NCJ Number
127746
Journal
Perspectives Volume: 14 Issue: 4 Dated: (Fall 1990) Pages: 22-27
Date Published
1990
Length
6 pages
Annotation
Community-based sanctions and programs are suggested as a solution to the dual dilemmas of institutional crowding and offender substance abuse, and strategies designed to confront these concerns in Cook County, Illinois are highlighted.
Abstract
At the State and local levels, intensified drug enforcement, the centerpiece of the Federal drug policy, translates into more prosecutions and harsher penalties for drug offenders which results in institutional overcrowding. Cook County response strategies include a home confinement program, pretrial services, and a community control center known as Project Safeway. Created in conjunction with Treatment Alternatives to Street Crime (TASC) to relieve overcrowding, the home confinement/drug surveillance program for serious offenders draws participants primarily from a pool of offenders previously sentenced to the jail's periodic imprisonment and work release programs. It focuses on drug testing, monitoring, and treatment. The pretrial services program, which closely supervises offenders in addition to providing drug testing and treatment, has screened 476 offenders and currently is supervising 169 offenders. Project Safeway's neighborhood control center provides probation operations and adjunct services which include assessment and diagnostic activities, monitoring and reporting functions, counseling and treatment programs, and an automated referral and data collection network. 41 references