OUR VIEW: Gutting community corrections program will make Jefferson County less safe

The Birmingham News
By Birmingham News editorial board
October 10, 2009

Treatment Alternatives for Safer Communities is one of those programs which make so much sense that cutting it ought to be a crime. TASC saves money, makes the community safer and provides help to people who desperately need assistance turning their troubled lives around.

Unfortunately, this is Jefferson County. And what the County Commission did to TASC should be criminal.

Last month, the Jefferson County Commission cut TASC's budget by 60 percent, from more than $2.5 million last year to $1 million this year. Commissioners were responding to a sharp decline in projected tax revenues, resulting in tighter budgets for most county departments. Few, however, took a harder hit than TASC, or will have more dire consequences.

TASC, operated through UAB, is a community corrections program. It runs the drug court, the domestic violence court and mental health court in the county and provides drug testing and background checks for criminal defendants. Its work not only keeps some offenders out of the normal criminal justice system and out of jail, it helps keep offenders out of trouble by testing and sending them to treatment.

Last week, because of the budget cut, the presiding judge of the Jefferson County Circuit Court's criminal decision ordered an end to sending everyone charged with a felony to TASC. It means they will no longer be drug-tested, monitored and referred for treatment while out on bond. "They (TASC) are just not going to have the manpower," said Circuit Judge Tommy Nail.

The drug-testing and treatment program isn't the only TASC service at risk because of the funding cut. Services such as domestic violence court and mental health court are also threatened.

The end result will be more people locked up unnecessarily, fewer people getting the drug treatment and other services they need, and more repeat offenders committing crimes and endangering public safety.

Before the latest decree, defendants charged with felonies were evaluated and tested by TASC as a condition of their release while awaiting trial. TASC officials say 65 percent of the defendants test positive for illegal drugs. They are offered drug treatment and other assistance, such as job placement.

An evaluation of the program found it reduced new arrests of those out on bond by 30 percent.

It's not an insignificant number. TASC supervises more than 3,300 felony offenders, and was receiving 350 to 400 new referrals each month. Now, many offenders who would have been evaluated and offered life-changing treatment will wind up in jail at greater taxpayer expense.

Certainly, Jefferson County commissioners had tough decisions to make in cutting the county's budget. The county put 1,000 workers on unpaid leave, temporarily closed its four satellite courthouses and continues to limit the hours of many workers to 32 a week. Those are all carry-overs from the loss of the occupational tax for much of the last budget year.

The new budget expects revenue to fall 14 percent and cuts many departments hard. The sheriff's office, for example, will see its budget slashed from $61 million last year to $51 million this year, spurring Sheriff Mike Hale to close the county's Bessemer jail and place workers, including deputies, on unpaid leave.

While cuts need to be made, a 14 percent dip in tax revenue does not justify a 60 percent cut in a program as critical to public safety as TASC. Commissioners should look for cuts elsewhere to restore some TASC funding.

If not, the only hope is money can be found elsewhere -- such as a special appropriation from the Legislature when it convenes in January, discretionary funds from lawmakers or the governor, or grant money --to keep TASC running.

Those admittedly are long shots. But, surely, we have some elected leaders who recognize that cuts to save money now can come back to haunt us later.

Otherwise, Jefferson County promises to be a scary place.