Untreated Drug Offenders Cost Oregon $21.6 Million

by Mark Wilson

Failing to treat substance abuse addictions of nearly half of the highest risk Oregon offenders, released between 2008 and 2011, cost crime victims and the state an estimated $21.6 million, according to an Oregon Secretary of State audit released on August 13, 2013.

Nationally, untreated substance abuse contributes to more than 100,000 deaths annually. In 2007 alone, substance abuse cost taxpayers an estimated $193 billion, according to a report of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy. Oregon’s share of those expenses totaled about $5.9 billion, according to a 2008 report of the consulting firm, ECONorthwest. In other words, substance abuse cost every Oregonian an estimated $1,600, exceeding the combined economic output of the state’s agricultural, forestry, fishing and hunting industries.

As of December 2012, an estimated 70 percent (9,968) of Oregon’s 14,240 prisoners suffered from some substance abuse problem, according to Oregon Department of Corrections (ODOC) estimates.

“If you want to really control prison costs, you have to go after the causes that put people in prison in the first place,” said Dwight Holton, former United States Attorney for Oregon.

Prisoners who do not receive substance abuse treatment in prison are highly likely to return to substance abuse and criminality upon release, states the National Institute on Drug Abuse.

Oregon’s audit studied the 18,834 ODOC prisoners who were released between 2008 and 2011. Of those, 81.4 percent, or 15,330 prisoners, had been assessed as having medium or high substance abuse treatment needs. Yet, a mere 10.9 percent (1,678) of those prisoners received treatment in prison, according to the audit.

Noting that evidence-based programs have been found to reduce recidivism rates by 25 to 60 percent, the audit agreed with the “broad consensus” that offenders who pose the highest recidivism risk should be targeted for the state’s limited treatment and supervision resources.

Of the 18,834 audited Oregon releases, 9,704 (51.52 percent) posed the highest recidivism risk. “Of the offenders released from 2008-2011 and treated in prison or community corrections, about 80% were highest-risk offenders,” the audit found. “Research shows that the highest-risk offenders should receive substance abuse treatment,” yet only 5,179 of them, (53.4 percent), receive treatment, leaving 4,525 (46.6 percent), of the highest-risk offenders untreated.

“For offenders with substance abuse problems, treatment is more effective than incarceration in interrupting the substance abuse/criminal justice cycle,” auditors noted. It is also much less expensive than incarceration.

Auditors found that prison-based treatment is more than three times as expensive as community-based treatment, at $5,854 versus $1,908, per person. More importantly, “[s]upervising these offenders in the community costs much less than keeping them in prison,” auditors found. “As of the 2009-2011 biennium, the cost per day for offenders in prison was $84.43.” Meanwhile, the cost per day of community supervision is $16.08 for high-risk offenders and $11.70 for medium-risk offenders; a savings of $68.35, and $72.73 a day, respectively.

At that rate, incarcerating the 15,330 offenders cost $48.1 million annually, compared to $246,506.40 to supervise all 15,330 as high-risk offenders in the community. Community supervision would save the state $47.8 million per year.

Nevertheless, treatment and supervision cost differentials are far from the most significant costs, auditors found. “The total estimated benefits of providing substance abuse treatment to the 4,525 untreated highest-risk releases from 2008-2011 are $33.5 million versus the $11.9 million in estimated costs,” auditors found. “By not treating those offenders, Oregon experienced an estimated $21.6 million in avoidable costs, many of which were borne by crime victims.”

The problem with community-based treatment, however, is that as counties struggle to survive crippling economic deficits, treatment beds top the list of county-level cuts.

Thanks to “Obama Care,” however, help may soon be on the way. “Starting in 2014, the federal Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) allow states to receive federal funding to expand Medicaid to all individuals with incomes at or below 133% of the federal poverty level,” auditors noted. “This expansion of health care coverage has the potential to relieve financially-stressed counties of nearly all costs of providing substance abuse treatment to offenders in the community and to make treatment seamless following their release.”

As a result, state funding now earmarked for treatment may be freed up for other purposes, “while still providing substance abuse treatment to more than the highest-risk offenders.”

By leveraging federal funding for drug treatment, the state could save on the $16 daily cost of community-based treatment, said Gary Blackmer, the Secretary of State Audits division director.

“They could actually expand the population beyond the highest-risk,” said Blackmer. “Corrections are quite eager to work with the Department of Human Services and the counties to enroll these offenders before they’re released and line them up for treatment.”

The audit “really supports a lot of what we’ve thought for a number of years,” noted Andy Olson, an Oregon Legislator and retired state trooper.

Sources: “Department of Corrections: Treatment of the Highest-risk Offenders Can Avoid Costs,” (8/13/13), available at: Oregon Audits Division, 255 Capitol Street NE, Suite 500, Salem, OR 97301 (503)986-2255, www.sos.state.or.us/audits/index.html; The Oregonian