Treatment funding pushed
by: MICHAEL OVERALL World Staff Writer
4/15/2008
State officials cite statistics to argue that such programs greatly reduce the chance of repeat addiction.
The inmate’s voice cracks a little as she tells her story, skipping details to concentrate on the emotions. That’s what the counselor wants to hear. “Fear. Anger. Frustration.” Serving four years in prison for possession of a controlled substance, Cathy Reed had what she vaguely describes as “a confrontation” with another inmate. “It made me feel like I had no control.”Sitting at the other end of a conference table in her black pinstripe pant suit, her counselor, Chiang Lei Chi, leans forward and asks:“And what did you do to vent those feelings?”
Seven other women, all wearing identical gray outfits with “INMATE” printed on the back, turn to look at Reed. She stands out in the gray-painted room as the only one wearing a blue Oklahoma Department of Corrections shirt.
“I did this,” she confesses, holding up a Snickers bar. “The way I’m going, I’m going to weigh 200 pounds before I get out of here.”
Compared with a drug habit, that’s progress.
If Reed completes this group therapy program at the Hillside Community Correctional Center in Oklahoma City, she will have an 80 percent chance of never returning to prison, Corrections Department statistics show.
Without the treatment, the odds would turn nearly upside-down — she would have about an 80 percent chance of being back in custody within a few years.
‘Just
Gov. Brad Henry’s budget proposal for the next fiscal year includes $2 million for in-prison treatment. If the Legislature approves the request, it would be the first time Oklahoma ever set aside funding specifically for this purpose.
The state’s treatment programs are now supported largely by federal grants and general operating funds from the Corrections Department.
That funding, however, doesn’t even come close to providing treatment to all the inmates who need it. Only one out of three Oklahoma inmates receives treatment for a diagnosed chronic drug or alcohol addiction.
“The governor thinks that is simply unacceptable,” says Henry’s spokesman, Paul Sund.
Additional funding would be an investment, not an expense, because it’s cheaper in the long run to rehabilitate inmates, Sund says.
“We have to close the revolving door that keeps letting people out of prison and bringing them right back in again,” he says. “Treatment has been shown to work, so it’s just common sense to move in that direction.”
‘Find
Find one and it’s sure to have a hole punched in it and drugs stashed inside. Friends and relatives toss them over the fence, presumably at predetermined locations, for inmates to retrieve.
“Desperate people can get very creative,” says Janet Dowling, the program director at the Johnson Center, where the state plans to add hundreds of beds if funding becomes available.
“But you have to have a clean facility if you want to have effective treatment. It’s an ongoing battle that we fight every day.”
Drugs have a way of slipping into the Hillside center, too. Leon Hawkins, the program director there, used to kick inmates out of treatment if they tested positive on drug screenings.
“Then I realized, ‘Hey, they’re the ones that need it the most,’ ” he said. “Now, if they’re willing to try again, we’ll keep working with them. We won’t give up on them until they give up on themselves.”
That’s not the only way treatment programs have evolved since the 1990s.
The department used to emphasize support groups — like-minded individuals encouraging and reinforcing positive behaviors in each other. But when inmates left prison — and the support groups — they often reverted to old habits.
“It was well-intentioned,” says Clint Castleberry, the department’s clinical coordinator for institutional programs. “But not very effective.”
Partly through trial and error, and partly through studying what has worked in other states, Oklahoma officials are confident they have a better approach.
Known as “cognitive behavioral therapy,” it still involves group therapy — but aims to reform the emotions, values and beliefs that lead to drug use.
“If you’re dealing with — let’s say — your insecurities by drinking, then you’re going to need to find another way to deal with those insecurities,” Castleberry says.
“You have to address what’s inside of a person driving those destructive behaviors.”
‘Think
“You have goals and dreams,” the counselor insists. “What are they?”
Reed shrugs. “I want to lose 20 pounds.”
Chi sighs. “You must have bigger dreams. What do you want out of life?”
Reed shakes her head. “I’m serious. I was 202 pounds when I was clean. I don’t want to be like that again.”
Sitting around a long conference table, several other inmates speak up to agree with Reed. Weight gain is a serious concern for women trying to get off drugs.
“OK, OK,” Chi says, raising her hand to silence the room. “Let’s think through this. Let’s think about actions and consequences. What is your goal? What actions will take you closer to your goal? What actions will take you further away from your goal?”
Reed puts her candy bar on the table. “OK. Maybe I won’t eat that one.”
Another inmate reaches over to pat Reed on the shoulder. “Just remember — it’s still better than using.”
By the numbers
5,540: New inmates diagnosed with chronic drug or alcohol addiction in 2007.
1,445: Inmates who received drug and alcohol treatment before being released last year.
$1.1 million: Spent by the Department of Corrections on treatment programs last year.
$630,000: Spent by the Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services for in-prison treatment programs.
0.029: Percent of the total state budget spent on in-prison drug treatment.
Source: Tulsa World
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