Mass ex-cons get new chance with federal program

BOSTON -- Danny DiPascale says he was the kind of guy "you didn't want around your daughter, around your school or living in your neighborhood."

Addicted to heroin since age 16, he became a dealer to support his habit. Finally, after serving seven years in federal prison on drug charges, DiPascale joined a program that he credits with turning his life around.

On Thursday, DiPascale and seven others will graduate from the Court Assisted Recovery Effort, a federal program that provides ex-convicts with intense supervision, weekly meetings with a judge, frequent drug tests and counseling to help them stay clean.

The program has caught the attention of U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder Jr., who is scheduled to speak at the graduation ceremony.

DiPascale credits the program with helping him break a 28-year cycle of drugs, rehab and relapse. He spent a total of 15 years in jail, and was in and out of more than 100 detoxification and rehabilitation programs.

"When I think back to what kind of person I was, it was kind of scary," DiPascale said.

He spent a little over a year in the CARE program. He is now engaged, has a job as a construction worker and hasn't used drugs in nearly two years.

"I wake up with a smile on my face every day, no matter what the day has to bring," he said. "I think of my past and where I've been and where I am now, and I know it could always be worse.

During the voluntary program, participants initially appear in open court before a judge each week to give progress on their treatment and their efforts to find jobs and stay clean. They also are required to meet with probation officials two to three times a week for drug testing and substance abuse treatment.

If they relapse or violate the terms of their supervised release, the judge imposes an immediate sanction, which can include community service, failure to gain credit for that week and up to seven days in jail.

After completing 52 successful weeks, participants can earn a one-year reduction in the term of their supervised release.

Federal probation officials in Boston started the program in 2006, modeled after a program in Oregon. More than a dozen other federal court districts now have similar programs or are planning them, said Mark Sherman, a senior education attorney with the Federal Judicial Center in Washington, D.C.

The Oregon Re-Entry Court started in 2003 in response to a methamphetamine epidemic. Chief U.S. Probation Officer Eric Suing said many participants volunteer for the program because of the incentive to shave a year off their supervised release time.

"Then they realize that this is more about being clean and sober and having a lifestyle that doesn't involve going back and forth to jail," Suing said.

Jonathan Hurtig, deputy chief of the U.S. Probation Office of Massachusetts, said the program targets people with significant substance abuse problems who have served their time in federal prison and are trying to get back on their feet without turning to drugs again.

Forty-five people have enrolled in the program since it started in May 2006. Of those, 17 have successfully completed the program. Another 16 are active participants and 12 have either dropped out or been terminated.

"One of the biggest benefits of the program is that they are able to regain control of their lives, which is one of the most powerful things," Hurtig said.

"These people have been able to maintain their sobriety for a year, they've been able to establish themselves in the community and also been able to maintain employment."

U.S. Magistrate Judge Leo Sorokin, who meets with the participants in court, said one of the keys to the program's success is the quick response to setbacks.

"We address even small problems, but we address them right away, so when people don't go to a treatment session, when a participant tests positive for the use of drugs, at the next court session, there's a sanction that's imposed right away," he said. "Immediacy is important because we are trying to change behavior."

Some people get through the program in 52 weeks, while others take much longer to complete it.

Gay A. Finley, 44, of Boston, a recovering addict who used crack, heroin, marijuana and other drugs, took 2 1/2 years to finish the program. Along the way, she had four relapses.

Finley said she has been clean for nearly a year now, and credits the support and friendships she formed with public defenders and other participants of the CARE program.

"Knowing that I had a lot of people who believed in me and thought that I could go further helped," she said.

(Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)