An intensive monitoring program known as HOPE that has worked well with offenders on probation will be tried on pretrial defendants in Hawaii in a pilot project funded by a $789,950 foundation grant.

"HOPE Probation has shown that swift and certain sanctions can produce dramatic reductions in crime," said Anne Milgram, vice president of criminal justice for the Laura and John Arnold Foundation, the New York nonprofit that recently announced the grant.

"We believe that this approach, which has proven so effective at the back end of the criminal justice system, will produce even greater reductions in crime and costs when used earlier in the process."

Hawaii’s Opportunity Probation with Enforcement program, launched in 2004 by Circuit Judge Steven Alm, includes close supervision and immediate, predictable sanctions for any probation violations. It has been shown to substantially cut those violations, as well as rates of reoffending, drug use and incarceration costs. The model has been replicated at jurisdictions nationwide, but this is the first time it will used with pretrial defendants.

Alm, a former prosecutor, said the goal is to ensure defendants show up in court and get their lives on track without straying further while awaiting trial.

HOPE Pretrial is a collaboration between Hawaii’s Department of Public Safety and the state Judiciary. The grant money will cover staff at Public Safety’s Intake Service Center to supervise and drug-test defendants, a part-time deputy prosecutor and public defender to handle violation hearings, as well as a deputy sheriff to apprehend people. It will also fund drug treatment, both inpatient and outpatient, for those who need it.

"With the intensive monitoring and the fact that they have to face the judge, like the HOPE Probation program, we are hoping this level of supervision will keep them on the straight and narrow," said Ted Sakai, director of public safety. "We are committed to improving public safety and making the most efficient use of taxpayer dollars, and we thank the Laura and John Arnold Foundation for helping us do just that."

The pilot program will enroll 50 pretrial defendants in the first year and may expand to 75 the next year. A starting date has not yet been set.

The effort will focus on people who are already on supervised release but may include some other defendants who can be released from jail with sufficient oversight and services, Sakai said.

"In Hawaii, we keep our pretrial defendants in jail longer than most other jurisdictions," Sakai said. "If we can create services in the community we can structure it better. This would obviously help the correctional system and eventually avoid additional costs. They will be in the community but we believe we still will be protecting public safety because they’ll be monitored so intensely."

Many defendants have drug-related issues. The close supervision, drug testing and threat of sanctions may help them get clean, as it has with HOPE Probation, Alm said.

Treatment will be available for those who need or request it.

"I am not aware of another situation where you have a program that’s going to have drug testing and drug treatment, both inpatient and outpatient, in the pretrial population," Alm said. "I think the potential is huge.

"By intervening early, we have a better chance at getting defendants on the right track more quickly and helping them be productive, law-abiding citizens."