Treatment in Jail
National figures estimate nearly 65% of all inmates would meet the diagnosis of addicts, and nearly 20% of people were under the influence at the time of their offenses. That means in the detention facility, we have about 325 addicts sitting in jail with few ways to meet their treatment needs. From personal experience, I know that often times people can begin to get away from criminal activities if they can get away from substance abuse. Many have proven that they can't be in the community and obtain treatment for their addictions.
We see the evidence of this every single day within Billings and around the greater Yellowstone County Community. We see the transient population all over on the streets of downtown Billings, drinking, sleeping, and causing other problems. The people driving through the community with multiple DUIs and hurting people peole when they get into their latest wreck.
Many of the inmates in the Yellowstone County Jail committed offenses while waiting to get into treatment.
Addiction
An example of how we might make a change is for the jail to begin working with some local treatment facilities. The one thing about Yellowstone County being the biggest county in Montana is that we have some of the state's best and largest treatment facilities. The county could work with those facilities to turn the jails' low-security pods into housing and treatment facilities. This program would be available only to nonviolent or misdemeanor offenders from Yellowstone County. I would bring in the treatment facilities for two reasons. The first is that for every dollar a sheriff spends in the community on treatment, the national average is about $4 dollars in return locally. Two, I don't believe the sheriff needs to manage the county’s deputies, jail, and treatment. The Treatment centers are the experts, and I, as the sheriff, would not need to recreate functioning programs.
How do we get offenders to participate and take is serious? Is a question that I am absolutely sure will come up. We work with the courts to tie it to the rest of their case, while holding them accountable. An example might be someone who has multiple misdemeanor thefts and is sentenced to one year in jail. They can work on early release through participation. A first-time offender would be able to go through, and if they remain law-abiding, their charge goes away.
What can change? What’s the carrot?
How much will this cost, and what is my return?
Based on the estimates from similar communities to Yellowstone County, they see reductions in bookings of 10-20%. In Yellowstone County, that means 60-120 fewer people in jail on any given day, with many communities seeing the effect within one year. This would mean anywhere from 900 to 1800 fewer arrests a year. The reduction in bookings alone could save the county hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Estimates of how much a program would cost range from $24 to $50 per day. If the program costs $35 and 90 inmates participate, it will cost $1.15 million. Though I believe the people of Yellowstone County do not need to pay for this, the inmates do.