2010 Pennsylvania RSAT

The Residential Substance Abuse Treatment (RSAT) for State Prisoners Program assists states and local governments to develop and implement substance abuse treatment programs in state and local correctional and detention facilities and to create and maintain community-based aftercare services for offenders. The goal of the RSAT Program is to break the cycle of drugs and violence by reducing the demand for, use, and trafficking of illegal drugs. RSAT enhances the capability of states and units of local government to provide residential substance abuse treatment for incarcerated inmates; 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. RSAT funds may be used to implement three types of programs: residential, jail-based, and aftercare. At least 10 percent of the total state allocation for FY 2010 shall be made available to local correctional and detention facilities'provided such facilities exist'for either residential substance abuse treatment programs or jail-based substance abuse treatment programs.

Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency (PCCD) will use the FY 2010 RSAT funds to implement the Pennsylvania 2010 RSAT project. Under the funds, PCCD will create and maintain community-based aftercare services for offenders with substance abuse histories while still in state correctional custody. The County Jail Community Reentry Camps (CJCRCs) will be located in select regions of Pennsylvania and will provide linkages among three vital stages of inmate treatment: (1) Prison-based programming, specifically participation in therapeutic communities which focus on alcohol and drug treatment; (2) outpatient treatment in county jail settings; and (3) aftercare services patterned after the reentry court model. A site coordinator for each location will lead a multi-agency team of service providers and criminal justice professionals to provide substance abuse services for reentry camp offenders. Substance abuse treatment funds will be allocated to each site. The goals of the CJCRCs will be: (1) to enhance community reintegration for offenders who are assessed as being at a moderate-to-high risk of committing future acts of violence by providing comprehensive, evidence-based reentry services to include substance abuse treatment, within the community in which the offender will ultimately return to; (2) to enhance/balance the need for public safety by transitioning offenders disposed to violence through a secure reentry setting, and; (3) to provide immediate relief to the state prison population in a cost-effective manner by housing a large segment of the target population who are approaching their release date in a county jail setting. PCCD will continue to coordinate with state Department of Corrections, PA Board of Probation and Parole, and county jail administrators to ensure the best utilization of RSAT funds.

NCA/NCF