- Executive Summary
- Program Updates
- Program Description
- Program Procedures
- Program Operations
- Program Impact
- CASA
- A Graduate Success Story
- Published DTAP Research
- KCDA Website
Click on cover above for the full report in PDF format
The Drug Treatment Alternative-to-Prison (DTAP) program created by District Attorney Charles J. Hynes is now entering its third decade. In 1989, the explosion of crack-cocaine use and the growing demand for heroin besieged Brooklyn’s most disadvantaged neighborhoods. In that year, a record number of 12,732 felony drug arrests were made in Brooklyn. But by 2011, the number had decreased nearly 54 percent, to 5,861. [5]What happened during these years? A number of factors have caused the drop in felony drug offenses. This report is about one of those factors: DTAP.
A.1. Program Description
DTAP was established in 1990, to divert substance-abusing, nonviolent, repeat felony offenders into treatment. Defendants in DTAP’s target population face mandatory prison sentences under New York State law if convicted of their charged crimes. [6] Thus, all those screened, whether ultimately placed in DTAP or not, and all those who fail treatment, face substantial periods of incarceration as the alternative to treatment.
[5] NYS Division of Criminal Justice Services, Computerized Criminal History Database. Available at http://www.criminaljustice.state.ny.us.
[6] Culminating in April 2009, the “Rockefeller Drug Laws” were modified three times to remove most mandatory minimum sentences. These changes allow judges to sentence their victims to treatment or to short sentences without the consent of the prosecutor. Also, the sentencing structure was made retroactive, which allowed more than 1000 imprisoned convicts to apply to a court for resentence and possible release.
Defendants accepted into DTAP plead guilty to a felony charge and have their sentence deferred while they undergo 15-24 months of rigorous, intensive residential drug treatment followed by after-care. Those who successfully complete DTAP return to court to withdraw their guilty plea and have the charges dismissed. Employment assistance is provided to graduates upon reentry into the community and is available to them on a long-term basis. DTAP graduates are encouraged to become members of the DTAP Alumni Association, which serves as a support network to address graduates’ ongoing needs.
Since DTAP’s inception in October 1990, 8,269 nonviolent felony offenders have been screened, of whom 5,247 (63%) have refused to participate or have been rejected and 3,022 (37%) have been placed into treatment (see Figure 1). Of those who were accepted by the program and entered treatment, 1,377 (46%) have graduated; 283 (9%) are currently in treatment; 53 (2%) have been transferred to “TADD,” a diversion program dedicated to mentally ill defendants with a concurrent substance abuse disorder (see discussion, infra, at pp.22-23); and 1,309 (43%) have dropped out of treatment.[7]
Summary of DTAP Operations: October 15, 1990 to October 14, 2012
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[7] Percentages do not add up to 100 because of rounding.