The closing of a residential drug treatment center in Indiana due to a $400,000 deficit has caused concern among county officials who rely on the program as an alternative to jail. Hamilton Center Inc. has announced the closing of its seven-bed residential drug treatment center in Terre Haute, Indiana. The drug treatment center will close on July 23. It has provided recovery services for men in the community since 2005. Many of those in the program were assigned through a Vigo County court.
The implications of the drug treatment center’s closure have been felt throughout the local justice system. Judge Michael Lewis of Vigo County Superior Court said that the 28-day program has been an essential tool for the courts to use in getting treatment help for defendants.
“Keeping them involved in some type of rehab keeps them off of drugs,” Lewis said. “I’m not sure about the success rate, but I know if it helps even a few to turn their lives around, then it’s worth it. If we can save even one life, it’s a good thing.”
Most of the inmates in the Vigo County jail are struggling with some kind of drug or alcohol addiction. Often, those inmates are not released from the jail until they have had some time to detox. This makes them more suitable to successfully complete a program at a drug treatment center.
“Any incentive we can give these people to stay away from drugs, stay away from alcohol, we utilize. And that’s another one that’s gone now,” Lewis said. Another drug treatment center in the area, Fellowship House, closed its doors in April, a victim of the poor economy. The closure of the Hamilton Center leaves Freebirds Solutions Center, Club Soda and Club Gobi as the only drug treatment centers available in Vigo County.
A local defense attorney said the loss of the Hamilton Center will add to the county’s jail overcrowding and budget problems.
“The most expensive thing to do for someone is to incarcerate them,” said Christopher Shema. “If you can put someone in a residential treatment program or a halfway house where they can get the help they need, at a much lower cost than incarceration, everyone wins.”
Shema said many of his clients are assigned by the court because they are indigent and benefit from treatment programs. He believes that if they do not have access to treatment besides jail, they are more likely to commit other crimes in the future.
“It’s like having a toolbox with only a hammer, a sometimes a screwdriver or pliers is the more efficient tool,” Shema said.
The county sheriff knows that the closing of the Hamilton Center program is a problem for the community.
“Even though it’s only seven beds,” Sheriff Jon Marvel said, “those seven beds are freed up every 28 days, so seven a month are basically getting out of jail into treatment.”
Transferring nonviolent offenders into drug treatment programs is more cost efficient. It also means a person is less likely to commit future crimes because of an addiction to drugs. The Vigo County jail is constantly overcrowded and is currently over its limit of 268 set by an agreement with the Indiana Civil Liberties Union following a lawsuit ten years ago.