The Bureau of Programs and Quality is responsible for policy and program development, bidding and contracting, contract monitoring, and data collection of the following intermediate sanction, community-based offender programs: long-term residential drug beds, non-secure residential drug beds, diversion center programs, and contracted jail beds. The bureau is also responsible for the following features of community-based offender programs: psychological services, education, employment, specialized sex offender, youthful offender, outpatient substance abuse, and electronic monitoring. The bureau also has responsibility for certification and monitoring of batterers' intervention programs for domestic violence. The bureau focuses on quality assurance and improvement and completes program reports.

Accomplishments in 1996-97:

• More than 26,000 offenders were treated in outpatient substance abuse programs and of these, 47 percent completed the programs successfully. This was a 10 percent increase in the number of offenders who received treatment services from the previous year. Of those offenders entering outpatient substance abuse treatment between July 1993 and June 1995, 68 percent had no further penetration into the criminal justice system after two years.

• Over 6,800 offenders received psychological services during FY 96-97. This is a 202 percent increase over the number of offenders who received psychological services during FY 95-96. The legislative funding of mental health treatment and psychological services has been one of the most important new developments.

• During FY 96-97 the Nonsecure Treatment Program (NTP) admitted almost 5,000 offenders and the Secure (long-term) Program admitted almost 1,200 offenders. This was approximately a 15 percent increase in the number of offenders admitted in the previous fiscal year. The successful completion rate improved to 58 percent for the nonsecure program from a low of 51 percent in FY 94-95. The overall recommitment to prison for all offenders who graduated from the NTP between September 1991 to June 1997 is 14.8 percent. Of the 6,374 offenders who graduated, only 945 have been committed to prison. Of the 12,422 offenders who were court-ordered into the program, only 22.1 percent (2,757 offenders) have gone on to enter prison. The NTP's successful completion rate and low recommitment rate far exceed national averages for similar programs.

• One of the most important features of funding community-based programs for the offender population is that drug admissions to Florida prisons have decreased from over 16,000 in fiscal year 89-90 to below 5,000 inmates in FY 96-97. The percentage of inmates entering prison with a primary offense category of drugs was 36.1 percent in FY 89-90 and has decreased to 22.6 percent this last fiscal year.

• The department's probation staff conducted over 355,000 drug tests during FY 96-97 and the positive test rate among offenders was 12 percent. The positive drug test rate has dropped consistently from 33 percent in FY 88-89 at the program's inception.

• The Office of Certification and Monitoring of Batterers Intervention Programs certified over 50 programs and 100 assessors in 17 of the 20 judicial circuits during the first year of operation.