January 17, 2006

Dear Editor:

The State of Illinois does not permit the operation of private prisons, so you might find it unusual for the industry's trade association to be writing to support a recommendation by Governor Blagojevich.

On January 16, Chris Lusvardi, in his article "Governor wants to add meth treatment units at 2 prisons," describes the governor's plan to add methamphetamine treatment units at two of Illinois' prisons. APCTO, the Association of Private Correctional and Treatment Organizations, strongly endorses the governor's recommendation.

Secure custody of inmates must of course be the top priority of Illinois' prisons; the second priority of the prisons should be the treatment, education, and rehabilitation of inmates in a manner that works to close prisons' revolving doors.

This year alone, more than 650,000 inmates will be released from U.S. prisons and, as they say, "each is coming to a neighborhood near you." Many, if not most, of these inmates went to prison for drug offenses. Without the proper treatment, once they have been released, they will re-offend and return to prison in short order.

With appropriate treatment and transition programs, inmates have a much greater chance of not re-offending. In fact, as Deanne Benos, Assistant Director of the Illinois Department of Corrections, points out, "Participants in the existing Sheridan [Correctional Center]'s drug treatment program have a 50 percent lower chance of returning to prison over the average inmate."

Governor Blagojevich is on the right track; we support his plan to encourage more focus on reducing inmate recidivism.

Sincerely,
 

 
Michael T. LoBue, CAE
Executive Director

January 16, 2006

Gov. Rod Blagojevich would like to add methamphetamine treatment units at two Illinois prisons.

He plans to announce details of the proposal in his State of the State address Wednesday.

The governor's plan would create meth treatment units at East St. Louis Southwestern Illinois Correctional Center and Sheridan Correctional Center. Each unit would have 200 beds. The Southwestern unit would open in July, with the Sheridan unit in July 2007.

Southwestern, which is currently a minimum security facility, would at some point in the future become a fully dedicated drug prison and re-entry program. Blagojevich also plans to expand Sheridan, currently the state s only prison dedicated fully to drug treatment, from 950 inmates to its capacity of 1,300.

"The governor recognizes meth is a serious problem, particularly to downstate communities," said Abby Ottenhoff, the governor s spokeswoman. Meth is one of the fastest growing threats to communities all over the state.

In 1996, six people were imprisoned on meth-related crimes in Illinois. Now, that number has jumped to about 800 inmates. Inmates voluntarily would participate in the program, most likely in the last six months to two years of their sentence, Ottenhoff said. Those involved in the program would also receive vocational training, education and closely supervised community reentry.

The program would cost the state $1.9 million in the first year with the federal government providing $4.78 million. In the second year, Illinois would spend $16.4 million with a federal contribution of more than $1.8 million.

Following the two-year startup, the state s annual cost for running the methamphetamine treatment programs would be $18.1 million.

"We want to make sure we re not putting people back onto the street who are going to commit crimes," Ottenhoff said.

Participants in the existing Sheridan drug treatment program have a 50 percent lower chance of returning person over the average inmate, said Deanne Benos, assistant director for the Illinois Department of Corrections.

Chris Lusvardi can be contacted at Chris.Lusvardi@lee.net or (217) 789-0865.