FY 2010 Residential Substance Abuse Treatment (RSAT) for State Prisoners 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 State of Alaska will use the FY 2010 RSAT funds to provide support for three Alaska Department of Corrections' RSAT therapeutic community programs: (1) the women's thirty-two bed program at the Hiland Mountain Correctional Center in Eagle River; (2) the forty-two bed program for male offenders at the Wildwood Correctional Center located in Kenai; and (3) another 32-bed program for males at Hudson, Colorado, which is run by the Cornell Management Co. The continuing goal of Alaska's Residential Substance Abuse Treatment (RSAT) program is to break the cycle of drug use and violence by using the therapeutic community model as an approach to treating the most seriously addicted incarcerated inmates.

The RSAT treatment components will include assessment, individualized treatment planning, individual and group counseling, and urinalysis screenings. The programs will continue to consist of three phases: (1) education/orientation; (2) treatment; and (3) transition care. Time spent in each phase may vary for each individual and will be based on individual progress and treatment plan. The education phase will provide the inmate with a comprehensive clinical assessment as well as substance abuse education and an orientation to the therapeutic community process. For all participants, the transition phase will prepare the inmate for the reintegration into his or her home community with aftercare referrals for treatment and support systems, safe housing, and other community connections and referrals. For female and male inmates, and whenever possible following treatment, furlough will be made to a halfway house where other graduates of the RSAT program reside. The graduates will support each other during recovery, thus increasing the probability of continued success. It is expected that the RSAT program will disrupt the cycle of addiction and recidivism for those inmates who have failed in less intensive treatment modalities.

NCA/NCF