Outpatient drug center to be up, running today

Some Salt Lake County Jail inmates could soon swap jail time for outpatient treatment, alleviating the county's crowded jail and giving judges more sentencing options.

The new push to treat substance abusers instead of just punishing criminals is the core tenet of the county's new offender reform act, which will get up and running today with the opening of a Day Reporting Center.

The center, at 145 E. 1300 South, is the first piece of the county's plan, providing a clearinghouse for treatment and supervision for offenders who will now be able to check in at the center instead of serving jail time.

The County Offender Reform Act — dubbed CORA — is essentially a mini-version of the proposed state Drug Offender Reform Act (DORA) that didn't pass during this year's general legislative session.

"It's a more holistic look at the individual and their needs," said David Marshall, program manager for the Day Reporting Center.

That approach, Marshall added, will include enhanced substance-abuse programs in the community, a mental health diversion project to take certain mentally ill offenders out of jails and a boost to housing assistance for offenders in the program.

Only offenders in jail on misdemeanor charges will be eligible for the Day Reporting Center, and only after a recommendation from county leaders in both the Substance Abuse Division and Criminal Justice Services. The 90-120 day program will include supervision, preliminary substance-abuse treatment, life-skills training and job development, said Gary Dalton, director of Criminal Justice Services.

"We will work with them to enrich the positive things in their life. If they have a job, we don't want them losing their job while we treat them," he said. "This clientele is not very capable of doing things like budgeting their checkbooks or knowing how to shop."

Already, Dalton said his division has identified 45 inmates at the county jail who would be eligible for the program. Eventually, up to 250 inmates will be taken from the jail or sentenced by judges for enrollment at the reporting center.

Pat Fleming, director of the Substance Abuse Services Division, said that diversion from surging jail numbers should be a welcome relief to the county jail, which has had to turn some prisoners away because there was no more room. Now, offenders whose main catalyst for crime was drug or alcohol abuse will be able to fix the problem instead of just packing the jail, he said.

The Day Reporting Center, which costs about $1 million for the first year, will also be cheaper for taxpayers at about $8-$10 a day compared to the roughly $72-a-day price tag for a day in jail, Fleming said.