FY24 Residential Substance Abuse Treatment for State Prisoners Program.

An estimated 84% of males and 93% of females incarcerated in Connecticut have been assessed as needing substance use treatment, with the majority using alcohol, and more than a third using opiates. The Connecticut Department of Correction’s (CT DOC) BJA Residential Substance Abuse Treatment (RSAT) Program will target male and female offenders, 18 years of age and older, diagnosed with alcohol and opiate use disorders over a 12-month project period.

The goal of the RSAT program is to maintain and enhance the State correctional system’s capabilities for jails and prisons to provide residential substance abuse treatment services, moving Connecticut closer to the overarching goal of RSAT: breaking the cycle of drug use and violence by reducing the demand for, use of, overdoses from, and trafficking of illegal drugs.

The 2024 RSAT goals and objectives include supporting the CT DOC Addiction Treatment Unit’s (ATU) pre- and post-release voluntary use of Medications for Opioid Use Disorders (MOUD) administered by community treatment providers to incarcerated individuals diagnosed with alcohol and/or opioid use disorders. The program also aims to prepare individuals for reintegration into communities statewide through the provision of aftercare, case management, and reentry services. Additionally, it will promote recovery coaching to aid rehabilitation and overdose prevention by offering Therapeutic Treatment Recovery Coaching across facilities and increasing Peer Recovery support with CT DOC Parole and Community Services halfway house providers and those offenders remanded to the Cognitive Behavioral Treatment (CBT) Time Out Program (TOP). Finally, the program will develop knowledge through professional development for addiction counselors to maintain certification to deliver treatment services, educate addiction services staff on opioid use and combatting overdoses, and ensure program and treatment fidelity through evaluation.

The project strategy includes funding contracts with one or more qualified community providers to deliver aftercare, case management, and reentry services, as well as to provide recovery coaching. Staff training and evaluation will also be conducted, funds permitting.

The Office of Policy & Management (OPM) will sub-award RSAT and non-federal matching funds to CT DOC for program implementation, which will be overseen by the Deputy Warden for Addiction Services/RSAT Project Director.

Major deliverables include providing aftercare services with case management for a minimum of 50 men and women, offering Recovery Coaching within prison therapeutic communities for a minimum of 100 men and women, and ensuring that Recovery Support Specialists serve a minimum of 50 Time Out Program (TOP) participants and 50 CT DOC halfway house supervised offenders in Central Connecticut. Additionally, CT DOC Addiction Treatment Unit staff will maintain certification and attend professional development for Continuing Education Unit (CEU) credits. The program also aims to reduce overdose and recidivism rates.