Treatment NOT Prison –

Oct. 11, 2018 – “I feel like we’re on the right track,” Kaltenbach said. “Sometimes people do drop off. … We need to be working much closer, the case management workers and law enforcement officers, to identify who may not be engaged, to go find them on the streets.” Abstinence from drug use is not required of diversion-program participants in Santa Fe and jurisdictions following the same “harm reduction” model. The guiding principle favors investments in treatment and services for low-level drug offenders over arrest and prosecution, but little data have been available to gauge the effectiveness of the programs. Political support for the diversion program in Santa Fe was on display Thursday at a news conference attended by Mayor Alan Webber, District Attorney Marco Serna and Police Chief Andrew Padilla – who all inherited the initiative from predecessors.

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