ALBANY — New York officials have sent cancellation notices to 28 contractors providing drug treatment programs for parolees, a budget-cutting measure that treatment advocates say will result in higher recidivism rates and prison expenses.

The cancellation notices sent last month are effective Dec. 1, Heather Groll, spokeswoman for the state Division of Parole, said Thursday. Some services and state funding are shifting to the Office of Alcoholism and Substance Abuse Services, and some Medicaid funding is also anticipated, she said.

“This decision was made after careful consideration and with the belief that individuals who currently receive these services will continue to receive them, with little or no disruption at their current location or from a new provider,” Groll said. “The public can be assured that those needing substance abuse services will get them.”

John Coppola, executive director of the New York Association of Alcoholism and Substance Abuse Providers, said that the terminations affecting 2,700 parolees are expected to cut $8.14 million from the program, with only about $2 million shifted to OASAS despite one study that shows re-arrests triple without drug treatment.

“My understanding is there was a small shift of resources from parole to Alcohol and Substance Abuse Services ... so they can figure out, of these 2,700 people, who can continue to get services,” Coppola said. “Some number of these folks are going to relapse.”

One typical program for parolees lasts six months, includes a group and an individual meeting weekly, drug testing four times a month and vocational, psychological and social services, providers said.

The Treatment Research Institute at the University of Pennsylvania said re-arrest rates drop from 75 percent to 27 percent with chemical dependence treatment, according to Coppola.

Data through 2004 show that while nearly 40 percent of released inmates are returned to New York prisons within three years, nearly 29 percent go back for technical parole violations such as breaking curfew, getting drunk or using drugs, said John Caher, spokesman for the state Division of Criminal Justice Services. About 11 percent return for new felony violations.

Caher said he was unaware of state data that tracks the overall re-arrest rate for people who go through addiction programs.