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| Budget woes might mean end of corrections program |
| By thenewstribune.com - Paula Horton |
| Published: 12/05/2011 |
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WA -- Six Tri-City offenders convicted of drug crimes sat around a table talking about their lives. The men and women in the Moral Recognition Therapy program reflected on what led to their arrests. They also looked to the future and set goals so they can live drug- and crime-free lives. "Sometimes I think it's a good thing I got my felony (last year) because I got treatment and I'm sober," said one man at the Kennewick class. "I've never been sober -- not that I can remember. This is the first year I've not been drugging and drinking. ... It's been almost 20 years since I've been clean and sober. It's kind of nice." Programs like this run by the state Department of Corrections to help offenders once they are out of prison could be eliminated under state budget proposals to dig the state out of debt. "This is about changing their thought-process and teaching them how to make better decisions with situations they've been in in the past," said Community Corrections Officer Tino Hernandez, who leads the therapy class twice a week. Among the $2 billion in spending cuts proposed in Gov. Chris Gregoire's supplemental budget is a $72 million reduction to the corrections' department budget. The majority of that cut would come from slashing how long 16,600 offenders must be on probation, according to state Office of Financial Management. Community supervision -- which used to be called parole -- will be reduced to one year for all offenders except about 3,000 sex offenders who will have their supervision time decreased from three years to two. The governor's budget also includes releasing low- to moderate-risk offenders 150 days early -- that is about 370 people a day. Most of those released early also won't be supervised once they're back in the community because community supervision for low-risk offenders was already eliminated as part of more than $300 million in spending cuts in recent years. Gregoire, however, has proposed a temporary half-cent sales tax increase that she hopes voters approve this spring. If approved, $41 million of the estimated $494 million raised would be earmarked for public safety -- specifically to keep from releasing offenders early and not reducing their supervision. The Legislature began a 30-day special session last week to deal with the budget shortfall. The governor needs a majority of lawmakers to agree to send the tax measure to the ballot. The Moral Recognition Therapy program is just one of many programs run by the state Department of Corrections to help people recently released from prison and jail. It's also just one of many responsibilities of community corrections officers to help monitor and track offenders to help keep communities safe. "Community corrections is kind of an invisible crime protection, in a lot of ways," said Chad Lewis, spokesman for the state Department of Corrections. Ron Pedersen, field administrator for Central Washington who has worked for the state Department of Corrections for 21 years, says the mission of community corrections is offender change. So, in addition to making sure offenders aren't breaking law and are following conditions of their release, community corrections officers also get offenders into a variety of programs, said Pedersen, who supervises the probation officers and supervisors in 11 counties, including in the Tri-Cities. "I don't have to say why what we do matters, all I have to do is say all that we do," he said. "We work to protect victims of original crimes, but we also work to prevent new victims." In Benton and Franklin counties, there are about 24 community corrections officers who supervise 649 offenders, he said. How often a community corrections officer is in contact with someone they supervise depends on the offender. If the offender is following rules, there are two contacts each month out in the field and one in the office. Some offenders, however, have daily check-in requirements or can be required to take weekly tests to make sure they're not using drugs or alcohol. "It's so much more than what the public knows," Pedersen said, "We're actively engaged in helping them be successful." Benton County currently has 471 offenders being monitored, and Franklin County has 178. They are violent offenders, who are considered a high-risk to reoffend, sex offenders and mentally ill offenders, he said. "Our fear, of course, is that they just want to make (supervision) go away," Pedersen said. "The question is, 'What happens when these people walk out of prison and there's no community corrections officers to meet them? What happens next?' " Community corrections officers work with prisoners for up to six months before their release date to help them find a place to live, look for a job and connect to services in the community -- medical or mental health treatment, drug or alcohol programs. The goal is to try to give them resources to help them make better choices and avoid going back to prison. "We prevent a lot of stuff, but how do you measure what doesn't happen?" Pedersen said. "Reductions in recidivism and reductions in harm are difficult to measure." Read More. |
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