Nearly three-quarters of the offenders who completed the only residential addiction treatment programme within the criminal justice system stayed clean and sober while two-thirds did not reoffend once discharged, a new report released yesterday found.
Harristown House, a residential alcohol and drug treatment centre beside Castlerea Prison in Co Roscommon, had more than 637 referrals between 1998 and 2004, most of them involving offenders from the west and the midlands.
Of these, 40 per cent had committed crimes against people, 98 per cent had "very serious" alcohol and substance addictions, over half had a history of mental health problems and a third were aged 20 and under.
The Government-funded report, Treating Addiction Tackling Crime, by the UK Praxis Care Group, is the first evaluation of the centre and its six-week programme. It drew on research from clients, judges, probation and welfare officers and staff members.
The researchers did an in-depth study of 36 offenders in the programme over a year. They found 68 per cent relapsed at least once after discharge, but by the end of the 12 months 73 per cent were "abstinent" or free of drugs and alcohol.
More than one-third went on to reoffend after leaving Harristown House, but this compares favourably with the UK where there was 61 per cent recidivism among released adult prisoners and 73 per cent among juveniles.
All those who maintained sobriety did not reoffend. For those who fell back into the cycle of crime, the offences were alcohol-related.
The report made a number of recommendations, including the need for a detoxing facility on-site to ensure clients would be fully sober in the critical first few weeks of the programme.
The director of Harristown House, Eugene Greaney, said they would examine another key recommendation to shorten the two-year aftercare programme to ensure there was intensive support for clients in the difficult months after release.
Director of the probation and welfare service Michael Donnellan said the centre cost €450,000 to treat up to 80 offenders, while it cost the State an estimated €90,000 to jail a criminal.