Pubdate: Wed, 15 Mar 2006
Source: Billings Gazette, The (MT)
Copyright: 2006 The Billings Gazette
Contact:  http://www.billingsgazette.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/515
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/rehab.htm (Treatment)

STATE CAN'T BUILD ENOUGH CELLS TO SOLVE PROBLEMS

Prisons are one of the fastest-growing sectors of  Montana government.
The Department of Corrections  continues to be overwhelmed by
increases in the number  of convicts flooding the system, particularly
those who  must be incarcerated because they have failed in  repeated
attempts at probation and parole.

With the DOC asking for an additional, unbudgeted $11.5  million just
to maintain operations through June 30,  Montanans are again reminded
of the vicious cycle of  building more cells and directing more state
resources  toward lawbreakers. The immediate budget crisis  prompted
the DOC to postpone plans to build a prison of  256 beds that was
supposed to include space for 60  inmates with serious mental
illnesses and 100 beds for  inmates with other serious health
problems. The prisons  of Montana hold more people with mental
illnesses than  the state's psychiatric hospitals.

To his credit, Corrections Director Bill Slaughter  understands that
Montana can't resolve this problem by  endlessly building prisons,
which is what the state has  done for the past decade. At one time,
drug addiction  counseling was cut to save money.

85 percent addictedThe DOC now recognizes that 85  percent of inmates
are addicted to alcohol or other  substances. The department is
instituting more  addiction treatment for inmates, attempting to
resolve  an underlying problem that figures so prominently in
criminal conduct. Prison treatment boasts impressive  success. The
Warm Springs program for felony DUI  offenders, for example, reports
that 86 percent of its  graduates haven't had a blot on their record
in three  years after completing the six-month program.

Slaughter and Gov. Brian Schweitzer need to come up  with more
alternatives to bigger prisons -- fast. There  is a better way:
prevention, earlier intervention and  community-based treatment.
Montana needs to put more  effort into helping people with addiction
and mental  health issues before they go to prison.

Community servicesIt's good that the state is treating  people who
have committed four or more DUI offenses,  but why wait until they've
racked up such a dangerous  record? Yes, mental health care and
addiction treatment  cost money, but consider the alternative Montana
is  living with.

Montana must invest in community programs, such as drug  treatment
courts, the HUB drop-in center for seriously  mentally ill adults and
the crisis center being created  in Billings. So far, the state of
Montana has provided  little to no money for such innovative services.
(Schweitzer did authorize partial funding for the HUB  as a
demonstration project last year.)

If Montana persists in putting so much of its resources  into the
worst cases, it is doomed to forever put more  money into the worst
cases. The Schweitzer  administration should seize opportunities to
break this  long-running, downward spiral and make a strong case  for
changes in the 2007 Legislature.
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