Today’s Guardian contains a piece in the Response column from a two people who helped set up day centres for offenders as an alternative to prison sentences. Talking about how the programme works in the US, they say:
They are not a “soft option”. Attendance is mandatory and backed up with sanctions; there is routine drug testing; and some of those attending are electronically monitored and subject to curfews. They have reduced demand on prisons by more than seven million cell-nights per annum, saving US taxpayers a third of a …