Reviewing the "TASC" (Treatment Alternatives to Street Crime) Experience

• NCJ Number: 139405
• Journal: Journal of Crime and Justice Volume: 15 Issue: 1 Dated: (1992) Pages: 45-62
• Author(s): J A Inciardi; D C McBride
• Date Published: 1992
• Length: 18 pages
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Program Description (Model)
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

This article discusses the roots of the Treatment Alternatives to Street Crime (TASC) program, the empirical and theoretical foundations of TASC, the current structure of TASC, TASC evaluations, and the future of TASC.

Abstract

The TASC program provides an effective bridge between the criminal justice system and the drug-treatment enterprise. The justice system's legal sanctions reflect concerns for public safety and punishment, whereas treatment emphasizes therapeutic intervention as a means of altering drug-taking and drug-seeking behaviors. TASC identifies, assesses, and refers drug-using offenders to community treatment services as an alternative or supplement to justice system sanctions and procedures. In the more than 100 jurisdictions where TASC currently operates, it is a court diversion mechanism or a supplement to probation supervision. After referral to community-based treatment, TASC monitors the client's progress and compliance, including expectations for abstinence, employment, and improved personal and social functioning. It then reports treatment results back to the referring agency of the justice system. Clients who violate the conditions of their criminal justice disposition (diversion, deferred sentencing, pretrial intervention, or probation), their TASC contract, or their treatment agreement are typically returned to the justice system for processing or for sanctions. Evaluations of local programs have found that the majority effectively link criminal justice and treatment systems, identify previously untreated drug-using offenders, and intervene with clients to reduce drug abuse and criminal activity. TASC will likely expand in the 1990's, primarily because it has been recognized by the National Institute on Drug Abuse, the Office of Treatment Improvement, and the Office of National Drug Control Policy as a viable program for reducing drug use and related crime. 50 references