Kentucky's Co-occurring Treatment Project

The Second Chance Act of 2007 (Pub. L. 110-199) provides a comprehensive response to the increasing number of people who are released from prison and jail and returning to communities, including resources to address the myriad needs of these offenders to achieve a successful return to their communities. Section 201 of the Second Chance Act authorizes the Second Chance Act Reentry Demonstration Program Targeting Offenders with Co-occurring Substance Abuse and Mental Health Disorders Program, which is designed to provide treatment and recovery support services to offenders during incarceration and after their return to the community. This section specifically addresses the treatment needs of offenders who have substance abuse disorders and authorizes grants to states, units of local government, territories, and Indian tribes to improve the provision of drug treatment to offenders in prisons, jails, and juvenile facilities during the period of incarceration and through the completion of parole or other court supervision after release into the community.

The term co-occurring disorders (COD) refers to co-occurring substance-related and mental disorders. Clients said to have COD have one or more substance-related disorders as well as one or more mental disorders. At the individual level, COD exist when at least one disorder of each type can be established independent of the other and is not simply a cluster of symptoms resulting from [a single] disorder. Projects will implement or expand offender treatment programs for re-entering offenders with co-occurring substance abuse and mental health disorders. Programs should require urinalysis and/or other proven reliable forms of drug and alcohol testing for program participants, including both periodic and random testing, and for former participants while they remain in the custody, or under community supervision, of the state, local, or tribal government.

The Kentucky Department of Corrections, in collaboration with the Department of Behavioral Health, Developmental and Intellectual Disabilities, propose to establish a Co-occurring Disorder treatment unit for female offenders housed in the state prison system and support an expansion of the Co-occurring Disorder treatment unit for male offenders housed at the Kentucky State Reformatory. The target population will be higher-risk offenders who have been dually diagnosed with serious mental health disorders and alcohol or substance addictions using validated assessment tools. The project will specifically use the Level of Service-Case Management Inventory and other tools specific to the diagnosis and treatment needs. The project will work closely with community-based organizations to provide aftercare services upon release from prison. The community-based organizations will meet the mandatory treatment requirements, including meeting appropriate licensing, accreditation, and certification standards. The Kentucky Department of Corrections will conduct treatment services at their medical and mental health hub facilities for the male and female prison population. The Department will engage the pre-release coordinators at each of these facilities to coordinate services upon release. The entire project will be managed by the Assistant Director of the Division of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services. The key deliverables will be to develop a community-based co-occurring treatment options in the three target areas; increase placement in community services in the three target areas for the target population; and increase integrated care services addressing co-occurring disorders.

CA/NCF