Wednesday, Jul. 01, 2009

Madison County judges fear spike in crime after cuts in drug offenders program

EDWARDSVILLE -- An agency that evaluates and monitors Madison County's drug offenders put its employees on a two-week, unpaid furlough on Wednesday, and the county's judges are predicting it will cause a spike in crime.

Treatment Alternatives for Safe Communities, which is known as TASC and deals with more than 500 of Madison County's criminal offenders each year, stands to lose three-fourths of its funding if the state doesn't resolve its budget dilemma.

On Wednesday, the Edwardsville-based TASC office, which serves Madison, Bond, Clinton and a few other counties in the 3rd and 4th judicial circuits, put its eight employees on a two-week, unpaid furlough. One was laid off.

"These funding cuts affect the functioning of the court," said Madison County Chief Judge Ann Callis. "We rely on TASC to deal with defendants who have chronic drug problems that repeatedly land them in court. Without TASC, these individuals won't get drug treatment, which will continue the revolving door from the streets to the jail."

TASC evaluates defendants who commit nonviolent crimes to see if they'd benefit from addiction treatment. The agency monitors the defendants' progress and reports back to the judges, said TASC's administrator, Tony Gonzales.

"We save the taxpayers money. It costs about $24,000 a year for a person to be housed in jail, or $4,000 a year for treatment," Gonzales said. "If the client is successful, reaches freedom from his addiction, he's going to become a productive citizen, hopefully not rob or cheat or steal anymore, and pay taxes."

Madison County Public Defender John Rekowski also argues that treatment is a money-saver and reduces recidivism.

"These cuts make very little sense," Rekowski said. "The legislature and the governor need to realize that it is more economical for the taxpayer to treat than incarcerate. TASC was established for a reason. It works and it saves tax dollars."

According to the Illinois Criminal Justice Authority, arrests for drug offenses have doubled in Madison County, from 1,013 in 1994 to 2,024 in 2003. However, data shows that two years after beginning probation and substance abuse treatment, six out of ten TASC clients were arrest-free.

Madison County State's Attorney Bill Mudge said the courts "cannot in good conscious abandon getting treatment" for those who truly need it.

"Easily two-thirds of the criminal charges I file each year are directly or indirectly related to illicit drug use," Mudge said. "Simply locking drug offenders up does very little in terms of reducing recidivism, and costs far more tax dollars. The necessary treatment and services that TASC provides are an essential part of our response to this problem."

Circuit Judge Charles Romani Jr., the chief criminal judge in Madison County, called the situation frustrating.

"TASC has done its job. It has successful outcomes, and it saves money," Romani said. "It's what we need in Madison County."

Gonzales said it's unclear what will happen after the furloughs. He said TASC in Madison County could disappear or be severely crippled.