Second Chance Program

The Second Chance Program is a controversial detoxification and rehabilitation program based on the ideas of L. Ron Hubbard, the founder of the Church of Scientology. It focuses on individuals convicted of substance abuse offenses. The program utilizes a combination of saunas, vitamins, minerals and oils to tackle the effects of drug addiction. Other elements of the program aim to improve the educational and social abilities of inmates, and to instil a moral code for them to live by. First established in Baja California in 1995, it has attracted controversy over its methods and claimed success rates.

The program was proposed – but was rejected – for prisons in the states of Arizona, Nevada and New York. Between 1995 and 2009 it operated in prisons in the Mexican cities of Tijuana and Ensenada and in Albuquerque, New Mexico in the United States. Its Mexican operations were closed down after it lost government funding. Its only US operation was terminated in January 2009 by the Mayor of Albuquerque. By that time it had received more than $1.5 million in public funding, but on closing it left debts of over $672,000 to the federal, state and city governments.

Scientology's relationship with the Second Chance organization has been a particular focus of contention, as the program uses many elements of Hubbard's doctrines that originated in, and are still used by, the Church of Scientology. The involvement of Nevada Assembly member Sharron Angle with Second Chance was a significant issue in the 2010 United States Senate elections.

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