NCJ Number
225684
Journal
Journal of Teaching in the Addictions Volume: 7 Issue: 2 Dated: 2008 Pages: 123-132
Date Published
2008
Length
10 pages
Annotation
This study discusses Our House, a therapeutic community (TC) program which utilizes inmates as peer mentors.
Abstract
Results show that since the implementation of the peer-driven Our House program, the peer mentors have demonstrated exceptional command of a TC environment and have yielded a post release aftercare attendance of approximately 81 percent. Since its establishment in October 2006, the program has demonstrated an exceptional ability to influence participation in post release continuing care. Faced with staff recruitment and retention difficulties, the California Men’s Colony (San Luis Obispo) implemented a program which utilized long-term sentenced inmates as peer mentors to work alongside primary counselors to lead the prison-based therapeutic community program. Mentoring, a process whereby an older or more experienced person counsels and guides a younger or less experienced person, institutes a system where the mentor becomes a protector, coach, and counselor, using experienced and certified mentors from within the inmate population. The peer mentor facilitated Our House TC treatment pilot project continues to grow through critical self-examination and strategic planning. In times of organizational changes in the in-prison substance abuse treatment systems, provision of cost-effective, professional, and evidence-based treatment is essential. The recent developments and implementation of the Our House TC peer mentoring program for offenders among criminal justice treatment systems may be a solution to some of the barriers to providing and sustaining a successful treatment model. This approach may provide inspiration for the reformative process in the correctional substance abuse treatment system. References