Both are in need of a significant revamp.

Nearly a third of the Justice Department budget is tied up in the federal penal system, according to the Associated Press, with about half of federal inmates sentenced on drug charges. In addition to the world’s largest prison population, one made up disproportionately of minority men, the cost of broken families is immeasurable.

Rather than locking up these prisoners whose only crime was a chemical dependency on drugs, lawmakers have increasingly – and rightfully – considered alternatives that will help get these people back on their feet again. Success would reduce both the financial burden on taxpayers and societal burden of homes where children are missing one or both parents.

If the prison system is to remain true to its goal of reforming the behavior of these Americans, it needs to encompass the full spectrum of care, not just incarceration. When people become faceless numbers in an endless system, they are far less likely to be rehabilitated – and find themselves at much greater odds to fall back into the lifestyle that originally landed them in prison.