Committee votes to expand prison therapeutic community

The so-called "therapeutic community" program is an intensive substance abuse and life skills program in which inmate participants live separately from other prisoners and participate in up to 14 hours of classes, counseling and other programs daily.

The program's first class of 75 graduated last month. Warden Robin Bates said those who participated have a perfect drug-free record after more than 500 random substance tests.

The idea behind the program is to help inmates who keep getting in legal trouble because of substance abuse problems escape that cycle and turn their lives around.

But the original program sponsored by Sen. Valerie Wiener, D-Las Vegas, was limited to volunteers and first offenders who are within one year of release. Saying the program is an unqualified success so far, she urged the committee to relax those requirements.

She said making the program available to those with more than one felony conviction gets at a population that badly needs substance abuse, anger control and other training to turn their lives around.

"Multiple offenses don't impede their ability to benefit from the program," said Bates.

And he said there is growing evidence the program doesn't need to be voluntary to make a difference.

"In a month, they come around," he said.

Bates added that the program gets three federal dollars for every dollar the state puts in.

He and Wiener said the state and federal money for the program will total about $1 million a year over the coming biennium. Bates said that will enable him to expand the program from 75 to the 108 person capacity of the prison unit.

But they said they hope to return in two years to expand the program even more. Bates said eventually, the entire 500 inmate capacity of Warm Springs could be dedicated to the therapeutic community program.

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