Residential Substance Abuse Treatment (RSAT) in Jail: Comparison of Six Sites in Virginia

• NCJ Number: 182858
• Author(s): Faye S. Taxman Ph.D.; Jeffrey A. Bouffard Ph.D.
• Date Published: May 2000
• Length: 152 pages
• Grant Number(s): 98-RT-VX-K001
• Agencies: NIJ-Sponsored
• Publication Type: Program/Project Evaluation

Annotation

This report compares residential substance abuse treatment in jail at six sites in Virginia.

Abstract

In 1994, the Crime Control Act authorized Residential Substance Abuse Treatment (RSAT) block grants to expand the availability of substance abuse therapeutic community (TC) programs in prison. The State of Virginia elected to use their RSAT block grant funds to expand or to establish therapeutic communities within the jail or regional jail environment because the State already had one of the largest therapeutic community prisons in the world. The State selected six jails to expand treatment services and provided the first national test of applying RSAT conditions within the context of a jail environment. The process evaluation examined implementation of the RSAT program in each site by observing the TC program in the jail; conducting structured interviews with treatment, correctional and administrative staff members; and tracking client progress through both the treatment and criminal justice systems. The evaluation provides the opportunity to understand how the jail-based RSAT-TC program was implemented in jail settings, to understand the nature of the substance abuse services offered and how the programs address inmates' cognitive, behavioral, social and vocational development. Tables, notes, references, appendixes