The Case for Restoring the New Beginnings Program’s Funding February 2009

2009-08-29T14:03:00.000-07:00

Charles Boodro, Wellesley MA

The Framingham based New Beginnings Program has served the youth of Massachusetts for fourteen years. Its funding ceased in January 2009 due to economy driven budget restrictions. This program serves an average of 130 juvenile offenders each year and is temporarily continuing its operation using volunteer resources. Its director is presently serving without salary. The New Beginnings program will be forced to cease operating in the immediate future if funding does not become available.

The program focuses on youthful offenders with a focus on stopping the use of drugs including alcohol and preventing violent behaviors. Almost all youth offenders have issues with one or more of these substances and there is clear correlation between their abuses of addicting substances and their additional offenses.

What is New Beginnings?

It is a unique program focused on direct intervention with teenagers and their families who have drug and/or alcohol issues as well as commit other crimes.

New Beginnings was founded by Bill Phillips. He is a unique individual who survived the horrors of violence and addiction in his own family when he was a child and as so often is the case, overcame similar challenges in his own life that included addictions to alcohol and hard drugs. Bill makes no secret his past, the grief that it caused his family and friends and the challenges that he personally overcame during his own passage to a sober life. As such he is a role model that can say, “Been there. Done that.” And to say it clearly and to say it was neither fun nor worth the grief that he personally endured.

Bill is also the founder and leader of the Alcohol Anonymous Group known as TSDD (“Tough _ _ _ _, Don’t Drink”) based in Framingham, Mass. TSDD serves a hardcore group of non-drinking alcoholics and non-using drug addicts. The Framingham and other local Juvenile and Adult Courts frequently require first time juvenile and adult offenders to attend TSDD AA meetings as part of their sentence.

TSDD does not serve the same purpose as the New Beginnings Program. AA is by its own definition a self help program where attendees choose to learn – or not. Those that attend TSDD due to a court requirement can choose to listen and contribute - or not.

At New Beginnings it is fair to say that everyone participates and that most find it a comfort to speak to someone who once felt what you feel, who understands the complicated world you live in and offers the positive message that there is a better and less painful way to live and he might be able to help you out of the predicament you are enduring.

New Beginnings serves the youth community in two distinct ways:

Prevention:

Bill makes over 200 visits to Massachusetts high schools and middle schools each year with a clear message regarding making appropriate and responsible decisions delivered in a very direct and down to earth manner, and why the use of drugs truly has a negative impact on both one’s physical and emotional well being. These presentations break through the perception that smoking dope, drinking alcohol, popping pills, snorting cocaine or even shooting heroin is pleasurable or healthy, while clearly identifying the negative results to the user.

The school visits also result in numerous requests for follow up services such as classroom workshops, all day events, pre-season meetings for athletes and their parents and other similar workshop events. This is important as it reinforces the information to individuals and groups that indicate need.

Bill’s presentations have been highly praised by the school administrators, their students, parents and experts in the prevention of drug and alcohol abuse.

Counseling:

Bill actively counsels an average of 72 teens at any point in time at his office at Keefe Tech in Framingham Mass. on a “one to one” or a “few to one” basis. Bill also requests that parents occasionally join in sessions with their child providing opportunities for “managed” discussions, issue resolution and most important establishment of compromises within the family.

These counseling sessions are very practical, focusing on immediate family issues. Everyone’s (including the parents) recent behavior is reviewed, analyzed and suggestions are made on how everyone can better manage issues and temptations.

Due to his connections within the student community, Bill is often aware of who is meeting appropriate behavior standards and who is not. This allows him to intervene before a serious problem occurs and prevent court action and possible incarceration.

Frequently the courts require a youth on probation to meet with Bill on a recurring basis as part of their probation. Bill is always in close contact with the probation officers and other court officials and will at times do drug testing and such on their behalf.

Other students volunteer to meet with him because of personal challenges at home, in school or elsewhere.

What benefits are lost if the state does not refund the New Beginnings Program?

I personally believe that it can be said with certainty that the individuals who attend the program will, without the benefit of the counseling, have significant behavior problems that frequently include serious drug use, thefts for drug money and other illegal behaviors that otherwise would not have occurred.

These behavior issues impact and disrupt both the school and community at a real dollar cost that is not possible to calculate. What can be calculated however is the certainty that the program will operate with a surplus based on common sense cost projections as defined below.

It costs approximately $65,000 per year to incarcerate a child at the Youth Service Board excluding police investigative and judicial costs. (See Attachment 3)

It costs approximately $200,000 per year to operate the New Beginnings Program. If three years of incarceration are prevented through the program, the state operates at breakeven. Every additional child not remanded to the Youth Service Board is saving the state additional direct expense.

I believe it is fair to say that there are also significant real costs to the Commonwealth that will not occur as a result of fewer crimes being committed. However this cannot be measured.

What is incalculable is the amount of heartache and family disruption that can be avoided. That truly is priceless……….
Attachments:

Two of the attached studies support the premise that the New Beginnings Program is self sufficient as it exists today and in fact will actually save the state far more than the cost of the program. The others provide documentation supporting the report.

Attachment 1 is an independent study of the actual New Beginnings program conducted by the Minnesota Institute of Public Health a provided in early January 2009.

Attachment 2 contains a study of a similar program in Deschutes County, Oregon called the Community Youth Investment Project that was implemented by the Oregon Commission on Children and Families.

Attachment 3: 2008 Patrick Administration CORI Reform Announcement that CORI reform will save taxpayers millions of dollars a year, not only by reducing prison costs but by also reducing the cost of criminal behavior in the Commonwealth’s communities, thereby enhancing public safety.

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TEEN FACTS ~ 3 FINGERS

2009-08-29T13:54:00.000-07:00

● 28 million alcoholics in the country – 8 million under age 18 – 1 out of 8 come from alcoholic families.

● Under age drinking costs the U.S. more than $58 billion every year.

● 40% of those who started drinking at age 13 or younger developed alcohol dependence later in life. 10% of teens who began drinking after age 17 developed dependence.

● 1 out of every 4 Americans are experiencing family problems related to alcohol/drugs.

● Families: 1 out of every 3 failed marriages, 26% of adolescents grow up in single family homes; 19% go to bed at night alone.

● Daughters are 3 times more likely to become alcoholics and to marry one.

● Sons are 70% more at risk before their first drink.

● 63% of the youth who drink alcohol say they initially got the alcohol from their own or their friends' homes.

● Alcohol kills 6.5 times more teenagers than all other illicit drugs combined.

● 87% of all high school students nationwide report having tried alcohol .

● An average of 7 young people die in alcohol related crashes every day.

● Alcohol related motor vehicle crashes claimed the lives of 2,452 youth between ages 15 & 21.

● Every minute of every year a young person between age 15 and 20 is injured in a motor vehicle crash.

● Every Friday and Saturday night cars are coming at you where the driver is drinking and driving.

● 50% of all fatal accidents – 15-24 year olds – alcohol/drug relate4d – 7-10,000 teens die each year because of alcohol/drug behaviors.

● Over 60% of teens said that drugs were sold, used or kept at their school .

● Within 5 minutes students can get anything they need.

● 30% of high school problems are related to alcohol/drugs – wait till 21 – 90%.

● 35% of high school students nationwide report having tried pot – 25% 10th grade, 20% 7-9th grade; pot is 70% stronger and psychologically addictive.

● The fastest rate of alcoholism in the last 5 years – FEMALES .

● 20% of 8th graders report they have tried marijuana.

● 28% of teens know a classmate or friend who has used Ecstasy (teen substance abuse).

● 10% of teens report that they have attended a rave, and ecstasy and other drugs were available at more than 2/3 of these raves.

● Teens who drink are 50 times more likely to use cocaine than teens who never consume alcohol.

● Teenagers whose parents talk to them on a regular basis about the dangers of drug use are 42% less likely to use drugs than those whose parents don’t.

● 80% of all AIDS is directly caused by alcohol/intra-drugs.

Teen Substance Abuse and Violence Prevention

The Case for Restoring the New Beginnings Program’s Funding February 2009

TEEN FACTS ~ 3 FINGERS