ALLEN COUNTY, Ind. (Indiana's NewsCenter) - A new probation program promises to reduce recidivism rates while saving the community money.
Allen County Superior Court Judge Wendy Davis is leading efforts to tranform the county's probation system. At a luncheon for criminal justice offficials Friday, Davis revealed a plan that would cut down on prison overcrowding.
The program is called Hoosiers Opportunity Probation with Enforcement, or HOPE. Davis says the program is aimed primarily at offenders that present less of a danger to the community, but perhaps more of a danger to themselves through drug and alcohol addiction or repeated probation violations.
Traditionally, offenders may have several probaton violations accrue before being sent to prison for an extended period of time. Often times, that could mean several years behind bars.
In the HOPE program, offenders will be immediately arrested for any probation violation (like a failed drug test) and within two or three days they will appear before a judge with attorneys present. The judge will then hand down a sentence geared at correcting the behavior.
A study of the program in Hawaii, where it first began, showed that offenders failed drug tests 72% less often than those on traditional probation. They had probation revoked 53% less often, and were arrested for new crimes 53% less often as well. In addition, each person in HOPE saved the state between $4,000 and $6,000 in prison costs.
Judge Steven S. Alm is the creator of HOPE and a Judge of the First Circuit Court of Hawaii. He says, "It's that rare creature that reduces victimization, it's better for the offenders and their families to keep them out of prison for years, and it saves tax payers millions of dollars."
Davis says, "This is basically a program where it's probation on steroids, where really the judge - which would be myself, is the Chief Probation Officer."
Alm says it makes sense to address probation violations immediately. "How was I raised? How did I raise my son? You tell them what the family rules are, and then if he misbehaves you give him a consequence immediately. You don't say, in six weeks I may or may not do something."
Davis hopes HOPE will tackle another big problem in the Hoosier state. "The prison overcrowding issue will really become diminished, where we can keep the prisons available for those offenders who are a real risk to hurt our community and keep the offenders out who really just need further help."
Offenders will begin to be placed in the HOPE program beginning October 1st.
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