Diversion of Nonviolent Substance Abuse Parolees: Putting Research into Practice

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M.D. was preparing himself for the worst. Based on past experience,

he knew what the parole system had in store for him, or at least he thought he did. He had been in and out of custody for most of the past 15 years for a variety of nonviolent offenses, including burglary and controlled, dangerous substance charges, and figured he was going back to jail yet again for drinking beer, a violation of his parole conditions. M.D. decided that it would be best to be honest with his parole officer this time and to admit his return to alcohol usage. He just wanted to get it over with and had already prepared his girlfriend for his return to custody. M.D. had put his affairs in order and was hoping to be out of jail by next summer. What he did not expect was another chance. Within 48 hours of his most recent visit to his parole officer, M.D. was placed in a residential substance abuse treatment facility for a minimum of 90 days as part of the New Jersey State Parole Board's new direct diversion program for nonviolent offenders.

As part of an ongoing agenda to create a more balanced and effective casework approach to parole supervision, the New Jersey State Parole Board adopted a new operational philosophy in the fall of 2003. In lieu of routinely arresting parole violators for drug or alcohol usage, a new policy was implemented to divert ex-offenders with chronic substance abuse problems out of the parole revocation process and place them directly into appropriate treatment facilities with little or no time spent in custody awaiting a formal hearing. During 2004, as part of this new initiative, a total of 634 parolees were diverted into one of the parole board's privately contracted residential treatment programs for periods ranging from 90 to 180 days. The 634 parolees, who prior to the state parole board's new community programs direct diversion initiative could have been returned to prison for a period of 12 months, will now be receiving much-needed treatment for their addictions. An additional benefit is that this diversion will be accomplished at a significant savings to taxpayers when compared with reincarceration. The New Jersey Department of Corrections reports that the annual institutional cost is approximately $28,000 per inmate, or almost $77 …