A legislative perspective
Kentucky has gotten a lot of attention over the years when it comes
to finding innovative ways to govern. Our education reforms of the 1990s
were hailed as national models, for example, and we are the only state
to permanently dedicate half of our annual tobacco settlement payments
to agriculture, a move that has played a key role in the industry’s
record sales in recent years.
Two other programs took a step into
the national spotlight early this month when a Harvard University-based
center included them among the 25 that will compete this fall for its
Innovations in American Government Award.
....
As its name implies, the Department of Public Advocacy’s alternative
sentencing social worker program pairs a social worker with public
defenders to help provide treatment plans for those charged with lower
level drug charges.
The General Assembly authorized this as a
pilot program in 2006, and found it to be an immediate success in
helping those arrested escape the cycle of drugs. Of the 229 defendants
served by the four social workers, only eight were re-arrested.
Similar
success has been seen since the program went statewide in 2009.
According to studies by the University of Louisville and the University
of Kentucky, there is a double boost behind these programs. One study
found that each participating social worker has saved more than $100,000
in incarceration costs, while the other showed a sizeable drop in the
number of inmates who returned to prison if they had received substance
abuse treatment. As the state’s revenues continue to improve, we will
have to see if we can expand this nationally recognized program’s reach
even more.
....
The General Assembly will always have to be vigilant when it comes to
curbing illegal drug use – or tackling any other persistent problem –
but we have come a long way in a relatively short amount of time. As we
have shown over the years, and as organizations like Harvard’s center
have found, we are not afraid to be innovative, and that is why other
states are increasingly looking to Kentucky for solutions that work.
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Floyd County Times (KY) - A legislative perspective
