Wisconsin Saves $12M With More Drug Treatment, Less Incarceration

A jail and prison diversion pilot program that has reportedly saved state tax payers $12 million got a $1 million boost in this year’s state budget.

State Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen and Department of Corrections secretary Ed Wall are both urging county officials to apply for new grants to expand the programs.

In the nine counties where they operate, Treatment and Diversion (TAD) programs that allow drug offenders to get treatment instead of jail have proved successful in keeping drug offenders from committing new crimes. At a conference of judges, prosecutors and drug court coordinators in Madison last week, Department of Corrections Secretary Ed Wall laid out the math behind the $12 million in savings the programs have achieved.

“Does TAD divert offenders from jail or prison?” he asked. “The answer is undoubtedly yes: a total of 135,118 incarceration days. That’s 86,530 jail days and 48,588 prison days, or 370 years of incarceration were averted by TAD projects in the first four years of operation.”

A recent study found for every dollar invested in TAD programs, it saved almost two dollars for the prison system and county jails.

Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen says he’d rather see more money spent on diversion programs than on increasing jail sentences for drunk drivers that have been proposed by some law makers. “[Increasing sentences] may not be the best way to reduce drunk driving – or to better protect the public – if you can use that money in other categories.” he said. “I’ve been criticized for not jumping on the bandwagon of everything that is supposedly ‘tough on crime,’ but the reality is that a lot of those dollars can be better spent on programs such as this.”

Van Hollen says the new TAD funding will allow 10-12 more counties to start drug and drunk driving courts and other jail or prison diversion programs.