Sec. 4. Report. County jail administrators and the Department of Mental Health, Mental Retardation and Substance Abuse Services, Office of Substance Abuse shall present a proposal to implement and fund the comprehensive substance abuse treatment program to the Joint Standing Committee on Criminal Justice by May 1, 1999. The proposal must also include a plan for annual reporting to the Joint Standing Committee on Criminal Justice on the progress in implementing and providing substance abuse treatment programs.

Emergency clause. In view of the emergency cited in the preamble, this Act takes effect when approved.

SUMMARY

This bill directs the Department of Corrections and the Department of Mental Health, Mental Retardation and Substance Abuse Services, Office of Substance Abuse to create, implement and operate a comprehensive substance abuse program for prisoners. The program must include uniform clinical assessment of prisoners to identify substance abuse problems, to ensure access to a comprehensive substance abuse treatment program that facilitates participation of the prisoner and the prisoner's family, to provide a system to monitor treatment progress and a follow-through mechanism to ensure treatment completion.

The bill requires the Department of Corrections and the Department of Mental Health, Mental Retardation and Substance Abuse Services, Office of Substance Abuse to prepare and present a proposal to implement and fund the comprehensive substance abuse treatment program to the Joint Standing Committee on Criminal Justice by May 1, 1999. The bill also requires the proposal to include a plan to make annual reports to the Joint Standing Committee on Criminal Justice with a summary regarding the progress of substance abuse treatment programs.