NCJ Number
146285
Journal
Prison Journal Volume: 73 Issue: 3 and 4 Dated: special issue (September/December 1993) Pages: 319-331
Date Published
1993
Length
13 pages
Annotation
This article applies the case management model, successfully used in rehabilitation by social work and mental health professionals, to community-based drug treatment of prison releasees in Delaware.
Abstract
Similiarities between the chronic mentally ill and chronic drug users suggest the potential value of assertive case management in drug abuse treatment. Both populations require treatment and a comprehensive network of continuing support to interrupt the relapse cycle and allow the client to remain in the community. The authors suggest that case management for drug-abusing prison releasees parallels many of the desired supervisory functions of parole and probation. In Delaware, an assertive community treatment (ACT) model of case management was explicitly incorporated into a treatment research demonstration project that targeted prison releasees. The project provided drug treatment and case management in five stages: 1) intake evaluation and assessment, 2) intensive drug treatment, 3) group counseling and life skills planning, 4) relapse prevention, and 5) case management. Preliminary analysis from a 6-month followup of 114 prison releasees provided limited support for the ACT model's effectiveness. The Delaware project helped reduce injection drug use and HIV-risk behaviors for clients under parole supervision. 51 references, 2 notes, and 1 table