Junkies know that “jails, institutions, and death” are the only exits for the practicing addict. Delancey Street shows them other options to fill half that glass with while they’re digging out of the deviant junk culture.

There are other ways to do it too.

The book may be simplistic, grandiose in its intentions and short on a well mapped out implementation scheme, but what it does do is drive a stake in the ground regarding a truly ethical, humanitarian justice system.

Which I first heard about in this Fast Company article “Change or Die”
http://www.fastcompany.com/articles/2007/01/change-or-die.html

[he just released a new book of the same title that has more details about Delancey]

Key points: “in a dept. of justice study in 2024, they found that 30 percent of former inmates were rearrested within six months, and 67.5 percent of them were rearrested within three years. Most of the repeat offenders were felons. Psychologists and criminologists have come to share the belief that most criminals can’t change their lives. ”

and…

“After staying at Delancey for four years, most of the residents “graduate” and go out on their own into the greater society. Nearly 60 percent of the people who enter the program make it through and sustain productive lives on the outside. While the criminal justice system watches more than six out of ten convicts return to crime, Delancey turns nearly as many into lawful citizens. How, exactly? What’s the psychology behind transforming the most hopeless 1 percent of society, the ones who experts believe are incapable of change?”

The I’m-greatly-oversimplifying-here conclusion of Delancey (and the book) is that it’s about a specific combination of hope and practice.
[hate to say it Frank, but there's a bit of half-glass-full in there, but with a twist you might like...]