NEWS

June 14, 2007
Prison drug treatment needs an overhaul
It's neither available nor effective, report shows

Des Moines Register Editorial Board

Nine out of 10 inmates in Iowa prisons have a drug or alcohol problem. Most of those prisoners will eventually be released, and their drug problems may lead to more criminal behavior and a trip back to the joint.

That's not good for the convicts. Or their potential victims. Or Iowa taxpayers footing the bill for prison stays.

One would hope all prisoners would receive first-rate drug treatment to assist their rehabilitation and reduce their chances of reoffending. That's not the case, though. The Iowa Department of Management recently released a performance audit of the Iowa Department of Corrections, which found that 60 percent of inmates with substance-abuse problems don't receive treatment while incarcerated.

Just as troubling: When provided, substance-abuse programs in Iowa prisons "did not demonstrate success for either new convictions or total recidivism rates or when compared to offenders with no substance-abuse needs," according to the report.

Prisoners aren't getting treatment, and the treatment they're getting doesn't make any difference in keeping them from coming back.

What should Iowa do?

Offer evidence-based drug-treatment programs. First and foremost, Iowa needs to offer inmates drug-treatment programs that research has proven work. John Baldwin, director of corrections, said the department is working to determine which programs have the highest success rates. Also, he plans to ask lawmakers for more dollars for drug-treatment programs.

Provide services after release. When inmates are released, they need access to both drug treatment and mental-health services. About 40 percent of inmates with substance-abuse problems also have mental-health problems. Taxpayers can pay to provide health care and drug treatment either outside prison or behind bars, where it will cost more.

Make drug-treatment programs available for all Iowans. Attorney General Tom Miller has said the No. 1 thing this state can do to fight crime is to fight drugs. Offering adequate drug treatment helps keep people out of prison in the first place. Every year since 2003, he has asked the Legislature to increase funding for drug treatment and prevention. The past few years have brought modest increases.

According to Jay Hansen, executive director of Prairie Ridge, a substance-abuse treatment center in Mason City, those increases are not enough. This year his agency will provide treatment to about 400 Iowans without being compensated. More money is needed to ensure treatment is available to whoever needs it.

Most of the inmates locked in Iowa prisons today will become our neighbors tomorrow. Iowans should want to do everything possible to help rehabilitate them and reduce the likelihood they'll reoffend. Dedicating resources to successful drug-treatment programs is an important step toward accomplishing that.

Community Comment:

The treatment programs in Iowa prisons are a joke. Here's how it works. A counselor will threaten an inmate with loss of good time to get them to enter the treatment program knowing full well that they can't do that. In other words they have to lie to get inmates in treatment. According to one counselor, anybody who has bought a bag of marijuana has a drug problem because they broke the law in order to obtain pot. This is the kind of ignorant Reefer Madness mentality Iowa DOC counselors have.

99% of the inmates in those programs are lying their way through in hopes of getting out sooner. The counselors a fully aware of this, but don't care because the more inmates that they shove through the program, the more federal grant money they receive to pay the salaries of incompetent counselors who couldn't make it in a privately owned treatment center. I was even advised to "Just say what we want to hear. It'll be easier that way"

They often bully inmates who aren't in for anything drug related to go through the program. If those inmates don't lie and say they have a drug problem, they are refused parole for being honest.

I knew of one counselor who used coke and booze on the weekends and called in sick at least 10 days a month. when it was reported that he had stale booze on his breathe nothing was done about it and said counselor threatened the inmate who reported it. Even though the threat was heard by several CCF staff nothing was done to get rid of the counselor.

There's your tax dollars at work!

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