Crime and treatment: overcrowded prisons and addicted inmates are a tough challenge for lawmakers.

• Author: Lyons, Donna

With a prison population that surged 12 percent from 2007 to 2008, Kentucky lawmakers are looking for solutions.

They think they have found one in a measure passed last year that offers some felony offenders the option of substance abuse treatment in lieu of criminal charges.

"This represents a culture change in dealing with addicted offenders," says former Senator Dan Kelly, the key sponsor of the measure who has since taken a circuit court judgeship.

The policy is expected to save millions of dollars by diverting offenders from prison and also could save the lives of those who complete the treatment. "It's one of those fairly small changes to law that will have significant policy impact," Kelly says.

Kentucky's problem is also a national one. Substance abuse offenders make up 20 percent of inmates in state prisons. Abuse and addiction, however, play a much larger role. Some 80 percent of offenders abuse drugs and alcohol, and nearly half of jail and prison inmates are thought to be clinically addicted.

TWO-PRONGED APPROACH

Kentucky's approach is to screen felony defendants for substance abuse. Some are diverted to community-based services; others with more serious problems and criminal records are referred to an intensive, secure substance abuse treatment program run by the department of corrections.

"There would be a sense of justice denied if there was no secure confinement option in this," Kelly says. "This gives those serious offenders an opportunity for pretrial diversion if they demonstrate commitment to treatment."

About 200 felons can be held in secure treatment at a time for an estimated savings of $1.4 million in the first year. Long term, supporters of the legislation say cost savings will be about $40 million.

Kentucky currently has 20 corrections-based substance abuse treatment programs in prisons and jails. A study of the programs started in 2005 found reductions in recidivism and substance abuse among the participants. Reported drug use drops more than 50 percent during the 12 months following release as compared with before treatment. And more than two-thirds of participants are not in prison or jail 12 months later.

"It pays for itself," said Senator Ed Worley, who was among sponsors of the legislation aimed at stopping the revolving door for repeat drug offenders. "There are too many repeat offenders with drug problems filling up our jails and prisons. We need to rehabilitate them so they can contribute to society, rather than repeatedly drain our revenues."

In 2007, the Texas Legislature authorized 5,000 more beds for short-term treatment in the state's corrections system. At the time, the state was facing prison growth projections that would require 17,000 new prison beds by 2012. The treatment beds...