Women's Alcohol and Drug Program

The Second Chance Act (Pub. L. 110-199) provides a comprehensive response to the increasing number of parents who are incarcerated as well as their families. Research has shown that children may benefit from maintaining healthy relationships with their incarcerated parents. Section 113 of the Second Chance Act authorizes grants to states, units of local government, and Indian tribes to improve the provision of substance abuse treatment within prison and jails and after reentry for inmates who have minor children and also includes outreach to families and provision of treatment and other services to children and other family members of participant inmates. The Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA) will fund eligible applicants to plan, implement, or expand such treatment programs.

The Family-Based Prisoner Substance Abuse Treatment Program enhances the capability of states and tribes to provide substance abuse treatment for incarcerated parents; prepares offenders for their reintegration into the communities from which they came by incorporating reentry planning activities into treatment programs; and assists offenders and their communities through the reentry process through the delivery of community-based treatment and other broad-based aftercare services. Projects will provide prison-based substance abuse treatment and parenting programs for incarcerated parents of minor children, as well as treatment and other services to the participating offenders minor children and family members. Programming must be targeted to inmates with minor children and include services for these inmates, their minor children, and other family members. By law, no less that 5 percent of the funds available for the Family-Based Substance Abuse Treatment Program will be used for grants to Indian Tribes.

Bolivar County Regional Correctional Facility will use grant funds to support its Pre-Release Programs Women's Alcohol and Drug Program. The overall goal of the project is to reduce recidivism among female offenders assigned to the Bolivar County Regional Correctional Facility's Pre-Release Program's Women's A & D Program. The objectives are to: (1) Increase the number of female offenders receiving the evidence-based A & D treatment services within the first three months of assignment to the facility; (2) increase individual female offenders access to A & D counseling services by addressing their full range of treatment needs; (3) increase the number of female offenders whose families are engaged in their treatment, family counseling, and receiving other social services; and (4) increase the number of female offenders engaged in aftercare and follow-up substance abuse services upon reentry to their communities. The funding will allow the existing program to expand its services to better address the treatment needs of the female offenders, provide outreach and engage their families in counseling and other needed services, and provide enhanced aftercare services and linkages to communities upon reentry.

CA/NCF