REPORT TITLE: 
Prisons; Drug Treatment


DESCRIPTION:
Makes an appropriation to continue the KASHBOX substance abuse
treatment program and to expand the Ho'omana substance abuse
treatment program.  (HB531 SD2)

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
                                                        531
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES                H.B. NO.           S.D. 2
TWENTIETH LEGISLATURE, 1999                                
STATE OF HAWAII                                            
                                                             
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                     A BILL FOR AN ACT

RELATING TO CORRECTIONS.



BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF HAWAII:

 1      SECTION 1.  The legislature recognizes there is a high
 
 2 correlation between substance abuse and crime in Hawaii--eighty
 
 3 to eighty-five percent of all male criminal offenders currently
 
 4 in Hawaii's prison system need substance abuse treatment.  The
 
 5 percentage of female inmates needing substance abuse treatment is
 
 6 higher at ninety-five percent.
 
 7      The legislature finds that the Waiawa correctional
 
 8 facility's KASHBOX substance abuse treatment program has been
 
 9 highly successful since its opening in March 1990.  Out of four
 
10 hundred ninety-three inmates treated by the KASHBOX program, two
 
11 hundred ninety-seven inmates have graduated from the program,
 
12 with an average retake rate of thirty-eight percent.
 
13      According to a Drug Abuse Report Program (DARP) study, from
 
14 the National Institute of Drug Abuse, untreated addicts and
 
15 alcoholics cost taxpayers around $130,000,000,000 per year.
 
16      The legislature further finds that tough drug and alcohol
 
17 treatment is the proven way to jam a wedge into the criminal
 
18 justice system's revolving door, thereby putting a lid on the
 
19 exploding criminal justice costs.  A number of studies have
 

 
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                                     H.B. NO.           S.D. 2
                                                        
                                                        

 
 1 confirmed the vital need for and success of substance abuse
 
 2 treatment programs.  For example:
 
 3      (1)  The CALDATA study conducted by the state of California
 
 4           in 1996 found that drug and alcohol treatment saves
 
 5           state government money.  Specifically, the study showed
 
 6           that, for every dollar spent on treatment, taxpayers
 
 7           saved seven dollars during the period of treatment and
 
 8           in the first year afterwards, mostly due to reductions
 
 9           in crime.  Moreover, the study revealed a two-thirds
 
10           drop in criminal activity for those who received
 
11           treatment;
 
12      (2)  The DARP study also found that arrest rates decreased
 
13           seventy-three percent after offenders received drug and
 
14           alcohol treatment; and
 
15      (3)  Finally, a study by Rutgers University found a seventy-
 
16           three percent post-treatment decrease in illegal income
 
17           (income from robberies, burglaries, drug-trafficking,
 
18           and the like), which not surprisingly matched a
 
19           seventy-one percent decrease in money spent on drugs.
 
20      In a Honolulu Star-Bulletin article dated October 9, 1995,
 
21 Governor Ben Cayetano supported the expansion of the KASHBOX
 
22 program, saying "increasing the program's size by 160 to 200
 
23 spaces is money well spent."  He went on to say that he "believes
 

 
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                                     H.B. NO.           S.D. 2
                                                        
                                                        

 
 1 the drug treatment program is a bright spot in a system trying to
 
 2 solve problems, including inmate overcrowding and abuse, and drug
 
 3 use and other abuses by guards."
 
 4      However, the proposed budget for the KASHBOX substance abuse
 
 5 treatment program falls short of what the program needs in order
 
 6 to continue into the next biennium.  
 
 7      The legislature finds that the situation for incarcerated
 
 8 women is equally critical as for incarcerated males.  The
 
 9 Ho'omana substance abuse program, at the women's community
 
10 correctional center, is as successful and essential as its male
 
11 counterpart KASHBOX.  However, the Ho'omana program is only able
 
12 to serve a small portion of Hawaii's incarcerated female
 
13 population because of severe underfunding.  Increased
 
14 availability of drug treatment programs will help female inmates
 
15 achieve parole expeditiously and reduce the rate of female inmate
 
16 recidivism.
 
17      The legislature further finds that the executive budget does
 
18 not reflect the legislature's intent to provide more female
 
19 inmates with adequate substance abuse treatment in the Ho'omana
 
20 program.
 
21      Accordingly, the purpose of this Act is to appropriate
 
22 funding for the operation of:
 
23      (1)  The KASHBOX program; and
 

 
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                                     H.B. NO.           S.D. 2
                                                        
                                                        

 
 1      (2)  The Ho'omana drug treatment program.
 
 2      SECTION 2.  There is appropriated out of the general
 
 3 revenues of the State of Hawaii the sum of $        , or so much
 
 4 thereof as may be necessary for fiscal year 1999-2000, to provide
 
 5 supplemental funding to continue the KASHBOX substance abuse
 
 6 treatment program.
 
 7      SECTION 3.  There is appropriated out of the general
 
 8 revenues of the State of Hawaii the sum of $        , or so much
 
 9 thereof as may be necessary for fiscal year 1999-2000, to provide
 
10 supplemental funding to expand the Ho'omana substance abuse
 
11 treatment program at the women's community correctional center.
 
12      SECTION 4.  The sums appropriated shall be expended by the
 
13 department of public safety for the purposes of this Act.
 
14      SECTION 5.  As part of the consideration for the expansion
 
15 of the KASHBOX program, the department of public safety shall
 
16 undertake a gender equity assesssment of its current programs to
 
17 assure that women have the same access to substance abuse
 
18 treatment as their male counterparts.
 
19      SECTION 6.  This Act shall take effect on July 1, 1999.