The Drug Treatment Alternative to Prison
(DTAP) Program enables drug addicted criminal
defendants to plead guilty to an offense
and then enter a residential, therapeutic
community treatment system for three years
as an alternative to a prison sentence.
The Program begins with three months of
in-patient, residential drug treatment followed
by wraparound recovery support services
managed by a resources specialist, including
transitional housing, literacy services, higher
education, job training and placement
services, and counseling, accompanied by
drug testing, probation monitoring and regular
court hearings.
Pima County’s DTAP Program is currently
the only one of its kind in Arizona.
Why do we need DTAP?
DTAP saves lives.
Defendants who successfully complete the
program have become productive members of
the community, with gainful employment,
housing, improved health, and repaired
relationships with their families, children and
loved ones.
DTAP saves money.
The average cost of placing a defendant
through the DTAP Program, including the costs
of residential treatment, transitional housing,
vocational training, counseling, and other
support services is $12,593 –
less than half the
average cost of imprisonment for the average
term of 14 months, which would be $30,162.
DTAP reduces crime.
Research by the Justice Policy Institute shows
drug treatment can significantly reduce recidivism,
as much as 12.4%, compared with only
6% after jail or prison.
Overall, 67.5% of all drug
offenders are expected to be
rearrested within three years
of their release.
41.2% expected to be rearrested on another
drug offense after serving traditional
sentences.
By contrast,
DTAP participants
are nearly twice as successful in
staying drug free and crime
free.
