Process Evaluation of the Residential Substance Abuse Treatment (RSAT) Programs at New Jersey Correctional Facilities: Final Report

• NCJ Number: 189249
• Author(s): Robert J. McCormack
• Date Published: 2001
• Length: 126 pages
• Grant Number(s): 99-RT-VX-K023
• Agencies: NIJ-Sponsored
• Publication Type: Program/Project Description

Annotation

This document presents three publications related to a process evaluation of inmate drug treatment programs in New Jersey correctional facilities; these publications include a cover letter from the Department of Corrections explaining concerns about the evaluation, a critique of the evaluation, and the evaluation report itself.

Abstract

The process evaluation presents background information on inmate drug treatment and therapeutic communities and the history of the New Jersey program that became known as the Residential Substance Abuse Treatment Program (RSAT). It notes that the evaluation sought to examine the implementation of the program’s assessment and screening process, identify the treatment interventions and program components used to deliver services, and assess the appropriateness of treatment and the extent to which the programs adhered to principles associated with successfully reducing recidivism. The process evaluation tasks were divided between the two principal investigators and their research assistants. The report notes some problems with data analysis due to issues related to the selection of an inmate sample and the content of the corrections agency’s information management system. The analysis concludes that the process evaluation was a limited success, but that it had resulted in an ongoing self-evaluation by the corrections agency of the drug treatment programs. The New Jersey Department of Corrections supplied additional comments to the report concerning the evaluation’s results. A critique presents and then discusses or corrects 12 statements in the report. Footnotes, reference notes, appended instruments, and reference lists