TIP PROGRAMS RECEIVE MORE THAN $1 MILLION!!

Posted October 9, 2006

Seven counties ( Milwaukee, Washington, Dane, Rock, Wood, Washburn and Burnett) along with the St. Croix tribe will benefit from more than $1 million in grants that will divert non-violent offenders from jail or prison and into treatment programs. The counties and the state estimate that the programs being funded will save taxpayers more than $4 million in incarceration costs in 2007. The primary cost savings will be to counties, as jail populations are reduced.

The 2006 portion of the state budget called for approximately $750,000 to be allocated for Treatment Alternatives and Diversion (TAD) grants to Wisconsin counties. Earlier in the year, the program seemed to be in jeopardy because the funding mechanism identified in the legislation was not producing the needed money. Matt Frank, Secretary of the Department of Corrections assured a group from WISDOM in the summer of 2006 that he and Governor Doyle would find a way to fund the program. In fact, the total amount given in TAD grants in 2006 will be more than $1 million. The state has also set aside money to help several counties to establish Day Reporting Centers, and has helped to fund Drug Treatment courts. In all, the state’s financial commitment to Treatment Instead of Prison (TIP) has neared $2 million in 2006!!

Wisconsin Organizations Supporting TIP have called for the state of Wisconsin to allocate $22 million per year for treatment alternatives in the 2007-09 budget. This would fund creative programs in every county and would result in a net savings to taxpayers of more than $40 million.

For more info: www.TipWis.org