Kentucky Department of Corrections Division of Addictions Services

The Kentucky Department of Corrections (KYDOC) Division of Addiction Services is the largest substance use disorder treatment provider in the Commonwealth of Kentucky. Its mission is to provide evidence-based programming to address substance use disorder, facilitate a positive lifestyle free of illicit substances, recognize the devastation of addiction and its impact on families and communities, promote dignity and respect in the rehabilitative process, collaborate with other KYDOC divisions to ensure continuity of care while promoting public safety, and regulate procedures to accommodate legislative changes and directives. In 2018, the policy governing substance abuse programs (CPP 30.6) was updated to reflect a shift toward recovery-based services in addition to treatment. This update modified a historically punitive approach in addiction services to allow for individualized treatment, clinical discretion, community and family engagement, and continuity of care as mechanisms for successful reentry. The policy change also led to the renaming of the division from the Division of Substance Abuse Programs to the Division of Addiction Services.

KYDOC sponsors substance use disorder treatment programs in ten state-run prison facilities and one program in a private prison facility. Currently, nineteen local facilities offer 29 programs, five of which are proposed to continue receiving RSAT grant funding. Additionally, KYDOC has partnered with fourteen reentry service centers in the community to provide residential treatment programs to individuals under parole or court-ordered supervision; one of these centers will receive continued funding under this proposal. The RSAT program aims to assist offenders in the recovery process by providing treatment to address their substance use disorder and offering ancillary services to support long-term sobriety and recovery upon release, enabling individuals to lead productive lives in the future.

The goals of the RSAT program are to screen local and state inmates housed in detention facilities for substance use disorder, provide evidence-based substance use disorder treatment in a cost-effective manner with mandated case-managed aftercare services, decrease the number of probation/parole revocations and the re-arrest rate related to substance use disorder and the associated criminal behavior, and reduce the number of facility beds occupied by inmates with primarily substance use disorder issues.