Proposed Solution to Gov. Brown for California Prison Problems. -- Marty Angelo Ministeries

Marty Angelo at recent celebrity court hearing

SACRAMENTO, Calif. - July 11, 2013 - PRLog -- Prison minister and author Marty Angelo recently sent an open letter to California governor Jerry Brown with a recommendation of how to solve California's prison problems. View letter here: http://martyangelo.com/letter_jerry_brown.htm

Back in 2006 Angelo reached out to then Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger with a similar recommendation but nothing ever materialized. At the time Gov. Schwarzenegger was searching for a professional football team to play in Los Angeles and Angelo feels his letter fell on deaf ears. "Instead of attempting to solve California's prison situation back then football seemed much more important on the governor's agenda" Angelo remarks.

"California's prison problems only got worse over the past seven years with even the Federal Supreme Court stepping in now to attempt to force California to reduce its prison population." Angelo continues. "And to add insult to injury; Los Angeles still does not have a football team. I often wonder how many prisoner's lives would have been changed had Schwatzengger taken me up on my offer in 2006?" View letter here: http://martyangelo.com/letter_arnold_schwarzenegger.htm

Angelo agrees with California state senator Darrell Steinberg remarking in his letter to Brown: "Senator Steinberg is right... solve the recidivism problem and we will solve our prison problems." In 1991 Angelo helped develop an in-jail intensive residential drug treatment program for Florida's Palm Beach County Sheriff's Department called the Substance Abuse Awareness Program (SAAP).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0SlDPGq56U8

The program provided a continuum of treatment alternatives to traditional incarceration for drug and alcohol addicted offenders at all levels of the criminal justice system. SAAP offered a number of treatment modalities that took into consideration the defendant’s initial assessment and risk to public safety. Modalities included different facilities with the following:

Phase One - The Drug Intervention Dorm aka "The Drug Dorm" providing substance abuse education and awareness services on a voluntary basis for inmates housed in Palm Beach County’s detention facilities.

Phase Two - The Sheriff's Drug Farm (secure facility) intensive accredited residential treatment

Phase Three - Halfway House

Phase Four - Community based outpatient services The name of the program eventually was changed to the "Secure Treatment and Recovery (S.T.A.R.) program."

The Drug Farm Program is what Angelo is proposing to Gov. Brown for use within the California prison system. The program provides a unique combination of a strict military discipline boot camp with very serious intensive therapeutic substance abuse treatment. Inmates are in the Drug Farm for up to twelve (12) months, depending on individual sentences, and then moved into a four (4) month halfway house, which prepares them to reintegrate back into the community as productive members.

An independent government study conducted in 2009 of the Drug Farm program proved that over 68% of its graduates never were rearrested and remained drug free.

After numerous attempts by the Palm Beach County commissioners to cut costs the program went on the economic cropping block in 2010 when the Palm Beach sheriff was forced to reduce his spending budget.

The SAAP program didn't go down without a fight. Over five hundred of the Drug Farm's graduates made personal appeals to the Palm Beach county commissioners each year when the budget cutting issue would arise. They would always sway the commissioners to save the program. Unfortunately, the program met its demise in 2010 after the sheriff had no other choice. It was either cut deputies jobs or the highly successful Drug Farm.

"If California or any other state or county government truly wants to reduce recidivism in their jails or prisons then this is the program to immediately bring onboard." Angelo continued.

"This program is much more than a military style boot camp approach to fighting drugs but a full fledged therapeutic accredited residential drug treatment program inside a prison housing unit with therapists, counselors, court liaisons and case managers working with inmates who truly want to change their lives and never abuse drugs and return to prison or jail again. It is really money well spent.

"The Drug Farm is not like any of the other drug treatment programs California tried in the past that were failures ("California prison drug treatment called waste of money" by Jenifer Warren, L.A.Times Staff Writer - February 22, 2007 http://martyangelo.com/program_failure.htm) but proved itself for over 20 years. It works and the Drug Farm's highly positive statistics back up my claims!"

If the California government wants to get serious about reducing the prison population and recidivism rate then I hope Governor Brown will take a step in the right direction and give me a call. I would gladly meet with him and his staff to explain what could prove to be the most successful approach to solving prison problems ever developed.

Impact Analysis of the Elimination of the Palm Beach Sheriff’s Office Substance Abuse Awareness Program (SAAP) http://www.pbcgov.com/criminaljustice/rpu/reports/pdf/Impact_Analysis_SAAP_9_2_09CJC.pdf

Marty Angelo has been a prison minister for over 30 years and is the author of two books, "Once Life Matters: A New Beginning" and "Vision of New Jerusalem: Now!"

For more information please see martyangelo.com.

Photo:
https://www.prlog.org/12172563/1

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