Suffolk County DWI Alternative Facility

The purpose of this New York State minimum-security facility, which opened in 1984, is to remove hardcore offenders from the streets while providing a more cost-effective alternative to traditional jail. Candidates for the program are recommended by a court prosecutor or probation officer and are otherwise jail-bound for alcohol-related offenses, usually multiple DWI offenses.

The program’s other goal is to reduce recidivism by providing comprehensive correction treatment services during confinement and continuing alcohol therapy during intensive supervision probation. Offenders are sentenced to the program by the court and serve a split-sentence of incarceration, usually three to six months, and then three to five years of probation with alcohol treatment requirements. Probation treatment ranges in intensity from in-patient treatment or day reporting to visiting the probation officer for a breathalyzer test and check-in. Failure to comply with any program conditions results in the offender being returned to a traditional jail to serve the entire sentence.

How Much Does the Suffolk County DWI Alternative Facility Cost?

The program is 100 percent self-sufficient. Daily costs, including probation and aftercare costs, are significantly less than the $180 per day it costs to house an inmate in the Suffolk County jail. Program administrators say the alternative facility’s cost is much lower because it is set up more like a dormitory than a jail. In the alternative program, probationers pay $30 a month as a probation administration fee, and they must pay for their own treatment program costs. The program handles about 200 offenders per year in the incarceration phase, and about 700 offenders per year are being treated in the probationary phase. In 2001, 122 offenders were admitted to the facility. One hundred sixteen completed the residential phase and were released to aftercare and probation.

How Effective Is the Suffolk County DWI Alternative Facility?

Program administrators say over a 10-year period, the recidivism rate for program participants is 18 percent for all criminal offenses. They credit the program’s success to the combination of incarceration, probation and treatment.