Last September, a Superior Court judge ordered the county of Santa Clara to expand its residential treatment centers to accommodate newly released offenders from its jails, reported Jennifer Wadsworth in San Jose Inside.
The county Board of Supervisors considered allocating $526,000 of Assembly Bill 109 funds to the Department of Drug and Alcohol Services to add up to 130 treatment beds in order to comply with the Superior Court order.
The need for the extra beds results from a federal court order capping California’s prison population at 137.5 percent of designed capacity in 2011. The state responded to the order by shifting the responsibility for low-level offenders to county governments.
“The department determined that the current residential capacity was not adequate to meet the needs of the criminal justice system,” according to a memo presented to the supervisors, San Jose Inside reported. “Offering more inpatient drug treatment would reduce the jail population and improve outcomes of defendants,” the memo continued.
The outcomes for residential treatment are better than for outpatient services, Wadsworth reported. Of the 171 patients released from county-contracted residential rehab last year, 70 percent completed treatment and 18 percent left with satisfactory progress. For outpatient clients, 39 percent left with satisfactory progress while fewer completed treatment.
Wadsworth noted that it takes more time for someone in jail to get into residential rehab (25-day waiting list) than someone off the streets (16 days).
