Solutions: The following solutions eliminate the need for new prisons requested by TDCJ

·        Expand capacity in Intermediate Sanction Facilities (ISFs) for the parole and probation system to give judges an alternative to revocation to prison for technical violations, which accounted for more than 12,000 additional prisoners in 2006.

·        Expand halfway houses and re-entry programs. An estimated 1,700 people in prison have been approved for parole but cannot be released because there are no available halfway houses, treatment programs or other transitional  programs to take the;

·        Increase available bed space in Probation Residential Treatment facilities, a proven effective alternative to prison for many drug addicted offenders;

·        Convert current beds to provide capacity for In-prison Therapeutic Community and Substance Abuse Felony Punishment (SAFP) beds, including beds for DWI offenders, and ensure access to followup treatment after release along with transitional housing;

·        Mandate that Texas abide by its own minimum guidelines in the release of inmates and reduce the reliance as a labor force on reliable “trustee” inmates who are otherwise parole eligible (results in release of estimated 8,200 inmates, eliminating current need for new beds and allowing for conversion of existing beds);

·        Expand the incentive program created by the 79^th Legislature to strengthen community supervision by increasing the use of individualized assessment, drug treatment, and progressive sanctions, and require compliance by all counties who accept these state funds;

·        Continue to reduce recidivism, a key to reducing the inmate population, by expanded use of drug courts, where re-arrest rates are just over half the re-arrest rates for those not diverted; and finally

·        Stop the relentless enhancement of felony penalties. Despite high incarceration, Texas’ crime rates have not come down as rapidly as those in states with far lower incarceration rates, and new studies show that very high incarceration rates are actually associated with increased crime.

ACLU supports the following TDCJ exceptional budget items

·         Probation Outpatient Substance Abuse Treatment:

$9.2 million (per year) to local probation departments (CSCDs) for additional outpatient substance abuse treatment programs to serve 5,500 offenders, providing an alternative to revocation to prison.

·        Mental Health – Pre-Trial and Jail Diversions:
$5 million (per year) through Texas Correctional Office on Offenders with Medical or Mental Impairments (TCOOMMI) to provide mental health services, medications, and continuity of care to mentally ill defendants in local jails. Judges hesitate to release those charged with non-violent felonies unless post-release treatment is assured. The dollars will fund services for 1,500 offenders a year who have a mental illness, are charged with a non-violent felony and are in jail.

·        250 Probation Residential and Treatment Beds:
$5.6 million (per year) to local probation departments (CSCDs) for 125 additional residential treatment and 125mental illness beds, to  serve 625 offenders per year.

Conclusion: As opined by the Ft Worth Star Telegrams editorial board, we need “parole reforms for nonviolent criminals, additional DWI and substance abuse efforts, halfway houses and mental health treatment-oriented facilities and services. During the next five years, those programs could solve prison overcrowding and save the state more than $600 million in operational expenses -- plus $377.7 million in avoided construction costs.”

In addition, these changes will increase offender personal responsibility through positive incentives and reasonable progressive punishments, reduce technical probation violations driving the capacity crisis and give offenders a chance to learn the skills necessary to become productive people.

Building new prisons will not make us safer.

These reforms will.