Better rehabilitation programs could slow jail overcrowding
September 17, 2005
Herald Times, Bloomington, Indiana
Submitted by Linda Brady, District 7
This guest column was written by Wain Martin, emeritus professor of business administration, Kelley School of Business, Indiana University.

Although the jail population seems to have been reduced some by the reorganization of the courts by our judges, the Monroe County Jail remains seriously overcrowded.

Unfortunately, some 70 percent of those released from jail return within two or three years, which is a major cause of this overcrowding. It is also convincing evidence that punishment alone is not the solution to reducing crime - a 70 percent failure rate is not a satisfactory report card. Reducing recidivism is one obvious way of solving the jail problem as well as of reducing crime in the community, but it will only happen when we devote more effort and resources to rehabilitating, rather than just punishing, those who have broken the law.

Rehabilitating offenders is not an easy task as it involves changing attitudes and behavior patterns, but Bloomington has two outstanding examples that demonstrate that devoting resources to rehabilitation can achieve remarkable results. Judge Todd's Drug Court is drastically improving the probability that drug addicts can overcome their addictions. As another example, by obtaining outside grants, the Juvenile Division of the Probation Department has been able to add probation officers to its staff and institute effective programs that have reduced juvenile recidivism to less than half its previous level. What wonderful accomplishments!

Recently, the Probation Department proposed to the county council that six additional adult probation officers be funded. This proposal was strongly supported by our judges, and the county council voted to include funding for these additional officers in next year's budget. At present, the adult probation officers are so overloaded that they are barely able to keep track of their assigned cases to try to assure that they are not violating the conditions of their parole, but these additional probation officers will allow the Probation Department to apply to adult probationers some of the innovative approaches that have been so successful with juveniles. We recognize that adults may be more difficult to change than juveniles, but if they can do half as well as they have with juveniles, the jail overcrowding problem will be substantially reduced. Furthermore, crime within our community will be reduced, which not only will save money but will also improve our collective quality of life.

Many people in the justice system recognize the need to devote more resources to rehabilitation, both as alternatives to incarceration and as additional treatment after release from jail. Efforts are under way to obtain facilities for and fund the operation of both a work-release center and a community corrections center, and we hope that these efforts will soon bear fruit. Some organizations are attempting to provide rehabilitation projects in the jail (such as drug counseling, anger management and literacy programs) so prisoners can get a head start upon release, but because of the overcrowding and under-staffing of the jail such programs are very difficult to maintain.

We commend the Probation Department, the judges, members of the Monroe County Council and all those in the community who are striving to provide those who have been convicted of crimes with rehabilitation services to help more of them become productive, law-abiding citizens.