Deferred Entry of Judgement/PC100 is a court-ordered program offered by Los Angeles County to give first-time, non-violent drug offenders a chance to attend a recovery program instead of jail time.

At the NESS Counseling Center, we develop a program tailored to each individual's needs to help them achieve their goal of sobriety and to stay within the standards set by the County. Effective treatment services require competent staff with attitudes, knowledge, and skills that support the program and its participants to achieve positive outcomes. Key areas of The NESS Center counselor competencies include: clinical evaluation, treatment planning, referral, service coordination, counseling, education, documentation, and professional ethics. Effective staff require the proper training as preparation for entering the treatment field and continuing education for staying current with the latest treatment methods and approaches.

The program is 20 weeks in length and includes weekly educational and counseling sessions at The Center, random urine testing, as well as 20 self-help meetings at Alcoholics Anonymous, Narcotics Anonymous, Marijuana Anonymous, etc.

The initial registration cost is $37.50 and $28.80 for each group session thereafter.

On November 7, 2000, California voters approved the passage of Proposition 36, the Substance Abuse and Crime Prevention Act of 2000. The initiative was sponsored by the California Campaign for New Drug Policies. The sponsor's stated purpose of the initiative was to enhance public safety by reducing drug-related crime and preserving jail and prison space for violent offenders by providing community-based substance abuse treatment programs for non-violent defendants, probationers, and parolees charged with simple drug possession or drug use offenses.

The main provisions of the initiative are:

• The initiative amends the State of California Health and Safety Code and Penal Code to require qualifying defendants who have been convicted of non-violent felony and misdemeanor drug possession or being under the influence of drugs to be placed on probation and ordered into drug treatment for up to one year;

• Incarceration is prohibited as a condition of probation and certain prohibitions and restrictions are placed on the incarceration of probation and parole violators. In-custody treatment is specifically prohibited as a condition; and

• The State is required to establish a Substance Abuse Trust Fund to offset local costs for implementation of the initiative with appropriations of $60 million in FY 2000-01 and

• $120 million per year for the next five fiscal years. Funds will be distributed by formula to counties to cover local costs for treatment, probation supervision, court monitoring and other costs necessary for implementation. Costs for drug testing are specifically excluded.

No single treatment approach is appropriate for all individuals. Within any given segment of the population in need of treatment, the scope, duration and intensity of those services will vary. For each individual, a different approach to services is required based on his/her degree of bio-psycho-social impairment and the supports and barriers to recovery present in his/her life.

As persons enter or move within the treatment portion of the continuum of services, they are placed in or transitioned to a level of care commensurate with their need. Within the Los Angeles County region scarce drug treatment resources are used more effectively and cost savings realized as client retention and outcomes improve. The use of validated assessment and placement tools is a key element.

Components of a treatment and recovery continuum should include:

• Early intervention

• Outpatient detoxification (followed by appropriate treatment)

• Residential detoxification (followed by appropriate treatment)

• Outpatient treatment

• Intensive outpatient treatment

• Day treatment

• Short/long term residential treatment

• Narcotic replacement therapy

• Transitional living (coupled with the appropriate treatment level or recovery support)

• Aftercare

Each component may contain additional elements, for example, case management, education and supportive services such as transportation or child care. Lastly, clients may be referred outside the drug treatment system of coordinated services in the health, mental health, social service, child welfare, or justice systems.

Diversion services

Drug diversion programs (Penal Code 1000) - Penal Code 1000 Programs are deferred entry of judgement diversionary programs where defendants charged with violating certain drug-related laws enter conditional guilty pleas and are allowed to attend a 20-week education and rehabilitation program. Upon successful completion of the program, the charges are dismissed. In most cases, the defendants are non-violent first offenders.

The implementation of Proposition 36 poses major challenges for the existing system of drug treatment services in Los Angeles County in terms of its infrastructure capacity and program practices. However, the Los Angeles County system of community-based alcohol and drug treatment services provided services to close to 50,000 persons last year, including many persons with arrest histories for drug-related offenses. The success of the Drug Court program over the past five years has demonstrated the effectiveness of treatment for non-violent drug offenders as a means for ending the revolving door of arrests and addiction for this population through the close partnership between the criminal justice and drug treatment systems. Successful implementation of the Proposition 36 program also hinges upon the continued effective partnering of these two systems.