NCJ Number
146286
Journal
Prison Journal Volume: 73 Issue: 3 and 4 Dated: special issue (September/December 1993) Pages: 332-342
Date Published
1993
Length
11 pages
Annotation
Policy implications are discussed that emanated from an ongoing drug abuse treatment evaluation project concerned with the adjustment of drug-abusing offenders assigned to different treatment and monitoring conditions during their first year on parole.
Abstract
The authors conducted a comparative intervention study of drug-involved parolees designed to evaluate drug abuse treatment outcome over a 1-year postrelease period. Three interventions were assessed: routine parole procedures only, weekly urine monitoring, and weekly urine monitoring plus social support services (counseling and case management). The policy implications were largely derived from project experiences that highlighted administrative and service delivery linkages among corrections, parole, and treatment systems and demonstrated the importance of establishing cooperative agreements and close working relationships. The need for oversight of research planning and implementation is discussed, as well as the impact of characteristics of drug-abusing offenders on policy considerations. In addition, consideration is given to the importance of maintaining service linkages, identifying drug abusers within the correctional system, matching clients to treatment, standardizing disciplinary procedures, and examining process and outcome information from the counselor's perspective. 27 references