NCJ Number
178179
Journal
Substance Use and Misuse Volume: 34 Issue: 6 Dated: 1999 Pages: 887-906
Date Published
1999
Length
20 pages
Annotation
This article describes IMPACT (Intensive Multi-phased Program of Assessment and Comprehensive Treatment) and summarizes the results of a process and outcome evaluation of the program, along with a series of focus groups; ways to improve the design and implementation of jail drug-user treatment programs are recommended.
Abstract
IMPACT was a Federal demonstration project in the Cook County Jail (Illinois) that provided drug treatment to more than 3,000 inmates during its 5 years of operation between January 1991 and October 1995. IMPACT was designed as a therapeutic community (TC), with several modifications to accommodate the provision of services within a jail. The primary modifications to IMPACT included the provision of services for each programming phase in different jail dormitories and a shorter planned duration than has been typical for community and prison-based TCs. The process evaluation was conducted during the second year of IMPACT's operations. The research team collected program data for 1 year. This evaluation showed that the program was providing an extensive array of services to a large number of inmates; however, the evaluation also identified several logistical problems that had not been anticipated in program planning. One of the most serious issues was the flow of clients through each of the program's phases. The retrospective outcome evaluation conducted in the project's third year examined whether the program reduced participants' recidivism as measured by their rearrest rates. The retrospective nature of the outcome study and programmatic issues prevented the inclusion of a no-treatment control group and random assignment to treatment. Researchers opted for a quasi experimental design that subdivided 453 subjects into four groups defined by the length of time they had remained in the program. Participants who remained in IMPACT for between 91 and 150 days had 1-year rearrest rates of only 35 percent, compared with a rearrest rate of about 58 percent for those who stayed in the program for fewer than 30 days. Recommendations pertain to planning for client flow, having a set minimum duration of programming, and coordinating services between the jail and community programs. 3 figures, 2 tables, and 17 references