As the economy worsens and budgets are trimmed around the state, officials say some vital public safety programs are now at risk of being cut altogether.

Richard Nance, director of the Utah County Division of Substance Abuse, said state funds are decreasing for programs in the county to fight substance abuse. The state funds 30 percent of the programs and the Legislature has already cut funding to substance abuse programs by 14.8 percent. So far, the health department has been able to hold onto all of its services, but a portion of the On-Unit Treatment program for drug abusers in the county jail was the first casualty of budget cuts.

Nance said the popular program expanded three years ago to include inmates on work diversion. Inmates participate voluntarily or by court order and receive intervention and counseling for criminal thinking and behavior. The Division of Substance Abuse will be able to keep the original OUT program for now, but the expansion to work diversion is finished.

"The funding for that is gone with the downturn in revenue," he said.

Nance said the decision to cut part of the program was not made lightly. However, officials had to decide what could be cut out of the budget, and OUT was the first to go because it is not required by law and it does not have its own funding.

The division's budget will be voted on next Tuesday, and if it is approved Nance said the majority of the OUT program will be kept, as will all other current services. However, Nance said the fate of any program not required by law could be in question when the Legislature convenes in January. If statewide general funds are reduced again, the money may not be available to run the remainder of the OUT program or other services like Drug Court or the Drug Offender Reform Act.

"Everything's up for grabs," Nance said. "It's going to be a really difficult legislative session."

Although data for DORA is limited because it is new, data from the Division of Substance Abuse shows the program saved $3 million in Utah the first year in avoided imprisonment for offenders. It also showed completion rates of parole, probation and substance abuse programs for DORA participants were seven times higher than non-DORA participants. Drug Court has seen similar success, with fewer than 11 percent of participants in Utah County reoffending.

There is no way to predict what services will stay or go. Nance said he does not envy the legislators who must look at services throughout the entire state and decide where money needs to go.

"There's an incredible array of programs they have to look at and prioritize," he said.

If programs used to treat drug abusers are eliminated, Nance said there will be a far-reaching effect. Crimes related to drugs will increase, including juvenile delinquency. Foster care will also increase, as will pressure on the prison and jail systems.

"Substance abuse just ripples through every aspect of the community," he said.

Although people in the OUT program have been arrested and are in jail as they participate, Nance said the program focuses on changing the behaviors the inmates engage in. If the behavior that got a person in jail is reduced, the likelihood of that inmate returning to jail is smaller as well. According to data collected from the Division of Substance Abuse, inmates admitted to the program had an average of eight arrests per person in the 18 months prior to admission in 2005. In the six months after completion, the number dropped to an average of .5 arrests per person and dropped again to .15 in the 12 to 18 months after discharge.

Several additional programs in place to benefit inmates and their families are also at stake. Dean Larsen, Community Oriented Police coordinator for the Sheriff's Office, said the radKIDS course may also lose funding in the future. The program is usually done in schools, but Larsen is the liaison from the Sheriff's Office that promotes the course to schools that do not have it.

RadKIDS is a program that teaches children how to defend themselves from harm, including abductors or drugs and alcohol. The children are taught life skills and that no one has the right to hurt them. They are taught self-esteem, which also helps them to understand why gun safety, seat belts and staying away from drugs are important.

Larsen said the effects of the program are clear. In tests before and after the program, children were asked whether they would tell a trusted adult if another adult had touched them in a way that made them feel uncomfortable and had told them to keep the incident a secret. Before the program, the children answered the question correctly only 15 percent of the time, while after the course the number of correct answers rose by 78 percent.

If the program loses funding, Larsen said schools and other organizations will lose a valuable resource through the Sheriff's Office. While training can be obtained through other sources, Larsen said instructors who watch what the Sheriff's Office does in the program have been more successful.

Utah County Sheriff Jim Tracy said radKIDS is a valuable program for children because it teaches them life skills to cope with problems like bullying and other adverse influences that may encourage them to commit crimes when they are older.

"We're trying to influence their lives in all of those areas that will produce a citizen that is productive," he said.

Tracy said the program is also available inside the jail for inmates and their children. Through the jail course, parents and children are taught life skills to change the cycle of abuse and criminal activity that can be passed on through generations.

"Hopefully we'll see a payoff in future generations of children not following in their parents' footsteps," he said.

Tracy said he does not know whether the radKIDS and OUT programs will be cut from the jail at some point in the future, but they are part of the answer to reduce the number of offenders in the county. All of the programs in question are intended to address substance and physical abuse problems as well as work and education problems. Without addressing what sends people to jail, it is hard to reduce the number who return. "If we have any hope of reducing recidivism, the way to do that is not to lock them up and release them when their sentence is up," he said.