Ontario County is looking at a program that would offer treatment for people with substance abuse problems, rather than incarceration at the county jail.
That's as officials there try to address the issue of overcrowding at the county jail in Hopewell, particularly on weekends.
Probation Director for Ontario County, Jeffrey Rougeaux, says they may have found an answer.
He says a program in conjunction with the Finger Lakes Addiction Counseling and Referral Agency, or FLACRA, gives the courts the option to sentence someone to a treatment program, rather than the traditional weekend in jail.
"A weekend in jail they'll just go in and they'll sit and read or do whatever, they don't have to do a whole lot. But here they'll have to sit through actual classes and training and things like that which talk about substance abuse. And hopefully learn something," he said.
Rougeaux says it costs the county $175.00 a day to keep an inmate in the county jail.
But if this alternative to incarceration program can maintain at least 9 people each weekend, the county would start to save money.
Rougeaux says offering treatment for those with substance abuse issues should be far more effective than just locking them up for the weekend.
"Even if they don't want to participate, I think a lot of people know that just sitting there you'll gain something out of the programming than if you didn't attend at all," he said.
The program is set to start April 1.