Pasco County's treatment court program continues to produce reformed drug abusers.
Roughly 30 defendants have graduated from the program in the past six months, and a ceremony was held in their honor Tuesday in Land O' Lakes.
"We've been really successful," said Circuit Judge Linda Babb, who presides over treatment court. "We've saved the county and state a lot of money, and we're keeping people out of jail and in the work force."
The program, instituted in Pasco in January 2007, has graduated 166 defendants, according to the court system. A federal grant means the program will continue in Pasco through 2014.
Treatment court provides help to low-level drug offenders through a combination of counseling, probation and court appearances. There are 220 defendants in the program.
Court figures put the recidivism rate for Pasco graduates at 8 percent since the program's inception and show the program has an 85 percent retention rate.
All of the participants have held a job at the time of graduation, and more than 75 percent of participants without a high school diploma earned one while in the program.
The court system estimates the program saves taxpayers about $1.5 million a year.
The estimate takes into account the relatively inexpensive cost of treatment compared with the higher cost of housing defendants in the county jail for the minimum sentence of 180 days.
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