Kentucky's Family Based Substance Abuse Treatment 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.

The Kentucky Department of Corrections (DOC), in collaboration with the Department of Behavioral Health, Developmental and Intellectual Disabilities, will use the grant funds to establish a Family-based Substance Abuse Treatment program for male offenders housed at a LaGrange area facility. The project will target higher-risk offenders who have been dually diagnosed with serious mental health disorders and alcohol or substance additions using validated assessment tools. The project will work closely with community-based organizations to provide aftercare services upon release from prison. The community-based organizations will be chosen through a competitive bid process according to Kentucky procurement restrictions and will meet the mandatory treatment requirements, including meeting appropriate licensing, accreditation, and certification standards. The Kentucky DOC is actively implementing use of the Level of Service-Case Management Inventory (LS/CMI) for the prison population. This actuarial-based risk and needs assessment tool provides the ability to develop a dynamic case management plan for offenders that begins at incarceration and continues throughout parole supervision. The case plan enables the offender, caseworker, and treatment team, to establish goals that address the needs identified during the assessment. These goals may include the following: developing a realistic housing plan, submission of federal/state benefits application, active referrals for community resources, employment, and placement in treatment services in the community.

CA/NCF