Thread: FL-Broward sheriff wants to end inmate treatment

Broward sheriff wants to end inmate treatment programs to save money
Broward Sheriff Al Lamberti said the county has given him little choice but to cut inmate substance abuse treatment.
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Document | Closing of jail programs memo
BY AMY SHERMAN AND DAVID SMILEY
asherman@MiamiHerald.com
Inmates in the Broward jails will no longer receive substance abuse treatment, anger management help, computer skills and some other training -- a stark result of budget cuts advocates say will prove costly in the long run.

The Broward Sheriff's Office sent a letter to judges and attorneys Wednesday saying the programs will be eliminated by Aug. 1.

''We know the value of these programs but we have no option but to reduce our services in the jails to their core,'' wrote Kristina Gulick, director of the Department of Community Control.

In an interview, Sheriff Al Lamberti said the county will save about $2.2 million a year by eliminating programs that employ 14 people and served more than 16,000 inmates last year -- more than one-fifth of the jail population.

''Unless the county decides to put it back into my budget it's done,'' said Lamberti, whose agency started sending pink slips to employees this week.

County officials asked Lamberti to cut more than $50 million from his budget for the fiscal year starting Oct. 1 as part of the county's effort to cut $160 million from its $3.6 billion budget. Instead, Lamberti submitted a $722 million budget that is about $6 million more than this year. Lamberti's budget curbs growth in spending by cutting about 260 positions and requiring one-week furloughs for nonunion staff.

Though drug treatment advocates say they understand the budget pressures, they say eliminating treatment programs for thousands of inmates will lead to an increase in crime.

CRITICISM OF MOVE

''I am not condemning the sheriff,'' Broward Public Defender Howard Finkelstein said. 'When the County Commission has a gun to his head saying `cut something,' either he takes police officers off the street who might prevent rapes, robberies or murder, or he can stop treatment in the jail for those addicted to drugs.

''But without treatment, people -- when released from the jail -- become the robbers and the rapists,'' he said.

Nationwide, drug treatment is among the programs taking a budget hit, said Ethan Nadelmann, executive director of the Drug Policy Alliance Network in New York.

''It's going to blow up in their face,'' Nadelmann said. ``Especially programs that are jail-based providing people with skills that are effective at reducing recidivism. In the absence of that you are sending people out into the community with a criminal record, high unemployment and not giving them opportunities to gain skills.''

Lamberti said he shares the concerns, but wasn't left with much to cut after already planning on closing one of the county's jails. ''Unfortunately what ends up happening is we become just warehousing people,'' he said.

SOME MAY SURVIVE

Lamberti said he hopes to hear in July if he will receive federal grant money that would allow him to keep some of the jail programs -- but likely not all. Inmates will still have access to volunteer programs such as Alcoholics Anonymous.

The law enforcement cuts aren't unique to Broward.

''I've talked to at least half the sheriffs in the state the last couple of months and they are all cutting programs -- school resource officers, traffic enforcement and several programs offered in the jails,'' said Roy Hudson, director of law enforcement services for the Florida Sheriffs Association.

Though judges often send defendants to treatment in the community, some belong in the jail, Broward drug court Judge Marcia Beach said. Many inmates get reduced jail sentences if they complete the treatment -- something that will no longer be an option for judges. That means inmates could wind up behind bars longer.

''Bottom line: If these programs are eliminated that jail will be at 100 percent capacity within a very short period of time,'' Beach said.

That could be dangerous for Broward because the county is under court order to avoid overcrowding.

County Commissioner Diana Wasserman-Rubin, an advocate for drug treatment, criticized the proposed cut.

''You are taking away the very services for the people that can least afford to lose them,'' she said. ``I would love for him to be able to cut something else that is not so crucial.''

Bill Janes, who oversees substance abuse and mental health programs for the Department of Children & Families and is Gov. Charlie Crist's drug czar, said Thursday that he had not been told that Broward was seeking to do away with the jail programs.

''I'm very disappointed to hear that,'' Janes said.

Miami Herald staff writer Carol Marbin Miller contributed to this report.


http://www.miamiherald.com/457/story/1049317.html

Perhaps if they deport more illegals in their county they can use the money from the deportations to save this program for legal citizens.

We need all the programs we can get to help Americans that have been incarcerated. Many lack formal training and skills and benefit greatly from the type of programs Broward County offered to them. And this also serves the community as well.

County Commissioner Diana Wasserman-Rubin, an advocate for drug treatment, criticized the proposed cut.

''You are taking away the very services for the people that can least afford to lose them,'' she said. ``I would love for him to be able to cut something else that is not so crucial.''

How about cutting Social Services that they aren't entitled to? Like food stamps, free medical, WIC... that would save millions!

Originally Posted by ELE

Perhaps if they deport more illegals in their county they can use the money from the deportations to save this program for legal citizens.

We need all the programs we can get to help Americans that have been incarcerated. Many lack formal training and skills and benefit greatly from the type of programs Broward County offered to them. And this also serves the community as well.

In the great words of Emeril Lagasse.....BAM!!! Legal Americans need that training!! I am probably one of the few that expect rehabilitation out of our prison system rather than punishment. Education is one of the ways that we can do that. If the only thing I know is dealing meth, then being incarcerated and learning web design is DEFINITELY a better route for these people.

How we treat our inmates is detrimental to the recovery that they have.