Friday, December 16, 2011

Washington HOPE Style Program Appears Successful

More evidence that Smart Justice works………………..The Seattle City Council and Washington State Department of Corrections launched a pilot program for offenders February 2011, the Washington Intensive Supervision Program (WISP). Based upon the Hawaii Opportunity Probation with Enforcement (HOPE) program, it appears to be reducing drug use and costs. Traditionally, offenders who test positive for drugs on probation faced a lengthy violation hearing process and 30 to 90 days in jail. WISP offenders face 48 to 72 hours, but are sentenced shortly after being caught. The swift and certain sanctions appear to be making a difference. Offenders participating in the program “were two-thirds less likely to test positive in randomly assigned drug tests than offenders in a control group.” See http://www.seattlemedium.com/News/article/article.asp?NewsID=111782&sID=4&ItemSource=L.