NCJ Number
138636
Date Published
1992
Length
21 pages
Annotation
This paper on the management of the drug-abusing offender discusses trends and obstacles as well as an agenda for action.
Abstract
In a discussion of the working definition of offender case management, this paper notes that offender case management should inform decisions. To do so, it should include a formally disciplined set of continuing steps by which sufficient, relevant information about a particular offenders is collected, analyzed, revised, used, and documented. The most specific contribution of offender management is the identification of the extent and nature of the offender's problem at any specific time, so as to facilitate treatment. Trend analysis indicates that for the next decade, offender management programs will be required to address both the impact of drugs on society and the organizational consequences of various national responses to the impact of drugs on society. Crowding of institutional and community programs is currently the most obvious result of these combined forces. Some systemic problems that currently obstruct effective case management are flawed organization; unclear lines of authority for drug abuse programming and implementation; a lack of shared understanding of the problem; and related circumstantial problems of episodic response, oversell, and "innovation." The agenda for action advises that for the foreseeable future, the most responsible course lies in the use of three available instruments: research and evaluation, technical assistance and training, and management information systems. The value and use of each of these instruments is discussed. 17 references and 18-item bibliography