REPORT TITLE:
KASHBOX; Ho`omana


DESCRIPTION:
Appropriates funds to continue the KASHBOX substance abuse
treatment program.  Appropriates funds to expand Ho`omana
substance abuse program for women.  (HB789 HD1)

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
                                                        789
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES                H.B. NO.           H.D. 1
TWENTIETH LEGISLATURE, 1999                                     
STATE OF HAWAII                                                 
                                                             
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                   A  BILL  FOR  AN  ACT

MAKING AN APPROPRIATION FOR THE KASHBOX PROGRAM.



BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF HAWAII:

 1      SECTION 1.  The legislature recognizes that there is a high
 
 2 correlation between substance abuse and crime in Hawaii--eighty
 
 3 to eighty-five per cent of all male criminal offenders currently
 
 4 in Hawaii's prison system need substance abuse treatment.  The
 
 5 percentage of female inmates needing substance abuse treatment is
 
 6 higher at ninety-five per cent.
 
 7      The legislature finds that the Waiawa correctional
 
 8 facility's KASHBOX substance abuse treatment program has been
 
 9 highly successful since its inception in March 1990.  Out of four
 
10 hundred ninety-three inmates treated by the KASHBOX program, two
 
11 hundred ninety-seven inmates have graduated from the program,
 
12 with an average retake rate of thirty-eight per cent.
 
13      According to a Drug Abuse Report Program (DARP) study, from
 
14 the National Institute of Drug Abuse, untreated addicts and
 
15 alcoholics cost taxpayers around $130,000,000,000 annually.
 
16      Appropriate drug and alcohol treatment is essential to
 
17 address recidivism and the attendant criminal justice costs.  A
 
18 number of studies have confirmed the vital need for and success
 
19 of substance abuse treatment programs.  For example:
 

 
Page 2                                                     789
                                     H.B. NO.           H.D. 1
                                                        
                                                        

 
 1      (1)  The CALDATA study conducted by the state of California
 
 2           in 1996 found that drug and alcohol treatment saves
 
 3           state government money.  Specifically, the study showed
 
 4           that, for every dollar spent on treatment, taxpayers
 
 5           saved seven dollars during the period of treatment and
 
 6           in the first year afterwards, mostly due to reductions
 
 7           in crime.  Moreover, the study revealed a two-thirds
 
 8           drop in criminal activity for those who received
 
 9           treatment;
 
10      (2)  The DARP study also found that arrest rates decreased
 
11           seventy-three per cent after offenders received drug
 
12           and alcohol treatment; and
 
13      (3)  Finally, a study by Rutgers University found a seventy-
 
14           three per cent post-treatment decrease in illegal
 
15           income (income from robberies, burglaries, drug-
 
16           trafficking, and the like), which not surprisingly
 
17           matched a seventy-one per cent decrease in money spent
 
18           on drugs.
 
19      The legislature further finds that the proposed budget for
 
20 the KASHBOX substance abuse treatment program falls $540,000
 
21 short of what the program needs in order to continue into the
 
22 next biennium.
 

 
 
 
Page 3                                                     789
                                     H.B. NO.           H.D. 1
                                                        
                                                        

 
 1      The legislature finds that the situation for incarcerated
 
 2 women is equally critical as for incarcerated males.  The
 
 3 Ho`omana substance abuse program, at the women's community
 
 4 correctional center, is as successful and essential as its male
 
 5 counterpart KASHBOX.  However, the Ho`omana program is only able
 
 6 to serve a small portion of Hawaii's incarcerated female
 
 7 population because of severe underfunding.  Increased
 
 8 availability of drug treatment programs will help female inmates
 
 9 achieve parole expeditiously and reduce the rate of female inmate
 
10 recidivism.
 
11      The legislature further finds that the executive budget does
 
12 not reflect the legislature's intent to provide more female
 
13 inmates with adequate substance abuse treatment in the Ho`omana
 
14 program.
 
15      The purpose of this Act is to appropriate funding for the
 
16 operation of:
 
17      (1)  The KASHBOX program; and
 
18      (2)  The Ho`omana drug treatment program.
 
19      SECTION 2.  There is appropriated out of the general
 
20 revenues of the State of Hawaii the sum of $1 or so much thereof
 
21 as may be necessary for fiscal year 1999-2000 to provide
 
22 supplemental funding to continue the KASHBOX substance abuse
 
23 treatment program.
 

 
Page 4                                                     789
                                     H.B. NO.           H.D. 1
                                                        
                                                        

 
 1      SECTION 3  There is appropriated out of the general revenues
 
 2 of the State of Hawaii the sum of $1 or so much thereof as may be
 
 3 necessary for fiscal year 1999-2000 to provide supplemental
 
 4 funding to expand the Ho`omana substance abuse treatment program
 
 5 at the women's community correctional center.
 
 6      SECTION 4.  The sums appropriated shall be expended by the
 
 7 department of public safety for the purposes of this Act.
 
 8      SECTION 5.  This Act shall take effect on July 1, 1999.