I recently had an article published in the ABA Journal which details my thoughts and programs involving Alternatives to Incarceration.  The following is an excerpt of the article.  To read the article in its entirety, please click on this link:  http://www.brooklynda.org/dtap/Better%20than%20Prison%20-%20Charles%20Hynes.pdf 

Approximately 1.5 million people were incarcerated in U.S. state and federal prisons at the end of 2007.  The numbers are staggering.  When offenders get out of prison, often they commit more crimes and drug offenders participate in criminal activity to feed their drug addictions.  It seems obvious that incarceration is not the answer to reducing crime.  We must try to help offenders through alternative to prison programs which are ideal for ending the cycle of incarceration.  If we rehabilitate them and put them on the right path, we will see a reduction in recidivism. 

In the 1980’s and early 90’s, crimes including murders, robberies, burglaries and rapes continued to climb.  In the early 80’s, one of the solutions that the State came up with was to increase imprisonment.  This was during the height of the crack epidemic, and crime continued to grow, proving that increasing imprisonment will not reduce addiction and crime.  The high crime statistics not only have an effect individually on the offenders, but it also takes a toll on our economy.  For instance, the economic cost of drug abuse in this country in 2002 was estimated at $180.9 billion of which about $107.8 billion were crime-related costs.  And as criminal justice processing and incarceration costs devour public funds, less money remains to support necessary social services.

The key to increasing public safety and reducing recidivism is to implement alternative to incarceration programs that combine law enforcement and social service agencies, where offenders would get help by receiving treatment to overcome their addictions.  They would receive counseling, drug rehabilitation, education and career assistance.    

We have two such programs here in our office which have been a huge success.  In fact, our DTAP (Drug Treatment Alternative-to-Prison) program and ComALERT (Community and Law Enforcement Resources Together) program have been models for prosecutors’ offices throughout the state.  Our DTAP program has been lauded as an effective program by the Bureau of Justice Assistance of the U.S. Department of Justice and a panel of national experts assembled by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

DTAP was created in 1990 based on the belief that addicted defendants would return to society more capable of resisting drugs and crime after receiving appropriate treatment, than if they had spent a similar amount of time in prison.  They would be able to resurrect their lives.  This diversion program, which is recognized as one of the nation’s most successful, provides residential drug treatment to drug-addicted, non-violent, repeat offenders, under a deferred-sentencing model.  Participants enter a guilty plea and receive a deferred sentence that allows them to participate in a drug treatment program, usually for about 24 months.  Those who successfully complete the program have their charges dismissed.  Those who fail to complete the program are brought back to court and sentenced to prison.  DTAP gives nonviolent offenders an opportunity to change their lives of addiction and crime into lives of hope and promise.

DTAP, now in its 19th year, has reduced recidivism rates of its graduates by half.  Since the program began in 1990, there have been 1,178 graduates.  Diversion to DTAP has resulted in economic benefits of $47.2 million dollars per the 1,178 graduates because DTAP costs significantly less than incarceration.

In 1999, my office created ComALERT, in close collaboration with the Counseling Service of Eastern District of New York (an outpatient drug treatment provider), the Doe Fund (a provider of transitional employment and housing), the NYS Division of Parole and numerous community-based social services providers.  ComALERT is a reentry partnership program for Brooklyn residents who are on parole, which assists them in making a successful transition from prison to home by providing drug treatment and counseling, mental health treatment and counseling, transitional housing and employment.  ComALERT also provides permanent job placement assistance to those parolees who have marketable skills upon their release. ComALERT services begin almost immediately upon release from prison, increasing the success rate for its clients compared to the non-treated re-entry population.  Data proves that 6 of 10 of the formerly incarcerated are re-arrested in three years but Harvard Professor Bruce Western who studied ComAlert found we reduce recidivism by more than half.

Many clients will receive a referral to, and preferential placement in, the ComALERT “Ready, Willing, & Able” Program, which provides transitional employment through the Doe Fund’s Ready, Willing, and Able employment programs. In addition to receiving meals and a weekly stipend of $200 cash for manual labor jobs for up to nine consecutive months, the Ready, Willing & Able Day program provides the group support and reinforcement needed by the clients to maintain their sobriety. ComALERT provides weekly individual and group counseling, as well as random drug testing, to reinforce “Ready, Willing, & Able Day’s” zero-tolerance policy.

Both ComALERT and DTAP offer cost-effective means for reducing drug addiction-related crime.  These programs played a major role in the city’s dramatic drop in crime over the last 15 years.  The DTAP and ComALERT programs transform lives, improve communities and save money.  The programs deserve to be replicated in jurisdictions around the country, and Congress should ensure that adequate funding is provided for that goal.

NDAA FALL CONFERENCE ON CHILD ABUSE

From September 21 to September 24, the National District Attorneys Association (NDAA) will host a conference titled “Strategies for Justice: Advanced Investigation and Prosecution of Child Abuse and Exploitation.”  It is designed to educate prosecutors, forensic interviewers, law enforcement and child abuse professionals with more than five years of experience.  The conference will take place at the National Advocacy Center located at the University of South Carolina campus in Columbia.  It will provide an overview of the more complex cases that senior child abuse professionals investigate and prosecute.

Guest speakers will include prosecutors from across the country as well as executives from the National Children’s Alliance, the NDAA’s National Center for Prosecution of Child Abuse, the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, and the National Children’s Advocacy Center.  Topics of discussion will include the Sexual and Physical Abuse of Male Children; Child Sexual Exploitation & Prevention Strategies (including sexting – sending sexual explicit messages and photos through cell phones); Medical Evidence and Investigations; Drowning, Hypothermia and Hyperthermia; and Domestic Violence and Child Abuse, among other topics.

The conference is designed to bring law enforcement and social service professionals together to work toward the common goal of protecting our children.  To register for the conference, you can call the NDAA at (703) 549-9222.

The news articles below may be of interest to you or members of your community.

Pittsburgh Post Gazette

Do DNA ‘Prints’ Invade Privacy?

First challenge to Justice ruling arises in local courtroom

Being fingerprinted upon arrest is so commonplace, few people think twice about it.

But what if the arresting agency wanted to take DNA? And run it against an index of unsolved crimes? And then store it in a database for eternity?

Over the past several years, DNA collection has become more common, and it’s regularly taken from people convicted of a crime.

But this year, the Department of Justice issued a rule allowing for the collection of DNA from anyone who is arrested for a federal crime.

It took effect on Jan. 9 and is currently seeing its first challenge here in the Western District of Pennsylvania.

The issue raises questions of privacy and safety.

Proponents argue that the collection of DNA -- either through a cheek swab or blood draw -- is not intrusive, and that its benefits of helping law enforcement solve past and future crimes far outweigh the drawbacks.

Opponents claim that the collection of DNA from a person still considered by the system to be innocent is a violation of the Fourth Amendment protection from unreasonable search and seizure.

Further, they argue if DNA is necessary to a defendant’s criminal case, the prosecutor to can obtain a search warrant to collect it.

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09236/992847-84.stm

The Kentucky Post

Ky. Considers Jail Passes For Nonviolent Offenders

Kentucky is considering a cost-saving initiative that could allow people arrested for marijuana possession, prostitution and hundreds of other nonviolent crimes to avoid going to jail.

The Kentucky Supreme Court has approved a proposal to test the initiative in a handful of counties before deciding whether to expand it statewide.

Justice Will T. Scott said the move has the potential to save the state more than $400,000 a day in jail costs by allowing people arrested on any of more than 700 mostly obscure charges to immediately post bail and go home.

Prosecutors favor testing the initiative, saying it makes sense financially and poses no risk to public safety.

http://www.kypost.com/content/wcposhared/story/Ky-Considers-Jail-Passes-For-Nonviolent-Offenders/IZjpRdte_0G9fEkj_Zlf1Q.cspx

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