, vice president of DePaul Huther-Doyle, a Rochester-area treatment organization. DTAP takes steps to ensure that offenders will stick with the program, said Anne Swern, counsel to Brooklyn District Attorney Charles Hynes. DTAP has its own warrant squad to track down offenders who skip out of treatment. A total of 97 percent of absconders are returned to court within 10 days. About 40 percent of those accepted into DTAP drop out. Three-quarters of those are then sentenced to prison time. (Most others have their charges reduced, are routed into other treatment, or are awaiting a disposition of their case.) District Attorney Howard R. Relin said different communities craft programs and solutions best for them. The drug scourge in Brooklyn perhaps requires programs with a greater reach than in Monroe County, he said. For instance, he said, he doesn't favor opening the local program to drug dealers, as DTAP does. Many local dealers peddle drugs solely for money, not to feed a drug habit, he said. Had Collins committed his crimes in Brooklyn, he could have been a candidate for DTAP. In cases like that, Swern said, the prosecutors would reach out to the criminal victims to see whether they agreed that treatment was better than incarceration. Collins, who didn't respond to a request to be interviewed for this story, was arrested in November while trying to cash a check forged in the name of an elderly Irondequoit woman. In a statement to investigators, Collins said that he had ripped off people since October in Rochester, Greece and Irondequoit. After charming his way into their homes by claiming that his car had broken down, he slipped into bedrooms and stole cash, jewelry and checks that he forged and cashed to get money to feed his $100-a-day addiction to heroin. In one case, he returned to a Rochester home and broke a window to get in and steal money. There was no doubt that Collins needed intensive help to end his addiction and stop committing crimes. ''It's very sad and very tragic that his family got him into drugs,'' said Assistant District Attorney Julie M. Finocchio. The question: How to get Collins into treatment? Set up to fail Sam Crabb, a worker in the Alternatives to Incarceration program at the Public Defender's Office, tried to find an intensive in-patient drug program that would accept Collins. But under reimbursement rules set by health care insurers, Collins would have to fail first in an out-patient treatment program before being accepted for in-patient treatment. Collins, who had never been in a treatment program, didn't qualify. And Crabb said he couldn't recommend an out-patient program because, in all likelihood, Collins would backslide without intensive supervision. Collins' road to rehabilitation also was stymied by the charges against him. He was charged with eight counts of second-degree burglary for entering homes to steal property. Although he didn't physically injure anyone, the state's Penal Law defines that offense as a violent felony, exposing Collins to a mandatory prison sentence of at least five years. Prosecutors could have reduced the charges to third-degree burglary, which didn't require incarceration, if Collins had been eligible for an in-patient treatment program such as DTAP. But prosecutors said they wouldn't have lowered the charges even if Collins had been eligible. ''Considering the number of victims and their ages, it would have been a mockery to allow him to plead guilty to a lesser charge,'' Relin said. Although prosecutors wanted Collins to receive 12 years behind bars, County Court Judge Frank P. Geraci Jr. offered him five years if he pleaded guilty to all the charges against him. Collins accepted and on April 9 was sent to prison. Citing Collins' wretched childhood, Geraci said Collins was the kind of offender who would have benefited from Drug Treatment Court, which pushes low-level offenders into treatment ''before they get to the point where you are, where you have been, where there's no turning back and the only answer is state prison.'' But the judge also said Collins made his own choices and had to take responsibility. He urged Collins to take advantage of the limited drug-treatment programs offered in prison. ''I don't think we need to throw you away by giving you 10 or 20 years in prison when we know why you engage in all of these activities; every single one to support a drug habit that was ingrained in you through your family that you were never able to get removed from,'' Geraci said. ''That's the real tragedy here.'' - --- MAP posted-by: Larry Stevens