Criminal Justice Reform & Police AccountabilitySURE

Substance abuse treatment established in Sarasota jails

By June 18, 2009April 15th, 2014No Comments

Sarasota, FL – At its 2009 Nehemiah Action, SURE received a commitment from the Sarasota County Sheriff to develop and implement an in-jail drug and alcohol rehabilitation program in order to lower recidivism rates (i.e., rate of repeat arrests) for addicted offenders, which had been reported at 75% within one year of release. In the summer of 2009, the program was introduced with 48 male and 32 female inmates participating. The results of this program have been extremely promising. As of June 2010, men completing the program have had a 13% recidivism rate, while women have a recidivism rate of 9%.