PA Senate Approves
Greenleaf Bill to Expand State Intermediate Punishment
Program
Greenleaf's Proposal will
Reduce Pennsylvania’s Inmate Population, Cut Costs, and
Increase Public Safety
HARRISBURG—State Senator Stewart J.
Greenleaf's (R- Montgomery / Bucks) proposal to encourage
more widespread use of the State Intermediate Punishment
Program to treat low level drug and alcohol dependant
offenders was unanimously approved by the Senate today.
According to Pennsylvania Department of
Correction's data, nearly 70% of the offenders entering the
state correctional system are dependant on drugs or
alcohol. Those offenders who complete appropriate drug and
alcohol treatment programs are 30% less likely to reoffend.
According to Greenleaf, prime sponsor of the
2004 legislation creating the State Intermediate Punishment
Program within the Department of Corrections, "This program
was designed to remove non-violent, low level offenders from
traditional incarceration and sentence them to treatment
which greatly reduces their chances of recidivism. Today,
we need to ensure that this successful program is being made
available to all those who qualify. When we are smart about
who we rehabilitate, we dramatically increase public
safety."
According to the Department of Corrections,
full utilization of the State Intermediate Punishment
Program could have resulted in 200 less victimizations last
year. Currently, 80% of the offenders who are potentially
eligible for this program are not recommended by the courts
for evaluation by the department.
Greenleaf also highlighted the importance of
reducing the state's prison population and saving taxpayers
money. According to the Senator, state population data
shows that the state’s inmate population has grown by 457%
since 1980 compared with an overall state population
increase of approximately 3.5%. The unprecedented growth,
at its current rate, will cost Pennsylvania $672 million in
capitol money and over $180 million annually to add 12,000
additional beds through the year 2012. Pennsylvania
currently houses upwards of 46,000 inmates with a projected
170 inmates added per month over the next 5 years. It is
estimated that the Commonwealth will save an average of
$15,000 per inmate enrolled in the State Intermediate
Punishment Program.
Senate Bill 1027 will establish a procedure
by which the Department of Corrections may identify an
offender upon intake and evaluation as someone who would
have been otherwise eligible for and benefited from the
State Intermediate Punishment Program.
As the program is currently structured, a
defendant's amenability to treatment may only be assessed by
the Department of Corrections if the prosecuting district
attorney motions for the evaluation prior to sentencing; the
defendant's final sentence is contingent upon favorable
evaluation and recommendation for the State Intermediate
Punishment Program. SB 1027 will change the current law to
allow the Department of Corrections to recommend that the
court resentence a defendant who is found to be qualified
for treatment after they enter the prison system. The
prosecuting district attorney will have to agree on all
modifications to the sentence and the defendant will have to
agree to participate in the program.
Participants are sentenced to a four phase
program for a total of 24 months. Phase I. consists of no
less then seven months of incarceration in a state
correctional facility; Phase II. involves a minimum of two
months in community based treatment; Phase III. involves a
minimum of six months of outpatient addiction treatment;
Phase IV. involves supervised reintegration into the
community for the balance of the 24 months of the program.
"Wide use of the State Intermediate
Punishment Program is needed to break the current cycle of
crime and incarceration," said Senator Greenleaf. "Each
time we allow an addict to enter the system without
treatment, we risk the safety of the community once that
offender is released. The final passage of Senate Bill 1027
will represent a hallmark in the new age of our penal system
focused on improved methods for rehabilitation and reducing
both monetary and societal costs."
SB 1027 currently awaits consideration in
the House of Representatives.
To read the State Intermediate Punishment
Program 2007 Performance Report, visit
http://www.cor.state.pa.us/stats/lib/stats/SIP.pdf
