On February 8, the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, and Homeland Security held a hearing on the Second Chance Act (H.R. 1704), which would include drug and alcohol abuse treatment as part of a comprehensive reentry program for prisoners. Rep. Rob Portman (R-OH) sponsored the legislation.
In his opening remarks, Chair Howard Coble (R-NC) explained that the Second Chance Act “is a unique proposal, which if enacted, will reduce crime, promote community safety, and give offenders a true second chance in life. In my mind, if an offender has paid his or her debt to society, it is incumbent on government to give these offenders a true second chance to become law-abiding and productive members of society. After all, in many cases, we are talking about people who truly need a second chance people who need jobs, education, drug treatment, and other assistance so that they can help themselves, maintain their families, and better their communities.”
Director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse at the National Institutes of Health Nora Volkow said that “more than half of the nearly 2.3 million persons incarcerated hav[e] used drugs regularly before their incarceration. However, fewer than 18 percent of these incarcerated offenders received drug treatment either during or after their incarceration.” She noted that drug abuse also has become a serious problem for juveniles, pointing out that “in 2002, approximately 1.6 million youth were involved in the juvenile justice system, with 60 percent of boys and nearly half of detained girls testing positive for using drugs.” Dr. Volkow explained that family-based substance abuse treatment is very effective for juvenile offenders and incarcerated parents, adding, “Sadly, 80 percent of women in state prisons have substance abuse problems, and two-thirds of incarcerated women have minor children. When the bond between a mother and child is broken due to forced separation, a tremendous amount of stress is created, frequently with devastating effects on the child. And because stress can turn the cycle of substance abuse and criminal justice system involvement, these children are placed at increased risk of having substance abuse problems themselves. It is therefore critical to pay attention to the entire family unit and to strive to break this destructive cycle.”
Lorna Hogan, a mother and advocate for the Rebecca Project for Human Rights, shared her story of drug abuse and incarceration, which she presented before a House Government Reform subcommittee last year (see The Source, 2/04/05). Ms. Hogan said that most incarcerated women “are non-violent drug felons and they are untreated addicts. They receive little or no opportunity to heal from their addiction. The absence of treatment services for mothers is apparent at every point in their involvement with the criminal justice system. Pre-trial diversion, release services, court-sentenced alternatives and reentry programs for women offenders are restricted in number, size, and effectiveness.” She added, “If moms behind bars are sentenced to family treatment programs, and if family treatment is made available to mothers returning to the community, so many families will have a real chance to heal and to stabilize. Like my family, they will have the chance to truly recover and not to be lost to the criminal justice system.”
