Jail Doesn't Work: Pilot Program Shows Rehab Better at Preventing Repeat Offenses

By Carimah Townes, ThinkProgress

10 April 15

ow-level drug and prostitution offenders are significantly less likely to reoffend if they are sent to rehabilitation rather than to jail, according to the results of a pilot program in Seattle and King County in Washington. A University of Washington study of Law Enforcement Assisted Diversion (LEAD) found that 203 participants in the program were 60 percent less likely to be arrested within six months of entry, compared to 115 people in a control group. Throughout the duration of the study (October 2009 to July 2014), they were 58 percent less likely to get arrested. The likelihood of receiving a felony charge also dropped 52 percent, compared to an 18 percent drop among people in the control group.

Within the past few years, community groups, law enforcement bodies, and local leaders in Seattle and King County have adopted and developed LEAD as an alternative to sending low-level drug and prostitution offenders through the criminal justice system. Instead of booking, charging, and requiring court appearances, LEAD stakeholders connect offenders to basic necessities, such as housing, food, and clothing, and place them in drug or alcohol treatment programs.

LEAD participants are typically referred to the program by officers who screened them upon arrest. In some cases, officers referred “social contacts,” or people who previously engaged in criminal activity. After an intake evaluation determines how often participants use a substance, the state of their physical and mental health, and external factors that contribute to their behavior, case managers link them up with various community services, including counseling, housing, and job placement programs.

If the report’s findings are any indication, investment in rehabilitation, as opposed to prisons, can alleviate costs associated with the criminal justice system as a whole. Indeed, cities across the county, including New York City, Los Angeles, and Philadelphia, are eyeing LEAD as a viable alternative to current prosecution and jailing policies, according to the Drug Policy Alliance (DPA). Santa Fe also adopted the program in 2014.

In response to the study, DPA’s Managing Director of Policy and Campaigns, gabriel sayegh, said, “LEAD is a way for local jurisdictions to unwind the failed war on drugs, address racial disparities, and improve practices without waiting for policy change to come from the state level or from Congress. It’s a big step toward ending criminalization of drug possession and addiction.”

Policy Director Lisa Daugaard of the Public Defender Association explained, “The criminal justice system is the most expensive and ineffective way we could possibly design to try to help people change their behavior. But communities worry about giving up the arrest and punish approach if they feel there is no alternative. This evaluation shows that there is a less harmful way that does a better job of meeting community needs for order and safety.”

Almost 50 percent of federal prison inmates are drug offenders, and in the past two years, the Justice Department has pushed for shorter sentences for low-level offenses. In 2013, Attorney General Eric Holder announced that federal prosecutors would stop imposing harsh mandatory minimum sentences on low-level drug offenders. The DOJ has also shifted its focus to drug rehabilitation programs and community service initiatives, to steer offenders away from incarceration.