In early 1986, the D.C. Department of Corrections completed a study indicating the need for a coed, 800-bed intensive treatment facility offering programs in reception and diagnostic care, substance abuse, and mental health for persons entering and leaving the correctional system. Congressional intervention, court actions, and community opposition delayed construction for three years. To counter community opposition, the Department of Corrections and other D.C. government agencies created an advisory committee to address concerns associated with the CTF. Involvement with the community has proved beneficial and has balanced citizen concerns with the need to deal with the impact of drugs and crime. The substance abuse segment of the CTF is currently being tested through a pilot substance abuse treatment at the Department of Corrections' Lorton complex. The key to this program is a cognitive and behavioral treatment model that focuses on criminality and substance abuse, aggression and anger, education and functional literacy, vocational and career development, leisure, skills development, the establishment of family/community networks, and psychosocial functioning. The CTF's mental health component is also being tested and improved. Inmate services, the physical plant, the aftercare component, and staffing of the CTF are described. 7 references