Overcoming Barriers to Implementation of Effective Correctional Drug Treatment Programs

• NCJ Number: 189978
• Journal: Offender Programs Report Volume: 5 Issue: 2 Dated: July/August 2001 Pages: 17,28-30,31
• Author(s): David Farabee; Michael Prendergast; Jerome Cartier; Harry Wexler; Kevin Knight; M. Douglas Anglin
• Date Published: 2001
• Length: 5 pages
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Program/Project Description
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

This article discusses six common barriers to developing effective drug treatment programs in correctional settings and ways to overcome them.

Abstract

The article describes six barriers to developing effective drug treatment programs in correctional settings and suggests strategies that have been effective in overcoming those barriers: (1) Client Identification, Assessment, and Referral (target recruiting efforts at the program's host institution); (2) Recruitment and Training of Treatment Staff (offer sufficient wages to induce counselors to move to treatment site and stay); (3) Redeployment of Correctional Staff (institutionalize stability; professionalize treatment positions for correctional officers); (4) Over-Reliance on Institutional vs Therapeutic Sanctions (remove non-compliant inmates from the program); (5) Aftercare (incorporate efforts to strengthen clients' engagement with the program, including offering external motivators for aftercare participation); and (6) Coercion (increase the number of individual counseling sessions during the first month of treatment). References