SB2592.DOC

SECTION 1. The legislature finds that diverting nonviolent drug offenders from incarceration into community-based drug treatment programs results in long-term savings and a reduction in recidivism. The cost of reentry programs is less than incarceration, and research shows that community-based drug treatment programs offer savings of $10 to $18 for every $1 spent.

The legislature further finds that the State is in a unique position to encourage drug abusers to enter and remain in substance abuse treatment, thereby disrupting the vicious cycle of drug abuse and crime. In the State, there are over one hundred forty drug offenders classified as low-risk inmates who are imprisoned. Community correction centers are overcrowded, and these low-risk, nonviolent drug offenders are at risk of harm. Fifty per cent of the State's prisoners are dependent on drugs, yet less than twenty per cent receive formal treatment while incarcerated.

The legislature additionally finds that according to the National Institute of Drug Abuse, when drug abusing offenders receive treatment for their addiction, public health and safety improves. Drug-abusing offenders often suffer from serious diseases, and treatment for addiction can help prevent the spread of these diseases. Substance-abuse treatment and support services enable drug offenders to break the pattern of drug abuse and crime, improving public safety. Structured community-based treatment programs offer effective treatment for nonviolent offenders seeking to break the cycle of substance abuse, crime, and incarceration. Moreover, public safety does not need to be compromised, as the majority of incarcerated drug abusers are not violent offenders. Nationally, eight-five per cent of drug offenders have no prior incarceration for violent crimes.

The legislature also finds that structured community-based treatment programs use evidence-based practices that produce measurable outcomes to enable nonviolent offenders to transition into the community and achieve self-sufficiency. Effective reentry support services include: community-based treatment, intensive case management, enrollment in medical insurance, family reintegration services, drug testing and monitoring, job training and placement, and extended after-care support.

The purpose of this Act is to fund and establish a two-year pilot project to demonstrate the cost effectiveness of providing an alternative to incarceration by diverting nonviolent offenders with substance-abuse issues from incarceration into a coordinated system of community-based treatment programs and reentry support services. The goals and benefits of this program include:

(1) Reducing the prison population and the cost of incarceration by decreasing recidivism among nonviolent drug offenders;

(2) Identifying a network of key resources necessary for success; and

(3) Preserving public safety through careful initial screening and continuing monitoring of participants in the project as they live in the community.

SECTION 2. (a) There is established a two-year diversion and reentry pilot project within the department of public safety.

(b) There shall be one hundred participants in the pilot project per year, as follows:

(1) Fifty nonviolent male and female offenders diverted from Oahu community correctional center; and

(2) Fifty nonviolent male and female offenders who are eligible for early release or parole.

(1) The reduction in recidivism, as measured by the percentage of project participants who are neither arrested nor incarcerated within eighteen months following release from jail or prison; and

(2) Project participants' status six months after early release or parole, based on the following criteria:

(A) Record of arrest;

(B) Substance abuse;

(D) Housing status; and

(E) The availability of a positive support group.

(d) Data shall be collected by service providers and shall be submitted to the department of public safety every six months for evaluation purposes.

SECTION 3. There is appropriated out of the general revenues of the State of Hawaii the sum of $500,000 or so much thereof as may be necessary for fiscal year 2014-2015 for the establishment of the diversion and reentry pilot project in the department of public safety, to be implemented and administered pursuant to this Act.

The sum appropriated shall be expended by the department of public safety for the purposes of this Act.

SECTION 4. This Act shall take effect on July 1, 2014, and shall be repealed on July 1, 2016.

INTRODUCED BY:	_____________________________

THE SENATE	S.B. NO.	2592
TWENTY-SEVENTH LEGISLATURE, 2014
STATE OF HAWAII