Ramsey County's Effective Transitions Program: Serving adults coming out of the correctional facility who are at high-risk, have co-occurring substance use and mental health issues and are homeless.

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 Ramsey County Effective Transitions Program (ETP) is focused on serving adults exiting the Ramsey County Correctional Facility (RCCF) who are at high-risk, have co-occurring substance use and mental health issues, and are otherwise homeless. This population consumes a considerable amount of emergency resources (Detox, jails, shelter) and they continue to cycle through our systems. The Effective Transitions Program (ETP) engages a multi-system team approach that was developed based on review of best practices and active feedback from community providers and participants in our local effort to end homelessness (Heading Home Ramsey). The ETP approach utilizes a licensed chemical dependency and practiced mental health case worker to work directly with participants and their probation officer prior to release. Transition workers (both MI/CD and Employment) will continue to work with participants up to six months after release, to help ensure offenders get connected to the resources they need for long-term stability. Each transition case worker will work with approximately 15 clients at a given time. A total of 120 individuals will be served over the course of this grant.

CA/NCF