Treatment of Co-occurring Substance Abuse and Mental Health Disorders for the Sullivan County DOC Reentry 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.

Sullivan County and the Sullivan County New Hampshire Department of Corrections (SCDOC) will use the 2010 Second Chance Reentry Demonstration Program: Targeting Offenders with Co-occurring Substance Abuse and Mental Health Disorders grant in collaboration with the West Central Behavioral Health to provide services to adult offenders who are at high risk for re-offending due to substance abuse and co-occurring mental health disorders.

Based on the assessment of the inmates' length of stay, they will be placed in treatment tracks, which include the provision of evidence-based cognitive behavioral therapy, life skills, training and psycho education for DWI aftercare. A team leader will work with a case manager to provide sustained case management and facilitate the on-going connection to interventions and services for released offenders. The goal of this project is to provide a full continuum of services through the local criminal justice system in order to reduce recidivism. The County will hire three staff (team leader, clinician, and case manager) to develop and implement the model. The project will provide treatment and transitional services for 40 people annually. Goals include a decrease in probation and parole violations by ten percent, increasing the employment rates by 20 percent and have 75 percent of the target population complete the program.

CA/NCF