Each year our country spends some $31 BILLION in taxpayer dollars to lock up criminals.

Of course, much of that money is very well spent. I am convinced that one reason crime rates have fallen in recent years is that the federal government and many states adopted tough sentencing laws in the 1980s and early 1990s. It doesn't take a Ph.D. in criminal justice to figure out that folks locked up in jail can't commit crimes on the street.

But that is NOT to say that jail is the answer for everyone who commits a crime. Some folks who have gotten in trouble with the law CAN be rehabilitated and returned to society as useful and productive citizens. This turns them into TAXPAYERS instead of tax CONSUMERS and can save millions of dollars that would otherwise be spent to jail them.

That?s why I plan to cosponsor a bill to authorize funding for state programs that teach certain low-level, non-violent drug offenders, how to overcome their abuse problems and obtain the knowledge and skills they need to get and KEEP good jobs and function as law-abiding citizens.

The bill, sponsored by U.S. Rep. John Mica, R-Fla., is inspired by a program developed and run by prosecutors and corrections officials in Brooklyn, New York. The approach appeals to me because it was produced by people who have "real world" experience in dealing with crime and criminals, not by academic theoreticians and "do-gooder" social scientists.

In the New York program, prosecutors do the initial review to decide which drug offenders will be considered for the program. They must undergo intensive psychological counseling and job training and meet tough goals in order to complete the program. And folks accepted into the plan, must plead GUILTY before they enter. If they don't measure up, they go to jail. If they complete the program successfully, their conviction is wiped off the books, which is a win for them. They have a good chance to become contributing members of society, which is a win for everybody.

The requirements and accountability in the program are so tough that some defendants actually prefer to take their chances with jail rather than attempt to "make the grade."

The New York program has achieved some truly impressive results:

• According to the district attorney's office there, the 406 offenders who have completed the program have produced $14.6 million in savings for taxpayers. That represents reduced corrections, welfare and healthcare costs and taxes the successful candidates paid as productive citizens.
• People who successfully completed the program were much less likely to be re-arrested than folks who did regular prison time. Forty-seven percent of those given regular prison sentences were re-arrested during a three-year follow-up period. Only 23 percent of those who completed the alternative program were arrested again.
• The program helps dramatically to move folks off welfare rolls and into productive jobs. At the time of their arrest, only 26 percent of the employable graduates were working. But after those folks completed the program, 92 percent were holding down jobs.

Once again, these alternatives are NOT for all offenders. Sadly, many drug offenders simply lack the motivation, determination or sheer will to turn their lives around. Jail is the only way to protect society from this class of criminals. But it makes no sense not to help those who can be helped and who - most importantly - want to help themselves.

When folks take themselves out of a life of crime, welfare dependency and jail and become productive, taxpaying citizens, they win, society wins and we are all better off.