Wednesday, October 21, 2009
Treatment programs a good use for seized funds
Montgomery County Council member Duchy Trachtenberg's proposal to use money seized in police drug raids for treatment and prevention programs represents a holistic approach to law enforcement and could realize significant economic and criminal justice benefits for the county.
The proposal, which has broad support from the other council members, calls for using money from the Montgomery County Police Drug Enforcement Fund to pay for treatment and prevention, as well as helping to fund the county's drug court — a program that offers treatment as an alternative to incarceration. Another benefit of using this money for treatment and prevention programs is that it would help offset some of the state budget cuts that have heavily targeted mental health services (in the most recent round of cuts, health providers that serve Medicaid clients and several mental health agencies saw their reimbursement rates and grants drop by 2 percent, saving $21.75 million). The cuts give weight to the idea that the money in the Drug Enforcement Fund, which police would prefer to use to pay for a helicopter program for two years, may be better spent shoring up existing programs that have been depleted.
The practical benefits are also clear. According to a 2005 Government Accountability Office report, "drug court programs ... were associated with reductions in overall re-arrest rates," and "... program participants had fewer recidivism events ..." The report states that re-arrest rates of drug court participants ranged from 10 percent to 30 percent lower than those of non-participants. These are promising statistics for the Montgomery County Police Department, which spends a considerable amount of resources on drug enforcement (20 percent of the 12,769 arrests in 2008 were for drug crimes, and those numbers don't even capture drug-related offenses, such as a burglary in which the stolen money would be used for drugs).
Council member Mike Knapp said Trachtenberg's proposal is a legitimate use of the Drug Enforcement Fund, but cautioned that the fund should not be dedicated to a specific purpose; rather, it should be regularly evaluated. That's an important point, especially since the money in the drug fund does not come from a stable source. The fund currently stands at about $2.3 million, but changes depending on how many successful drug raids police conduct. Also, if Trachtenberg's proposal is successful, the fund would likely see a reduction in revenue, meaning less money for treatment.
Still, the proposal is sound, and as long as the county is willing to supplement any unexpected reductions in drug fund money for ongoing treatment programs, it promises to be quite effective. According to a 2009 cost-benefit analysis from the U.S. Department of Justice, drug courts offer direct savings to their supporting jurisdictions in the form of reduced prison and prosecution costs, as well as reduced public health costs. The analysis included a study of Harford County's drug court program, in which the average cost to the criminal justice system (re-arrests, incarceration, probation) for drug court in the year following program participation was $ 3,409, about 60 percent less than the cost for individuals who were eligible but didn't participate ($8,481).
County Executive Ike Leggett is still evaluating the proposal, but it's unlikely he'll have any objections. Police are also reserving comment until the proposal is further along. With clear financial and mental health benefits, it's not surprising Trachtenberg's proposal has five co-sponsors. A public hearing on the bill is scheduled for Nov. 3.
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