NCJ Number
138630
Date Published
1992
Length
11 pages
Annotation
This paper describes the substance abuse programs of Washington State's Division of Juvenile Rehabilitation and the system perspective on the development of such programming. Research findings in the field of juvenile offender substance abuse treatment are discussed; existing service gaps are identified; and recommendations for future direction are proposed.
Abstract
In the Washington program, juvenile justice staff members are designated to perform carious case management and treatment functions. Integrated services mean that individual cottages on institutional campuses have been converted to free-standing, inpatient chemical dependency programs; specialist staff personnel were hired and assigned to coordinate and provide treatment services to the entire client population; education specific to offender substance abusers was developed and delivered by institutional school programs; assessment or chemical dependency is conducted by juvenile justice diagnostic staff; and onsite drug detection is managed by the Division of Juvenile Rehabilitation. The model incorporates a continuum of services based on client dysfunction level. Service components are applied to each category of abuser, based on assessment, and layered to the next, more dysfunctional level of abuser, from nonuse through chemical dependence. In 5 years of the Washington experience, each change in the State's Juvenile Justice Substance Abuse programs has multiplied the areas of concern and interest on the part of professionals working in these programs. There is the question of the relative value of outpatient treatment in the context of soaring costs for inpatient care. Urinalysis monitoring raises concerns as does the use of other forms of detection in combination with new technologies such as electronic monitoring. Another concern is the provision of culturally relevant services. 21 references