AG Curtis Hill Helps Implement Jail Chemical Addiction Program In Montgomery County

(CRAWFORDSVILLE) – Attorney General Curtis Hill today announced that Montgomery County will receive a $43,000 grant from the Indiana Drug Enforcement Association for the purpose of starting a Jail Chemical Addiction Program (JCAP). The award is made possible through seed funding from the Office of the Attorney General.


“Offenders in our jails and prisons need meaningful opportunities to turn their lives around and break the cycles that lead them repeatedly into criminal behavior,” Attorney General Hill said. “JCAP programs are excellent examples of such opportunities. For criminal offenders with addiction problems, incarceration can be a godsend if it helps to put them on the road to recovery. The key is connecting them with quality long-term treatment programs that begin during incarceration and continue upon their release.”
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The Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office will administer the program in partnership with Valley Oaks Health, which is providing a therapist, Sheriff Ryan Needham said.
“Law enforcement officers see firsthand the massive damage caused by drug addiction in our community,” Sheriff Needham said. “Addiction follows people into and out of jail, and if we can use jail time to help offenders truly break the cycle of chemical dependency and destructive habits, then they and the whole community will be better for it.”
Montgomery County Chief Deputy Prosecutor Andrew Salter anticipates positive outcomes from implementing a JCAP program.
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“As prosecutors in Montgomery County, we see many of the same individuals in court time and again,” he said. “One of the common threads with repeat offenders is the abuse of substances – either alcohol or controlled substances. Substance issues are a common strand not only in drug and alcohol offenses but with property crimes committed in order to obtain funds to procure controlled substances. This office is hopeful that the new JCAP program facilitated at the Montgomery County Jail can assist offenders in addressing substance abuse issues while they await disposition of their criminal cases within the Montgomery County Jail.”
Judge Hether Barajas described JCAP as a significant step forward.
“Most of the inmates in our local jail have addiction issues, even if their current charges are not directly drug-related,” she said. “Many of these people want to get into recovery but don’t know how to get started. It only makes sense that we give them the opportunity to use the time while they are incarcerated to start working on recovery. This program will provide that opportunity in a highly-structured, closely-monitored program where they will be segregated from the general jail population. They will not receive any guarantee on the outcome of their case for participating in the program, but their transition to the next phase of their recovery should be smoother, thereby increasing the potential success rate.”

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