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File photo of Gov. Andrew Cuomo speaking during a news conference at the state Capitol in Albany. (AP Photo/Mike Groll)
By Crystal Stanton and Tracie Gardner
In the midst of a heroin and opiate epidemic that has ravaged Staten Island and communities throughout New York, Governor Cuomo's proposed 2017-2018 State budget includes little-noticed, poorly timed and unwise cuts of more than $2 million from programs that help people access treatment for their addiction.
Slated for the chopping block --as reported by the Legal Action Center-- are alternatives to incarceration (ATI) and reentry programs that provide critical services for people struggling to overcome addiction and rebuild their lives.
If State legislators don't restore these funds in current budget talks, many of the people that are served by ATI programs will be hurt.
People like LP, a young woman from Staten Island.
Addicted to opiates and anti-anxiety drugs, with little hope for the future, in 2015 she was arrested three times in one week for non-violent offenses, including drug possession.
Fortunately, a judge wisely ruled that LP needed treatment, not prison, at the recommendation of EAC Network's Staten Island TASC, an alternative-to-incarceration program that links people to drug treatment and other needed services, while providing community monitoring.
After a year in treatment and being engaged in TASC ATI case management, LP has abstained from drugs, found a good job and her outlook on life has been transformed.
There are countless New Yorkers, like LP, who have been given a real opportunity for rehabilitation through the support provided by ATI services.
Indeed, New York's ATI and reentry programs are nationally recognized. The Governor and legislature deserve praise for funding innovative approaches to reducing incarceration and crime by providing treatment for substance use and mental disorders, job training, help in obtaining employment, housing, health care and other services that are shown to reduce recidivism.
These effective programs have helped the State and City to reduce crime and reverse the former, destructive trend of warehousing people with drug addictions and mental health problems who need treatment instead of incarceration.
A recent New York City Bar Association report noted that a rise in sentences other than incarceration "corresponded to the substantial drop in the jail population over the past 20 years." This is supported by the fact that the two-year recidivism rate of graduates from programs in New York City's ATI/Reentry Coalition is less than half of the overall 42% recidivism rate.
Reversing this progress -- in a misguided attempt to save a tiny fraction of a $152.3 billion budget -- would actually immediately add to the state's financial burdens, since treatment and other ATI is much cheaper than prison.
The annual cost of non-residential services for people with addictions is $5,000 to $10,000 per person. According to a Vera Institute fact sheet from 2012, state incarceration costs about $60,000 a year per person.
And as Governor Cuomo, Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie, State Senator Diane Savino, Staten Island Assemblymember Matthew Titone and other lawmakers champion legislation to raise the age of criminal responsibility to 18 and divert teenagers from jails and prisons, giving these young people effective ATI services is more important than ever.
But instead of bolstering these essential programs, the Governor's proposed budget inexplicably cuts critical funding from them, despite their proven success at improving public safety and public health outcomes.
Kicking the legs out from ATI and reentry programs would limit options for the young people who will benefit from Raise the Age legislation. It will limit options for our neighbors who have been affected by heroin or other drug addiction. New Yorkers will lose if ATI and reentry programs reduce services because of proposed funding cuts.
Crystal Stanton is Program Director of Staten Island TASC. Tracie Gardner is Associate Director of the Legal Action Center. LAC is a non-profit law and policy organization the fight discrimination against people with histories of addiction, HIV/AIDS, or criminal records, and advocates for sound public policies in these areas.