By Vicky Taylor
Public Opinion
FRANKLIN COUNTY, Pa. — Franklin County was recognized Tuesday for raising the standard of handling drug and alcohol addicts caught in the county judicial system, but local officials say more can be done to keep the county jail for criminals, and treating addiction in other places.
In one of several statewide forums on the issue of treating drug and alcohol addiction within the state’s prison system, William M DiMascio, executive director of the Pennsylvania Prison Society, praised Franklin County. He lauded the efforts taken by county commissioners, the court system and the local jail administration to rehabilitate inmates through programs such as the Day Reporting Center and to find alternatives to jail time for non-violent offenders.
“The county has taken a good step in the right direction,” DiMascio said during the forum Tuesday attended by representatives of social service agencies, support groups and the general public.
“The program they have established here seems to be working and is well supported (by the community),” he said.
The forum explored the function of the county’s Criminal Justice Advisory Board and the steps the county has started to provide help for inmates with drug and alcohol problems.
Judge Richard Walls told forum participants that drug and alcohol addictions account for a large number of cases that come before him each week.
“Addictions lead to unacceptable behavior and often the unacceptable behavior is criminal behavior,” he said.
He said that although often that behavior is something like driving under the influence or simple drug possession, many times addictions lead to other criminal acts - such as theft and robberies - when the addict needs a source of revenue to support his addiction.
Even when addictions don’t lead to more serious crimes, being arrested and jailed for a crime such as driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs affects not just the individual, but their family and the community.
He said once an inmate is released from jail, they face a number of issues that make it hard for them to become productive members of society again.
“We have known for awhile that we need to find better alternatives, better ways to help people cope with the stresses (of life) when they go back home,” he said. “We needed an alternative for those who need treatment but don’t need incarceration.”
The county’s Day Reporting Center is one such alternative, Walls said.
Participants in the program take part in a variety of substance abuse programs as well as counseling and sessions that explore education and job skills.
Franklin County Jail Warden John Wetzel said the county’s corrections system had made “some progress” with the building of a new jail and establishment of the Day Reporting Center.
“That doesn’t mean we don’t have a lot more to do,” he said. “The next step for us is to get people out of the system and keep them out.”
He said the DCR and other programs that have been instituted in the past few years are a good step in the right direction, however.
“At the end of the day, our goal should be to get (inmates) back into the community as productive members of society,” he said.
Wetzel pointed out that Franklin County is one of the fastest growing counties in the state, but he said the population at the local jail has decreased over the years.
“We have fewer inmates today than we had in 2000,” he said.
At the same time that the county’s jail population has been decreasing, the population of state prisons in Pennsylvania has been growing.
The crime rate in Franklin County has also dropped during the last two years, and the cost of running the criminal justice system, including courts and corrections, is down compared to 2002.
Wetzel said he can’t prove those costs are down because of new programs such as the DCR, but on the other hand he feels the numbers are significant.
Wetzel said 43 percent of the people in the county jail are there as a direct result of a drug and alcohol charge, and that 13 percent of those coming into the jail are put on detox protocols.
He said 85 percent of inmates have some kind of drug or alcohol problem.
Wetzel also talked about “reentry” of inmates into the community.
“Reentry is not enough,” he said. “Reentry happens when you open the door and say ‘you are free.’”
He said instead of just sending inmates out into the community when they finish serving their sentences, the corrections system needs to do more.
“You need re-engagement, and that’s what we try to do,” he said.
Dr. Kim Eaton, director of the Day Reporting Center, and treatment counselor Teri Peck also talked about the DCR and various treatment options available to inmates.
Copyright 2010 Public Opinion