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| New focus will be on treatment services for inmates with potential to re-offend |
| By Associated Press |
| Published: 05/03/2004 |
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An expert in corrections programs convinced South Dakota officials last Tuesday that one way to ease the growing prison population is to focus treatment on inmates who are at high risk of re-offending. Proper services should be provided for those who are most likely to wind up back in prison while on parole or after completion of their sentences, said Ed Latessa, head of the Criminal Justice Division at the University of Cincinnati. Effective treatment of those high-risk offenders must include accurate assessments of their problems and use of effective programs to change their thinking and behavior, the governor's corrections task force decided after hearing from Latessa. Tim Reisch, state Corrections Department secretary, said programs that do not work will be quickly abandoned in favor of tailored treatment efforts that are successful. ''We're going to do a better job of assessment,'' he said. Programs that are not backed by solid research should be avoided, Latessa warned. ''It's insanity to keep doing the same thing over and over, expecting a different result,'' he said. Expansion not answer: Simply enlarging prison systems is not the answer to ever-increasing inmate numbers, Latessa said. ''You won't build your way out of the problem,'' he told the task force. There were 2,814 men and 280 women in the state prison system at the end of March. Inmate numbers have been doubling in recent decades. The prison population was 839 in 1984 and 1,584 in 1994. The most common violent crimes committed by state prisoners were rape, aggravated assault and sexual contact with children; drunken driving, drug possession and grand theft were the most frequent nonviolent crimes. Reisch said $13 million in prison expansion projects at Sioux Falls, Rapid City and Springfield are under way. The construction will add 792 beds to the system and require 110 more prison employees, he said. Solutions sought: Reisch said something must be done to curb the growing prison population. The task force has been meeting since last year to come up with various solutions. ''Everything is on the table,'' Reisch said. |
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