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| Community Budget Issue Requests - Tracking Id #1623 |
| Substance Abuse Treatment Diversion |
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| Requester: |
Bill Westel |
Organization: |
Lee County Juvenile Justice Council/Juvenile Sanctions Team |
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| Project Title: |
Substance Abuse Treatment Diversion |
Date Submitted |
1/12/2006 5:08:08 PM |
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| Sponsors: |
Aronberg |
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| Statewide Interest: |
| Due to a lack of substance abuse treatment resources in Lee County, youth with substance abuse problems often end up in the delinquency system and, once there, end up on the "fast track" to the deep end of the delinquency system, with many eventually ending up in residential commitment programs. It is estimated that the cost for each juvenile court processing is $2000 per offender. Youth who do not receive treatment are likely to return to court multiple times. In addition to court costs, there are state costs for processing and supervising by the Department of Juvenile Justice (DJJ) as well as local law enforcement costs. Youth who do not receive treatment are at a high risk of being committed. The average cost to Florida taxpayers for each youth committed to residential commitment facilities is $34,083 per completion. Court involved responses for treatment issues are neither cost effective nor effective in addressing recidivism of substance involved youth. The project would reduce caseloads for the court, DJJ, the State Attorney, and the Public Defender. It would prevent many treatable youth from entering deeper into the delinquency system. According to research done by the State of Wisconsin, therapeutic interventions for delinquent youth returned an average of $9 for every $1 invested, not including costs to crime victims or to society for future adult crime and incarceration. |
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| Recipient: |
Southwest Florida Addictions Services |
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Contact: |
Bill Westel |
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1105 Cultural Park Boulevard |
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Contact Phone: |
(239) 772-1211 |
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Cape Coral 33990 |
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Contact email: |
w_westel@swfas.org |
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| Counties: |
Lee |
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| Gov't Entity: |
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Private Organization (Profit/Not for Profit): |
Yes |
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| Project Description: |
| This project would provide substance abuse treatment as a diversion to the regular court process to 300 youth and their families. The substance abuse treatment proposed includes a cannabis youth treatment program; motivational enhancement therapy; and parent/adolescent groups, programs that are endorsed by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. One year follow-up of Family Outpatient Groups provided by Southwest Florida Addiction Services found that for participating youth, 82% had no substance abuse reported and 98% had no arrest or violation of probation. The Lee County Juvenile Justice Council voted this project as its top priority among eight other identified needs in the juvenile justice system. The Lee County Coalition for a Drug-Free Southwest Florida has identified Substance Abuse Funding Disparity for Lee County as one of its priority issues. |
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| Is this a project related to a federal or state declared disaster? |
No |
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| Measurable Outcome Anticipated: |
| Decrease the number of youth entering the court system for substance abuse and substance abuse-related charges by 300. For youth completing the treatment program, 98% percent will have no further arrests within a year. For youth completing the treatment program, 82% will have no substance abuse reported within a year. |
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| Amount requested from the State for this project this year: |
$175,000 |
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| Total cost of the project: |
$222,250 |
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| Request has been made to fund: |
Operations |
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| What type of match exists for this project? |
Local |
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Cash Amount |
$ |
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In-kind Amount |
$47,250 |
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| Was this project previously funded by the state? |
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No |
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| Is future-year funding likely to be requested? |
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Yes |
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Amount: |
$175,000 |
To Fund: |
Operations |
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| Was this project included in an Agency's Budget Request? |
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No |
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| Was this project included in the Governor's Recommended Budget? |
No |
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| Is there a documented need for this project? |
Yes |
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Documentation: |
Florida Youth Substance Abuse Survey, 2004; Lee County juveniles exceed state avgs by 20% |
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| Was this project request heard before a publicly noticed meeting of a body of elected officials (municipal, county, or state)? |
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Yes |
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Hearing Body: |
Lee County Legislative Delegation |
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Hearing Meeting Date: |
11/17/2005 |
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| Is this a water project as described in Section 403.885, Laws of Florida? |
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No |
