Wednesday, January 21, 2009

We Can and Will

In the year after Martin Luther King’s dream became a reality and our nation elected a new President based on his character and positions rather than on the color of his skin, our country is poised to enter a new era.

For decades, treatment professionals and researchers have decried the criminal justice system’s punitive approach to offenders, especially non-violent ones with alcohol, drug, and mental health issues. They urged justice professionals to incorporate treatment and rehabilitation in a realistic way that addresses the offenders’ underlying addiction(s) and mental health problems.

Unfortunately, many early intervention programs failed, as there was little ability to objectively monitor progress and determine outcomes. Additionally, justice professionals found it easier, more efficient and safer to build new prisons than “cut people a break.”

Times have changed. Technological and other innovations have enabled us to monitor people much more effectively and identify programs, like DWI and drug courts, that work. Additionally, huge incarceration rates coupled with eroded tax bases (courtesy of a flagging economy) have filled our nation’s jails and prisons to capacity and, in some instances, beyond capacity. We no longer can afford to warehouse non-violent offenders for long periods of time. They will eventually get out; we need to more.

At NPAMC, we believe that we can simultaneously make our communities safer, save tax dollars and restore offenders’ lives simultaneously by incorporating evidence- and consensus- based policies and practices involving well-conceived and coordinated penalties, treatment, and monitoring.

Change is afoot. Are you ready? Will you join the movement and support our efforts?

Stephen K. Talpins
Chief Executive Officer
National Partnership on Alcohol Misuse and Crime