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PUBLICLY FUNDED SUBSTANCE ABUSE PROGRAMS FOR ADULT OFFENDERS IN WASHINGTON STATE

NCJ Number
144241
Date Published
1992
Length
137 pages
Annotation
Because more than 90,000 offenders were under some form of supervision in the State of Washington's criminal justice system as of July 1991 and a significant number of these offenders were recommended for substance abuse treatment by criminal justice professionals, an assessment of Washington's substance abuse treatment system was conducted to evaluate the demand for and effectiveness of treatment, barriers to treatment, and treatment costs.
Abstract
The assessment found that public funds for substance abuse treatment in the community come directly or indirectly from Washington's Division of Alcohol and Substance Abuse or the Department of Social and Health Services. Community- based treatment includes several types of residential treatment, lasting from 30 to 180 days, and outpatient treatment, lasting 90 days. Prison treatment involves a 91- hour intensive outpatient program, while treatment in State partial confinement is somewhat less intensive. Evidence indicates that drug treatment, particularly methadone maintenance and therapeutic communities, can be effective. Treatment of offenders while in prison has been shown to work if treatment follows the therapeutic community approach. An estimated 465,062 Washington residents are potential clients of substance abuse treatment agencies. About half of all people assessed as needing treatment actually enter treatment; consequently, the demand for offender treatment services is estimated to be between 12,500 and 25,000 clients per year. Washington's publicly funded substance abuse treatment system includes 781 beds for residential treatment, 2,366 slots for outpatient treatment, and prison-based chemical dependency treatment for a capacity of 1,593 inmates per year. The most significant barriers to treatment are too few resources and thus too few treatment slots. Additional barriers include doubts about treatment viability, difficulties in designing and running programs for offenders, and the lack of linkages between treatment and criminal justice systems. The cost of publicly funded treatment costs an average of $25 per day. With an average stay in all treatments of 145 days, the average cost for full treatment is estimated at $3,625. The average cost for each offender entering treatment in prison or State partial confinement in fiscal year 1991 was $660. Implications of providing substance abuse treatment services are discussed primarily in terms of cost-effectiveness. Tables and figures