State looking at treatment outside prison

| Friday, August 15, 2003

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PIERRE (AP) — State Corrections Secretary Tim Reisch said Thursday that he is willing to consider treatment alternatives both within and outside the prison setting for some inmates with drug and alcohol problems.

Several people told an interim legislative committee that many adult inmates would be better helped if they were in full-time treatment.

About 85 percent of those put in South Dakota prisons have drug or alcohol problems. Treatment is provided in prison, but not usually until inmates are nearing the end of their sentences. Inmates getting treatment also frequently spend much of the day working, in education classes and other activities.

The former reform school at Plankinton has been mentioned as a possible place for such a drug and alcohol treatment center. However, Reisch said it would cost state government many millions of dollars to start such an independent program.

It may be possible to devote a prison wing for intensive drug and alcohol treatment or develop some other pilot project, he said.

"We are looking at it," Reisch said.

Sen. Dick Kelly, R-Sioux Falls, said many prisoners could benefit from stepped-up treatment.

"This problem isn't going to go away," he said.

Kelly acknowledged, however, that even enhanced treatment does not ensure success.

"There are some people who just don't get it and can't be helped," he said.

Legislators also were told that there is a great need to provide more follow up services for people on parole. They need continued counseling, jobs and places to stay, the committee was told.

The Corrections Department does what it can in those areas, officials said, adding that there always is room for more post-prison assistance.

Dan Petersen of Rapid City, who provides parolees with drug and alcohol counseling, said he does it in a group setting. Ideally, more money should be provided so that parolees can get individual counseling, he said.

Parolees who can be helped to stay away from alcohol and drugs for three to six months after release from prison stand a 70 percent chance of never going back again, Petersen said.

"I know that treatment works," he said.

There also is a need for specialized treatment of people who use methamphetamines, Petersen said. Those hooked on meth often turn to alcohol, marijuana and heroin if they cannot get more meth, he said.

"Meth addicts should be treated separately," Petersen said.

Spending some state money on services for people released from prison would save even more money in the long run, said Rep. Quinten Burg, D-Wessington Springs. Prison treatment programs are a big help, but treatment after prison is also important, he said.

"If we don't follow up, all of our efforts ahead of time are going to be wasted," he said.

Lowell Noeske, a volunteer who coordinates drug and alcohol assistance at the women's prison in Pierre, said people with substance-abuse problems cannot get the full benefit of help unless they are willing to change.

"It's an individual thing," he said. "These people have to want it for themselves."

The closed State Training School at Plankinton may be a good place to provide highly specialized drug and alcohol treatment, said Rep. Cooper Garnos, R-Presho. He said a well-designed program there could draw prisoners from several states.

The former reform school, which was shut down in late 2001 by former Gov. Bill Janklow, also is being eyed for reopening as a center to treat juveniles who have been sexually abused or have psychiatric problems.

Leslie Balonick, a vice president for the Houston, Texas-based Cornell Companies, said it could provide those services at a fee of $179 daily for each juvenile. The company began operations in 1973 and has extensive experience treating both juveniles and adults in several states, she said.

The committee was told that it costs an average of $210 daily to treat South Dakota juveniles in other states.

State officials are interested in the Cornell proposal, Reisch said. But he could not guarantee that juveniles sent to the state Corrections System would be placed at such a facility.

Many juveniles are now sent to other states for those types of treatment, and some of them perhaps could be brought back to South Dakota if such a facility is located at Plankinton, Reisch said.

"They're right on target to try to bring some of those kids back to the state," he said of Cornell.

Not all juveniles treated in other states could be handled in South Dakota because some require specialized services that may never be available here, Reisch added.

John Steele, Aurora County state's attorney and chairman of a Plankinton task force seeking a use for the closed reform school, said the Cornell proposal is the best of several that have been reviewed.

Gov. Mike Rounds has offered to lease the state property to the community for $1, and Plankinton would then sublease it to Cornell, Steele said. The agreement would require the firm to pay into a fund that would be used for upkeep of the Training School buildings, he said.

"It's a shame to see it sitting empty," Steele said of the closed reform school.

Several legislators agreed that the facilities should be reopened.

Although the Corrections Department cannot provide a firm guarantee that it would use Cornell's services for juveniles, the state could save money by having children treated in South Dakota, Steele said.

"Cornell will be dependent upon getting kids from the Department of Corrections to be economically viable," he said.

The interim legislative committee is studying the corrections system. It will meet again Oct. 1-2.

Dick DeVaney, secretary-treasurer of Gage Brothers Concrete Products at Sioux Falls, pushed Thursday for expansion of work-release programs. Fewer inmates would get into trouble after prison if they develop work skills, he said.

Gage Brothers employs about 30 inmates, DeVaney said.

"You have to find employers who are willing to give people a second chance," he said.

More post-prison assistance must be provided, agreed Glenn Sellevold of Sioux Falls, who volunteers for religious work at the prison there. A state coordinator should be hired to oversee services for people freed from prison, he said.

"When they walk out the front door ... there's very little help," Sellevold said.

A state coordinator could line up volunteers at churches across the state, he said. Many people may be willing to assist, Sellevold said.

"Get them sold on the idea of helping the inmate after he is released."