Addiction Treatment Program for Michigan Inmates Restructured

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By Holland Sentinel

Published: 03/20/2003

Mark Knudsen is confident that the second time will be the charm for a program aimed at eliminating recidivism among substance abusers who spend time in the county jail.
Knudsen, Ottawa County's planning and grants director, told members of the county board's Planning and Policy Committee that a new take on the failed Addictions Program Therapy project could lead to success because it would fit better with the time that abusers need to finish treatment.
Lack of results due mainly to poor planning and low participation doomed the previous program, which attempted to wean inmates from their addictions while in jail and after release.
Explaining a new idea for the program, Knudsen said the most logical way to make it successful would be to test inmates when they're booked into the jail and use their post-release probationary period as therapy time.
To do that, Knudsen said, inmates would most likely have to live in Ottawa County and would have to serve at least 12 months on probation.
'An in-jail program should have a minimum of 28 days of treatment. But studies have shown that it's best to have a program that lasts two to three months,' he said. 'But there's no consistency in time served with sentencing sometimes, so a person could be sentenced to 94 days and only serve four in jail.
'So it's difficult to develop a good in-jail program.'
While time is critical to the program, Knudsen said demographics are just as important. Inmates who are held in Ottawa County but live elsewhere are likely to leave the county immediately after their incarceration.
Knudsen used a jail demographic study taken Jan. 13 and Feb. 9 to prove his point to committee members. According to the study, 77 of the 116 inmates in jail were Ottawa County residents and only 19 were serving at least 28 days in jail.
Thirty-one received post-jail probation, 27 of which served probation of more than 12 months. Ten served 28 days in jail and more than 12 months probation.
'This is a big reason why the first program didn't work,' Knudsen said of the original program which was instituted both in jail and after release. 'I just have a problem justifying an in-jail program with these numbers.'
Knudsen will speak with county judges next week, he said, to see if they would agree to require the program in their probationary sentences.
The initial substance abuse treatment program ended last year after only 50.2 percent of those who completed the jail phase enrolled in the post-release phase. Only 72 of those inmates completed the entire program.
The key fact, though, was that half of all participants in the program were arrested again by March 2002.
Knudsen didn't discuss costs for the program, nor could he say who would administer it. Previously, West Michigan Therapy provided treatment in jail and Child and Family Services provided post-release care.
Under the new program, consultants hired to determine inmates' need will help decide what agencies will be used. The county, which will initially foot the bill for the program, would like to get some reimbursement from inmates' insurance companies.
Knudsen hopes the program will pass through channels and go into effect by May 1.

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