NCJ Number
112620
Journal
American Jails Volume: 2 Issue: 2 Dated: (Summer 1988) Pages: 35-36,39-40
Date Published
1988
Length
4 pages
Annotation
The Amity Jail Project, in Pima County, Ariz., is a cooperative effort between the Sheriff's Department and a private drug treatment agency for inmates in a direct supervision jail.
Abstract
The project was funded by the Bureau of Justice Assistance in 1987. Cross-training and program coordinators from both agencies provide channels for interdisciplinary communication and enhance working relationships. The project provides services for up to 50 inmates serving sentences of over 45 days. The project includes physical inspections, work teams, aftercare and referral systems, and communication with probation officers and other criminal justice officials. The program curriculum is extensive, including videotaped feedback of inmates' behaviors, encounter groups, educational videos, weekly support groups and monthly meetings with family members outside the facility, seminars, parenting skills training, workshops on addiction-related problems, acquired immunodeficiency syndrome education, encounter groups, denial reduction, and family dynamics education. Because treatment success is strongly correlated with length of treatment, participants are strongly encouraged to continue treatment through Alcoholics Anonymous, Narcotics Anonymous, and Amity on-the-street groups after release. The project highlights the utility of interdisciplinary approaches to the treatment of substance abuse and its associated recidivism. Photographs.