NCJ Number
132066
Journal
Federal Probation Volume: 55 Issue: 2 Dated: (June 1991) Pages: 35-41
Date Published
1991
Length
7 pages
Annotation
New initiatives in drug treatment in Federal prisons involve drug education, three treatment levels, and one level of transitional services.
Abstract
Drug education imparts knowledge of how and why persons abuse substances, of the effects of abuse on health and lifestyle, and of drug treatment. The drug-education setting also promotes trust and cohesion in small groups so as to provide motivation for additional treatment. Centralized drug abuse counseling services include individual counseling with a drug abuse treatment specialist or a psychologist, group therapy sessions on drug-related topics, self-help groups, stress-management and personal-development training, and vocational and prerelease planning. Comprehensive drug abuse treatment programs involve unit-based programming, a treatment staff-to-inmate ratio of 1:24, 9 months of participation and a minimum of 500 program hours, individualized treatment plans based on a comprehensive assessment, between 3 and 4 hours of drug treatment programming per day, 100 hours of wellness lifestyle training, 40 hours of transitional living issues, team reviews every 90 days, and increased frequency of random urinalysis surveillance. Pilot drug abuse treatment programs are similar to the comprehensive programs but with a treatment staff-to-inmate ratio of 1:12, a program length of 12 months, 1,000 hours of treatment, and extended participation in outcome studies. Transitional services for community re-entry consist of individual and group counseling, assistance and counseling in the various adjustment areas, and random urinalysis with decreasing frequency over 12 months. 24 references