Who Moved The ?
Transforming the Justice System
A Short History of Florida’s Drug Courts•Established in 1989 in Dade County•Replicated in Broward County in 1991•Became Mandatory for each Circuit in
2000•Became Voluntary in 2006 after Art. V,
Rev. 7•Expanded by Stimulus Dollars and
Legislative Initiative in 2009•Glitch Bill 2011•Perhaps Reentry in 2012
ARTICLE VRevision 7
• Deleted the state mandate of a drug court in each circuit
• Added option of a drug court in each county
• HOWEVER, included drug court coordinators in case management – essential to the courts
The Growth of Drug Courts
32 3442
55
69
7989 92
102108
112
30405060708090100110120
1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008
Senate Bill 1726 (2009)•Lists factors to be Considered in
Placement of Offenders in Post-adjudicatory Drug Court▫Assessment of Defendant’s Criminal History▫Substance Abuse Screening Outcome▫Amenability to the Services of Program▫Total Sentencing Points▫Recommendation of the Prosecutor &
Victim, if any▫Defendant’s Agreement to Enter Program
Eligibility•Non-violent third degree felony or any other felony offense that is not a forcible felony as defined in section 776.08
•52 Points or Less•Substance Abuse Disorder•Probation Violation
Expansion of Pre-Trial Drug Court
Non-violent third degree felony or any other felony offense that is not a forcible felony as defined in section 776.08
Identified as Having Substance Abuse Problem
No Prior Felony ConvictionDeleted Prior PTI Admission as an
Exclusion
Expansion of Drug Offender Probation
Added non-violent third degree felony under chapter 810 or any other felony offense that is not a forcible felony as defined in section 776.08 with 52 Points or less
FUNDING$825,000 to OSCA for data collection$175,000 to OSCA for administration
and data collection$750,000 to Public Defenders for
Expansion$1.5 million to State Attorneys for
Expansion$17,633,222 for treatment, case
management, and drug testing
◦ All Stimulus Dollars
GOAL•Provide the State with 5 to 1+ return on
its investment of $20,883,223▫Target 4,000 non-violent, third-degree or
other non-forcible felony offenders with scores of 52 or less for post-adjudicatory drug courts
▫Anticipate 2,000 successful completions (a 50% failure rate as indicated by the OPPAGA study)
▫Anticipate 1,600 successful completers will not reenter Florida’s prison system (80 % success as indicated by the OPPAGA study)
5:1+ RETURN ON INVESTMENTReduce prison building by $100
million = one prison (1,200 offenders)
1,600 offenders diverted from prisonPlus yearly operational costs of $32
million over multiple yearsBONUS: Enhanced Public Safety by
Reduction in Recidivism and associated costs
MEANS TO THE ENDPrioritize the nine counties that send the
most offenders in the targeted population to Florida prisons:
1. Hillsborough 1,2242. Duval 1,1703. Broward 9954. Polk 8745. Pinellas 7686. Orange 7207. Marion 6318. Volusia 5859. Escambia 506
BASELINE TREATMENT AND DRUG TESTING COSTS $3,500 per offender
This baseline takes into account:› Not all offenders will need the same
amount of treatment› Minimum of 50% of targeted offenders
will complete treatment› Offenders will contribute to treatment
costs› Communities will contribute to overall
services
TOTALS – Annual and Two Year Projection Treatment and Drug Testing $ 7,000,000 Case Management – Supervision 750,139 Case Management – Courts 665,477
Indirect Costs (Counties/OSCA) 387,729 Travel and Administrative Costs 13,366TOTAL ANNUAL EXPENSE 8,816,611
Two Year Projection $17,633,222
Statewide Data System $1,000,000 Development
Expansion Admissions
•As of early September 13, 2011, 1,160 are participating in the expansion programs.
•Hillsborough and Broward lead the admissions.
•Broward has had 259 admissions with 41 terminations, which leads the State in overall participation
•Hillsborough leads the State in successful completions
•All Good News
Challenges: Enter the Glitch Bill
Confusion with new post-adjudicatory eligibility criteria
Eligibility criteria is too restrictive◦Increase eligibility criteria to all technical violations of probation rather than limiting them to just failed drug test violations
◦Consider increasing sentencing point threshold above 60 points
2011 Glitch Bill•Clarify eligibility criteria for post-
adjudicatory drug court programs.
•Expand criteria to allow more non-violent offenders to participate.
•This was all accomplished with 2011 legislation championed by Rep. Rousson. All recommendations for expanding eligibility was accomplished.
SUCCESS: This an opportunity for drug courts and substance abuse treatment to stake its claim.
▫Enhance Public Safety▫Reduce Recidivism▫Save $100M+ Dollars▫Restore Productive Citizens
Drug Court Reentry Program▫The DOC will identify eligible offenders
convicted of non-violent third degree felonies.▫After the offender has completed at least one
half of his prison sentence, the DOC will recommend the offender’s participation to the sentencing judge.
▫The State has the opportunity to object.▫ If accepted, the offender will participate in the
in-custody reentry program for 120 days.▫Upon successful completion, the sentencing
judge will modify the offender’s sentence to drug offender probation.
•The offender will step-down into an appropriate community-based treatment program (work release, residential treatment, half-way house, day treatment, out-patient therapy).
•The local drug court will monitor the offender’s participation.
•Failure will return the offender to finish the initial sentence with forfeiture of any gain time.
HB 177
•Sponsored by Senator Ellyn Bogdonoff and Representative Ari Porth
•Previously supported by Tax Watch, Associated Industries of Florida, The Coalition for Smart Justice, FADAA, FADCP, and many other treatment wise groups.
•Your support is needed.
WHY?
Because of YOU!
The Cheese Has Moved!•Now, I don’t have to explain what a drug
court is.•Now, the State wants to know how drug
courts can improve the criminal justice system and save dollars.
•Now, the OSCA fully supports drug courts.•Now, the Senate Criminal Justice Committee
asks for presentations on drug courts.•Now, it’s drug court’s time to shine, but not
without pulling its own weight.
A Great Big Thank You!
•Without the Commission on Substance Abuse, our drug courts would not exist, could not expand, could not survive!
•Without the Commission, Broward County would not lead the State in: Prevention
Diversion
InterventionReentry
The Cheese Has Moved!