PORT ANGELES — Clallam County taxpayers are saving tens of thousands of dollars while certain low-risk offenders are getting a chance to redeem themselves through an ongoing program called Friendship Diversion, said a county commissioner earlier this week.
Clallam is one of eight counties that contracts with the Olympia-based organization to keep track of people who have been arrested for nonviolent crimes, Friendship Diversion Executive Director Barbara Miller told county commissioners Tuesday.
“The defendants pay our fee,” Miller said.
“We don’t take any county money for this program at all,” she added.
“We supervise the completion of community service work and anything else that the court orders.”
The program has saved county taxpayers “tens of thousands, if not now hundreds of thousands, of taxpayer dollars,” said Commissioner Mike Chapman, an initial skeptic when the program was started in Clallam County in 2006.
Friendship makes sure defendants abide by their court orders, whether it’s community service or paying fees.
If a person is charged with a drug or alcohol offense and is ordered to attend classes, for example, Friendship verifies that the defendant meets his or her responsibilities.
Charges
In most cases, charges are dropped after the defendant completes Friendship Diversion.
“That individual can proceed in their life without having a criminal conviction,” Miller said.
“It can lead to housing, employment, all kinds of opportunities.”
Friendship also has offices in Jefferson, Thurston, Mason, Grant, Okanogan and Spokane counties, and the city of Kent.
In 2009, the Clallam County Prosecutor’s Office began a pre-file diversion program for people who hadn’t been charged.
At the discretion of the prosecutor, certain cases may be adjudicated through Friendship Diversion before charges are filed.
“They will come direct to us,” Miller said.
“They won’t go through the court system. So the pre-file means that this person can do a pretty standard base of sanctions that are applicable.”
Minor in possession [of alcohol] is a common pre-file case, Miller said.
“That person has to do community service,” she added.
“They have to complete alcohol-drug information school, and they have to pay our fee. Upon that happening, those charges never come to fruition. So that person has no criminal history because they have completed pre-file diversion.”
One of the advantages of the program is that it “eases the burden of the criminal justice system,” Miller said.
“And the defendant will be able to go on with their life.”
Numbers referred
From the beginning of the year to May 31, Clallam County District Court referred 72 pre-file, 25 post-charge, 70 community service and 27 electronic home-monitoring cases to Friendship Diversion.
In Superior Court, there were seven post-charge, 14 community service and 12 electronic home-monitoring cases referred to Friendship from Jan. 1 to May 31, according to Miller’s statistics.
Last year, Friendship Diversion assigned 1,350 hours of community service for Superior Court cases and assigned $9,119 in victim restitution.
Friendship collected $3,540 in victim restitution last year and $102,632 since 2006.
The organization collected $8,071 in court fees last year and $47,732 since 2006.
Kelly supports program
Clallam County Prosecuting Attorney Deb Kelly has endorsed the program.
“It’s extremely valuable to the county,” Kelly told commissioners.
“They provide services of very high caliber, particularly in terms of monitoring. As government resources continue to dwindle, they have done just absolute wonders.”
“We are very lucky to have it here.”
Commissioner Mike Doherty said the program provides “wrap-around services,” such as employment and education counseling.
“They really try to provide some services that public agencies can no longer afford to provide as well,” Doherty said.
When Friendship puts a low-risk inmate on electronic home-monitoring at a $17.50-per-day cost to the offender, taxpayers save about $80 per day in jail costs.
“You’re also, through these other services, hopefully making people change their behavior in a way that’s a little more successful than the traditional ‘lock ’em up’-type mentality,” Doherty said.
“You’re possibly, in some cases, keeping them in their jobs. You’re keeping them with their family and making some determinations that’s best for that person, given their screening process.”
Kelly credited Doherty for introducing the program to the county.
She and others were skeptical at first, but the program has “shown it’s worth it over and over and over again,” Kelly said.
Chapman, who was one of those initial skeptics, said Tuesday: “There were some philosophical differences, and there were some differences among the Board of Commissioners at the time.
“But clearly, through the work of Prosecutor Kelly, Commissioner Doherty, Barbara, you guys were able to come together and put a program in place that has literally saved the county taxpayer tens of thousands, if not now hundreds of thousands, of taxpayer dollars and have actually returned the money to the county on a consistent basis.”
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Reporter Rob Ollikainen can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 5072, or at rob.ollikainen@peninsuladailynews.com.
