The number of slots in the county's program will go from 32 to about 60 or 70, Alex Borowski, executive director and counselor of FOCUS, the drug court treatment provider for the county program, said Tuesday.
Borowski met with officials from the Oklahoma Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services last week about expansion plans for drug court programs across the state. The county program is one of 22 drug courts expected to receive more state funding in order to expand.
Borowski said he isn't sure of the exact amount of state funding the county program will receive, but expects it too will double along with the number of clients. He said the program will also have to hire additional staff to ensure a proper staff to client ratio.
The two-year county drug court program is an alternative to prison for non-violent drug offenders, and has proven to be successful. Borowski said the programs are seeing an 84 percent success rate across the state, which prompted officials to look at possible expansions.
Borowski noted the savings the program also provides for the state. He said it costs between $20,000 to $25,000 for a person to be incarcerated, while it takes between $1,800 and $2,000 to send someone to drug court. He said in the next two years, the expansions are expected to save the state $68 million.
Borowski said if the expansion is successful, the program could see another expansion the following year.
