Recover Integrity believes in restorative justice, and work with lawyers and judges for client’s that would be better served in a therapeutic treatment clinic than a jail. As with all of Recover Integrity’s approaches, alternative sentencing is assessed on an individual basis, and is handled with acute attention to the client, the treatment team and the justice system. We are here to offer a second opinion to the question: does incarceration work in cases of substance abuse? And, does it truly rehabilitate the offender? The numbers show that jail time can worsen addiction, and addicts have the potential to come out even better criminals than they were when they got in.
Research has been taking a look at treatment as a better option, and it’s becoming more widely accepted in both liberal and conservative states, especially for low and medium level drug offenders. Alternative sentencing is when a court orders treatment in the place of incarceration.
Alternative sentencing can help both the offender and the victim – the offender has an opportunity to get some help and restore a sense of respect and dignity, and make amends to the victim – and the victim has an opportunity to be a part of the process, should they choose to be.
We are privileged to have Philip Hamburger as a consultant at Recover Integrity. He has worked as an alternative sentencing consultant for over a decade and is well respected in the Los Angeles court system. He has been effective in getting clients sentenced to treatment instead of incarceration.
STEP 1: INITIAL ASSESSMENT