Santa Cruz County Grand Jury: Serial inebriate program faltering

Santa Cruz County’s serial inebriate program is faltering, according to a critique released by the Grand Jury Tuesday.

It’s just one of several reports released this week by the Santa Cruz County Grand Jury for 2013-2014.

To read the jury’s entire report on the serial inebriate program, click here.

A SIP — serial inebriate program — was initiated in the county in 2004 and was successful but was suspended in 2008 due to fiscal cutbacks. It was reinstated in 2010. The program is aimed at reducing arrests for public drunkenness.

Offenders become eligible for SIP after being arrested five or more times within a six
month period for public intoxication. They’re then brought before a judge, where they’re typically offered a set number of days in a residential substance abuse
treatment facility or an equal number of days in jail.

There are three phases of SIP:
? Phase I. Once adjudicated into SIP, the offender is offered a choice of 30 days of
treatment or 30 days in jail.
? Phase II. If the offender is arrested again for a 647(f) violation, the mandatory
sentence is 60 days of treatment plus 30 days of optional clean and sober housing,
or 60 days in jail.
? Phase III. If the offender is arrested once again, the sentence is increased to 90
days of treatment plus an optional 30 days of clean and sober housing, or 90 days
in jail.

The Grand Jury found that locally, the program is underfunded and that’s causing mixed results. The problem of public drunkenness has grown but funding has not, and the county’s Main Jail struggles with capacity issues.

Records show there were 2,794 arrests in 2013 for public drunkenness — a violation of penal code 647f. Those arrests involved 1,668 individuals, with 82 people making up 30 percent of the arrests.

Of those 82 people, just 23 entered the SIP program, the Grand Jury’s report found. Many of the others were turned away due to overcrowding at the Main Jail – the major hindrance to the SIP program’s success.

Among the jury’s recommendations are that the Sheriff’s Department specifically reserve 3-6 beds at the jail for SIP-eligible violators, requiring that SIP participants spend time living in a sober living environment and increasing funding for a full-time case manager and more treatment space.