I first entered the criminal justice system as a young adult. I grew up with complex trauma but without resources to process it, so I turned to substances to cope. This led to years of cycling in and out of jail, worsened by abusive relationships. My relationships with my children suffered, and the support I needed to leave the system for good felt entirely out of reach.
In 2020, I hit rock bottom. Facing a possible 25-year prison sentence, I was offered an alternative: the Alcoholism Center for Women. Through six months of in-patient care and 12 months of outpatient services, I dealt with the PTSD and depression that had driven my cycle of incarceration and began to heal. I overcame my addiction, mended my relationships with my family, and now have a fulfilling career in homelessness services.
For those of us who struggle with addiction, it’s clear that treatment—not prison—offers the only real chance at recovery. Supportive programs changed my life and thousands of others. Yet this November, Californians will be asked to cut their funding.
Prop 36 is a ballot initiative that claims to make our communities safer by instituting longer prison terms for low-level non-violent crimes. In reality, it would remove $100 million in funding from successful programs that actually invest in our communities—like drug treatment, transitional housing, K-12 violence prevention programs and even victim services. More than 90% of programs at risk offer drug treatment.
In 2022, California’s Department of Health found that nearly one in 10 Californians has a substance use disorder. It also found that 70% of the state’s 58 counties reported urgently needing residential drug treatment services, the type of program I participated in. Despite this pressing need, 22 counties didn’t have a single residential treatment facility
Prop 36 won’t build out these services. If it passes, money that currently funds these critical resources will instead be used to incarcerate more people for longer—costing taxpayers $5 billion on top of the $27 billion California already spends on incarceration each year. This will likely lead to a rise in overdoses and homelessness when people like me can no longer find resources to overcome addiction, secure housing, and find stable employment.
Rather than address the underlying trauma and addiction that fuel destructive behaviors, incarceration often made things worse for me. Research bears this out: people leaving jail or prison today are many times more likely to overdose than if they had never been incarcerated. Meanwhile, people who are connected with housing and supportive services have lower rates of substance use.
In Los Angeles County, the programs at risk are urgently needed and very effective: they include Project imPACT, which provides employment, behavioral health, and legal services to formerly incarcerated men of color at high risk for reoffending. The results speak for themselves: 92% of participants have avoided new convictions, 52% found employment, and 86% exited the program with stable housing.
Another success story at risk is El Rancho Unified School District’s program that works to disrupt the school-to-prison pipeline. Since the school district began offering skills training, mental health services and substance use disorder treatment, arrests and citations have decreased by 89% and there has been a 40% decrease in the number of guns in school.
If we want safer, healthier communities, we need more investment in these programs, reentry services, affordable housing and job training—not less.
Had I been sent to prison four years ago—instead of receiving the care I desperately needed, I would still be stuck in the same destructive cycle. I want all Californians to have the same care and opportunity I received. It’s critical that we vote against Prop 36 to protect essential treatment programs and prioritize care over incarceration. That’s the path forward for our communities, our families and our future.
Robyn Williams is a community organizer with Dignity and Power Now.
