A new report recommends less incarceration and more access to treatment as a response to substance-related violations for people in the state’s criminal justice system.
The report, released this month by the Pennsylvania Commission on Sentencing, shows nearly one-third of resentencing events for Pennsylvanians on probation or intermediate punishment are attributable to substance use. This costs the commonwealth up to $2.9 million every year.
“This report shows that a greater emphasis needs to be placed on providing evidence-based drug treatment for those sentenced to community supervision in order to provide better outcomes for offenders and to avoid costly incarceration,” Rep. Todd Stephens, R-Montgomery and the chairman of the commission, wrote in a release.
Approximately 80% of resentencing events occur due to technical violations, not new criminal offenses, the report states. These violations occur when someone fails to comply with conditions of their supervision, such as missing a probation hearing, failing a drug test or not appearing for a scheduled meeting with a probation officer.
“Because many probationers with substance abuse issues will struggle with abstinence and treatment requirements, they are more likely to have technical violations than violations for committing new offenses,” Cambria County Common Pleas Judge Tamara Bernstein, the vice chair of the commission, wrote in the release.
Roughly half of technical violations related to substance use result in incarceration, and it is rare for such violations to result in options for treatment, which is limited to people whose offenses and prior records meet certain qualifications.
“The findings are a wake-up call in a state like Pennsylvania where over 4,300 people were estimated to have died from overdose last year,” said Kate Boulton, the legal technical adviser for Vital Strategies, the organization that helped fund the research.
“From our perspective, to really address overdose, it’s imperative that we address the link between substance use, probation and mass incarceration. And the abstinence-based requirements and punitive responses to drug use by courts and probation departments are counter productive and don’t promote positive health or supervision outcomes.”
Much of the financial burden from these violations is borne by localities, Ms. Boulton said. According to the report, the most common outcome of a resentencing is incarceration in county jail.
With jails and prisons known for being hotbeds of COVID-19 due to little social distancing and other inadequacies in risk reduction, “the potential harms of sending someone to jail for a positive drug test or a missed appointment are made even more plain,” Ms. Boulton said.
According to data from the Marshall Project, there have been at least 469 cases of COVID-19 reported among prisoners in Pennsylvania, and at least 11 of them have died from the virus. There have been at least 387 cases and 2 deaths among prison staff members in the state.
The report also contained recommendations for members of the criminal justice system, including: evaluate people for substance involvement and related disorders prior to sentencing, improve access to evidence-based treatment at the time of sentencing and improve access to evidence-based treatment while under supervision.
“We have, and will continue to consider, all available evidence-based treatment options as well as seek out new options to allow for continued community supervision in a safe manner,” Allegheny County Common Please Judge Jill E. Rangos wrote in response to questions on the report’s recommendations.
“Identification of rehabilitative needs begins before initial sentencing and continues while an individual is under supervision,” Judge Rangos said. “The goal of community supervision is to address treatment needs in order to allow each probationer to successfully complete supervision without court intervention and become productive members of society.”
If multiple efforts by probation officers are ineffective, a hearing is held before an officer. If the circumstances are appropriate, the court may again try drug and alcohol diversion, the judge said.
If a defendant continues to refuse treatment or continues to relapse after multiple treatment opportunities, a second round of hearings are scheduled “at which our judges make inquiries designed to elicit not just information about substance abuse, but also mental health concerns that are often co-occurring.”
Defendants can also request consideration for a specialty treatment court, such as Drug Court, DUI Court, Mental Health Court, Veterans Court, PRIDE Court (for sex workers) and Domestic Violence Court, Judge Rangos said. “While short term detention may be necessary to obtain evaluations and secure placement in an appropriate level of treatment, incarceration is used as a last resort for technical violators and generally only where all community treatment options have been exhausted.”
The report’s findings make clear how substance-related and other technical violations are a “substantial driver” of incarceration in Pennsylvania, Ms. Boulton said. “The findings invite a consideration of how punitive responses to drug use by individuals on probation may not promote positive health or supervision outcomes.”
Mick Stinelli: mstinelli@post-gazette.com; 412-263-1869; and on Twitter: @MickStinelli
Correction, made Oct. 18, 2020: This story has been updated to reflect that the report referenced in this story focuses on technical violations of probation and intermediate punishment. Parole violations were excluded.
First Published: October 18, 2020, 4:00 a.m.
