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Blogs / Guest blogger Judge Steven Alm on the success of the HOPE probation program
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Guest blogger Judge Steven Alm on the success of the HOPE probation program
Editor's Note: Hawaii First Circuit Court Judge Steven Alm started Hawaii's Opportunity Probation with Enforcement (HOPE) program. Vera’s Center on Sentencing & Corrections has written a policy brief about HOPE.
I was pleased to see Vera’s policy brief about the HOPE program. It emphasizes an important point: HOPE is based on a simple idea that is a challenge to actually put into practice—and that means following all of the program’s features and bringing all of the players in the system together to operate differently—and most important, faster. This includes probation officers, court staff, judges, prosecutors, defense, and law enforcement (both to take violators into custody at the probation offices and to go out and look for and arrest absconders). By achieving this coordination, you can provide the swift hearings needed. The judge then needs to provide certain but proportionate consequences.
I was really pleased to see how Professor Jeffrey Rosen emphasized in last month’s New York Times Magazine article that HOPE is working in part because the offenders feel that it is fair. They are told what the rules are and if they break these rules, they are, in fact, sanctioned, but in a fair, proportionate way (for example, a week in jail). Society works partly because its citizens believe in the rule of law and some sort of social contract. People are more likely to follow the conditions of probation if they are enforced in a fair, just, and equitable manner.
As the Vera brief points out, HOPE appears to work because we adhere to all features of the program. I encourage other jurisdictions who are considering a HOPE approach to follow all the steps if they want to see the success we've had. The nonprofit organization Friends of HOPE has formed to support the program's efforts. You may want to read the "Benchmarks for Success," those program attributes we believe are critical for a HOPE-style program to work.
6 Comments:
Hope probation
I am a resident of Honolulu for the past 20 yrs . I have a comment for judge Alm reguarding Hope Probation . I am qualified to speak because almost every friend i have is or has been on some sort of probation including the somewhat recent Hope Probation. I myself have been on probation. My observation of the effects of the Hope Probation Program are this:
1. I have seen change develope in the most stubborn addicts - they eventually are forced to stop and re think their decision to use drugs. No matter how slow or slight the change may be - it is still a move of change in the right direction. I applaud this behavioral growth because i believe the consequences of violation are enough to force the addict into a different path other than previous patterned behavior.
2. On the down side - there are still some probationers that will be hard headed enough to try and do it the hard way and still use drugs while on Hope and some are just slow learners unable to realize the complexity of "change". They become impatient and frustarted with themselves at not being able to do what the court expects ( maybe they never had a functioning life prior) and they are not helped to see that starting change behavior is slow to see. These are the ones that give up. Judge Alm should explain to his difficult cases that change is sometimes hard - but it takes "balls" - you gotta have the balls to change.
3. I feel Judge Alm and the probation officers can get through to the probationers by using a little more psychology - talk in their language - point out that the probationer has given their WORD to the conditions of the court in order to be on Hope instead of in jail. Often an inmates WORD is a huge deal within the correctional institutions.
This program can't have
This program can't have control on everyone, some may miss the program because they oppose to choosing to fight against their addiction, but still I am confident this effort will bring improvements in the community, something needs to be done, we might as well start from here. Also I think drug rehabilitation programs would also fit in this initiative. I am familiar with drug rehab in Arizona, I know that this may work and I am hoping for the good news in the future statistics.
Helping people in the real world
Under current Hawai`i law, drug possession is a class C felony, punishable by up to five years in state prison. In order to test positive for drugs, you had to possess and use the drug. This means that every time an offender has a positive drug test, he or she is at risk of being charged and prosecuted for a new class C felony.
Crystal methamphetamine is the primary illegal drug of choice for probationers in Hawai`i. Its use is causing them many personal and family problems, including the possibility of years in prison. The HOPE program helps offenders stop using drugs and helps them to succeed on probation.
Contrary to Dr. Cohen’s assertion, Dr. Hawken’s study clearly demonstrates that HOPE Probation has benefited the participants and the community. The participants benefit by having their probation revoked 53% less often and being arrested for new crimes 55% less often than those in the control group on probation-as-usual. That resulted in 48% fewer days of incarceration (mostly measured in years in prison). This is a very real benefit to the participants. Nothing short of death—or perhaps a serious injury—is as disruptive to a person and his or her family as going to prison.
The residents of Hawai`i benefit because they are victimized substantially less often by the HOPE participants, and as taxpayers, they are paying substantially less to house the imprisoned offenders at the cost, in Hawai`i, of $50,000 per year. HOPE Probation is like being a good parent. Boundaries are set and enforced. The probationers, like most of us, appreciate and thrive in a system that is fair, predictable, and proportionate (as they pointed out in the New York Times Magazine article about HOPE on January 10). Helping people in the real world, with real solutions, is real compassion and is a good solution for all.
Hawaii's HOPE is certainly Swiftian
Using drugs is not criminal. Drug addiction is a chronic relapsing disease, and should not be criminalized. Nothing in the HOPE study demonstrates that the participants or the community received benefit from the demonstration project, except for fewer days of incarceration. Many of those days of incarceration could have been avoided by not checking urine samples. A week in a Hawaiian jail for a positive urinalysis may seem proportionate to Judge Alm and others involved in the HOPE study, but not to me. It is wildly disproportionate to the European Community's non-punitive approach to drug use, which recognizes that neither incarceration nor the threat of incarceration helps the addicted or their community. Progressive punitive discipline for the predictable consequences of a chronic relapsing illness is certainly Swiftian. A better response would be compassion, harm reduction, voluntary treatment, and decriminalization.
