Maryland's RSAT Initiative 2010

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 Maryland Governor's Office of Crime Control & Prevention (GOCCP) will use the FY 2010 RSAT funds to enable the Maryland Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services (DPSCS) to enhance its prison-based residential treatment programs. The DPSCS will use the funds to hire additional staff who will coordinate aftercare and community re-entry services, as well as provide aftercare services for incarcerated offenders who have completed the residential program. The DPSCS RSAT program plans to achieve the following goals: (1) selected substance dependent offenders will successfully transition from institutional treatment to community based treatment; (2) the substance dependent offenders who enter community based substance abuse treatment upon release will remain in treatment until completion of the program; and (3) the offenders will successfully participate in a continuum of substance abuse treatment that prevents drug use and recidivism. To meet these goals, the program will be coordinated at the state and local levels through the State Drug and Alcohol Abuse Council, which is composed of key state cabinet secretaries, judges, legislators, and citizens.

NCA/NCF