Bill Text: HI SCR187 | 2013 | Regular Session | Introduced

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Bill Title: Community Drug Treatment Programs; Mental Health Programs

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 5-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2013-03-19 - Referred to PSM/HTH, WAM. [SCR187 Detail]

Download: Hawaii-2013-SCR187-Introduced.html

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THE SENATE	S.C.R. NO.	187
TWENTY-SEVENTH LEGISLATURE, 2013
STATE OF HAWAII

SENATE CONCURRENT

RESOLUTION

 

 

ENCOURAGING THE DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC SAFETY TO EXPAND COMMUNITY DRUG TREATMENT AND MENTAL HEALTH PROGRAMS FOR NONVIOLENT OFFENDERS AND MOVE LOW-RISK OFFENDERS INTO COMMUNITY PROGRAMS THAT DIRECTLY ADDRESS THEIR PATHWAYS TO INCARCERATION.

 

 

                WHEREAS, the Legislature finds that the crime victimization rate in Hawaii has declined from forty-eight percent in 1997 to 30.2 percent in 2010; and

 

     WHEREAS, the Justice Reinvestment Initiative found that the jail population has increased by forty-eight percent in the following areas:  (1) the pre-trial population increased from 568 in 2006 to 1,233 in 2011 (one hundred seventeen percent) and (2) the sentenced population increased from 914 in 2006 to 958 in 2011 (five percent); and

 

     WHEREAS, sixty-three percent of nonviolent pre-trial felons are low risk; and

 

     WHEREAS, only fourteen percent of incarcerated persons need prison-based programming, and

 

     WHEREAS, two-thirds of offenders are awaiting prison-based programming in order to be released on parole; and

 

     WHEREAS, almost one-half of all parole denials were low-risk inmates; and

 

     WHEREAS, one hundred forty-four individuals imprisoned for promoting a dangerous drug or prohibited acts related to drug paraphernalia were low risk; and

 

     WHEREAS, sixty percent of the felony probationers receiving sentences of thirty-seven months or more are low risk; and

 

     WHEREAS, eighty percent of the parole population is low risk; and

 

     WHEREAS, overcrowding in Hawaii's community correctional centers put low-risk, nonviolent offenders at risk of harm; and

 

     WHEREAS, this overcrowding places the State at great liability; and

 

     WHEREAS, programs that effectively assist low-risk offenders are critically needed to address the problems associated with reentry and the high rate of recidivism; and

 

     WHEREAS, research shows that community drug treatment programs can save from $10 to $18 for every $1 spent; and

 

WHEREAS, the costs of incarceration can be dramatically reduced through the implementation of programs and services that assist individuals with drug and mental health problems; now, therefore,

 

     BE IT RESOLVED by the Senate of the Twenty-seventh Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2013, the House of Representatives concurring, that this body encourages the Department of Public Safety to expand community drug treatment and mental health programs for nonviolent offenders; and

 

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Department of Public Safety is encouraged to find creative ways to move low-risk offenders with substance abuse and mental health issues from incarceration into community programs that directly address their pathways to incarceration; and

 

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Concurrent Resolution be transmitted to the Director of Public Safety and Chairperson of the Hawaii Paroling Authority.

 

 

 

	OFFERED BY:	_____________________________

Report Title: 

Community Drug Treatment Programs; Mental Health Programs