POL POSITION:Get prison-based rehabilitation right first

Many cities in Orange County, including Newport Beach and Costa Mesa, have been grappling with the challenge of what to do about group homes for drug and alcohol recovery and sober-living.

In Newport Beach, the issue has become especially acute with official data showing 73 residential rehabilitation or sober-living homes on 34 parcels with the actual number probably in excess of 100. Group home clusters in some neighborhoods have been blamed for traffic, parking, noise, litter and crime.

The burden has grown great enough that more than 200 city managers and officials attended a recent “Residential Recovery Facilities Conference” led by Newport Beach Mayor Steve Rosansky. I noted that federal law, specifically the Americans with Disabilities Act and the Federal Fair Housing Act, severely limit the ability of state and local government to act in this arena. With that as a limitation, I briefed those at the conference on a plan that would have a modest impact on the supply side of the problem: Assembly Bill 716, the bipartisan drug and alcohol prison rehabilitation reform bill.

California has the highest criminal recidivism rate in the nation. Once released, some 70% of California parolees re-offend. California’s prison-based drug treatment programs have been singled out for being ineffective, with $1 billion wasted on failed drug treatment programs since 1989. AB 716 was written to break this cycle by requiring the Dept. of Corrections and Rehabilitation to plan for providing an additional 4,000 prison beds specifically designated to treat non-violent inmates whose primary reason for incarceration is addiction to alcohol or controlled substances.

How would AB 716 improve the local residential rehab and sober-living problem? When the state prison system fails to cure addicted inmates, the state con- tributes to the overall population of addicts who end up using rehabilitation and sober-living homes again and again.

Getting prison-based rehabilitation right will reduce the numbers of addicts, thus addressing the supply side of the problem.

For three years I have served on the Assembly’s Budget Subcommittee 4 on State Administration. I began thinking about what might be done to address the problem of inmates who have repeatedly failed the Proposition 32 drug court system. I approached former Lt. Gov. and congressman, Assemblyman Mervyn Dymally, for his perspective on our prison system and how its ineffectiveness affects the state. Dymally and I had a brainstorming session that resulted in his agreeing to be my joint author on a prison reform initiative targeted at improving the success rate in treating drug- and alcohol-addicted inmates. Consequently, AB 716 was born.

The bill passed the Assembly Committee on Public Safety on a 6-0 bipartisan vote in March. The Assembly Republican leader decided to incorporate AB 716’s intent into AB 900, the prison reform and construction bill.

I am pleased to report that AB 900 was signed into law by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger on May 3.

We should see positive results from our efforts in the coming years with the attendant reduced need for residential rehabilitation facilities in our neighborhoods.