2010 RSAT Program

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.

The New Hampshire Department of Justice (NHDOJ) will use the FY 2010 RSAT funds to continue to award subgrants to county and state correctional facilities. The goals of the RSAT program are to reduce recidivism, ensure public safety, and to provide monitoring of participants after they are released. To meet these goals, the NHDOJ will continue the residential and jail-based substance abuse treatment programs with a focus on reduction of the demand for and use of illicit drugs and alcohol upon the participants' re-entry into the community. The RSAT program is based on a Therapeutic Community Program where participants are in a segregated area of the jail. The majority of the subgrantees contract with licensed drug and alcohol counselors and one County jail (Stafford County). In addition, the RSAT grant funds partially support the Adolescent Drug and Alcohol Program ('ADAP') at the Sununu Youth Services Detention Center. The ADAP is a residentially segregated, six to twelve month treatment-focused program and provides individualized counseling, education groups, peer feedback groups, recreation, cognitive restructuring activities, and family sessions, all from a strengths-based/resiliency model.

The NHDOJ will be convening a task force to oversee substance abuse treatment in jails and prison. Members of the task force will include staff at the NH Department of Health & Human Services Bureau of Drug and Alcohol Services ('BDAS'), jail superintendents, corrections officers, licensed drug and alcohol counselors, lawmakers at the county and state levels, and prevention professionals. The coordination will result in major deliverables such as standardizing protocols, streamlining treatment modalities and referrals to aftercare utilizing BDAS' approved list of treatment providers.

NCA/NCF