NCJ Number
138637
Date Published
1992
Length
14 pages
Annotation
This paper examines TASC (Treatment Alternatives to Street Crime) and parole from a historical perspective and discusses the benefits of managing the drug-involved offender through the development of a partnership between TASC and parole.
Abstract
Originally, TASC programs operated as diversion programs for nonviolent opiate users. The key elements of TASC were to identify the opiate-using defendant through drug testing and jail interviews, refer and escort the identified defendant to the appropriate treatment modality, and monitor the defendant through treatment. Data from a 1988 study (Tyon) indicate that TASC continues to identify and refer to treatment drug-involved offenders who have never received treatment. TASC and community corrections, including parole, share a common infrastructure that enables each to complement and improve the other. TASC and community corrections have the common goal of offender management; TASC's specific goal is drug-offender management. Together, TASC and community corrections can move the offender through the components that define the criminal justice system. These components include the alleviation of such pressures as court and prison crowding; ensurance of drug offender identification, assessment, and monitoring that includes swift and certain sanctions; and maintenance of unbroken communication with other participants in the criminal justice system. Benefits of a TASC/parole partnership include preparole screening for drug abuse and related behaviors, improved service delivery, a structure for compulsory drug treatment, and the alleviation of prison crowding while providing means to promote public safety. 2 tables and 35 references