Elements of an Effective Substance Abuse Treatment Model for Offenders

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Correctional Service of Canada

• Elements of an Effective Substance Abuse
  Treatment Model for Offenders
• Part 5 Adjunctive Services
• Presentation to Caribbean CICAD members
• St. Lucia
• November, 2004

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Adjunctive Services

• As discussed previously, offenders typically have
  multiple need areas
• Model adopted by the Correctional Service of
  Canada is to address these multiple needs through
  multiple interventions and programs
• Intake assessment determines need areas and
  assists in prioritizing interventions

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Step 1 Needs Assessment

• First step in determining most appropriate
  adjunctive services is a needs assessment of the
  target population

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Profile Canadian Federal Offenders

• Education Deficits - 70 of offenders test below
  grade 8 (CAAT)
• Employment Problems - 74 have unstable job
  histories. 69 are unemployed at arrest
• Decision Making Problems - 80 are poor problem
  solvers. Many have difficulties managing money
• Mental Health Problems - 20 have been
  hospitalized in a mental health facility. 11
  have a current psychiatric diagnosis

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Infectious Diseases (2003)
Federal Prison vs. General Population in Canada
CSC Canada
HIV 1.9 (N227) 0.2
HCV 26 (N3167) 0.9
In CSC prisons, the prevalence of HIV is 7 to
10 times higher Hepatitis C is 30 times higher
than the general Canadian population
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Step 2 Assessment of Needs

• Once need areas are identified in the population,
  important to have mechanism to assess and
  prioritize those needs

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Needs Assessment CSCOffender Intake
AssessmentProcess

• Timing - during offender intake
• Includes
• a complete profile of the offenders criminal
  and social history
• Rating of static factors related to criminal
  re-offending
• Prioritized listing of dynamic factors related to
  reducing risk of re-offending
• Sentence-wide Correctional Plan
• Security classification and initial placement
  recommendation

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Offender Intake AssessmentSupplementary
Assessments (as required)

• Psychological assessments
• Substance Abuse assessments
• Educational and vocational assessments
• Family violence assessments
• Sex offender assessments
• Assessment for Methadone Maintenance Treatment

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Step 3 Planning Services

• Need to determine how to deliver adjunctive
  services
• Establishment of in-house services or
  engagement of community resources

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Examples of Adjunctive Services

• Drug-Free living environments
• Gender-specific services
• HIV/AIDS testing and education
• Life skills development
• Academic development
• Employment skills

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Drug-Free Living Environments

• Main goal to provide a positive living
  environment for offenders who wish to remain free
  of alcohol and drugs and to support and reinforce
  offender efforts to change substance abuse
  behaviour
• Different models for implementation program vs.
  living environment

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Correctional Service of Canada Intensive Support
Units (ISUs)

• Drug-free living environment
• Voluntary - offenders sign contract
• Access available to both offenders who have
  substance abuse problems as well as those who do
  not
• Automatic removal for violation of Units
  drug-free policy. Offenders can apply for
  re-entry after 30 day period
• NOT a program - encourages offenders to
  participate in programs identified in their
  Correctional Plan
• Access to Unit by non-residents can be controlled
  and monitored
• Additional security controls to monitor adherence
  to drug-free unit rules

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Intensive Support Units (ISUs)

• Initiative began with 5 pilot sites in February,
  2000
• Currently have approximately 1,300 ISU beds
  nationally in 47 institutions
• Preliminary research has yielded positive results
  on the impact of the ISU

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Gender-Specific Services

• Responsivity factor women offenders have some
  unique needs in terms of services required
• In CSC, have a separate stream of programs for
  women (e.g., Women Offender Substance Abuse
  Program (WOSAP)
• Not feasible in jurisdictions where the number of
  women offenders is extremely low

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HIV/AIDS Testing and Education

• Testing for infectious diseases legislative
  restrictions
• In CSC, have voluntary testing program for
  offenders
• Also pilot with public health for anonymous
  testing

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HIV/AIDS Testing and Education (cont.)

• Methods of Education
• Awareness programs
• Pamphlets, brochures
• Peer education counselling

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Life Skills Development

• Can include programming in such areas as problem
  solving, anger and emotions management, leisure
  skills, parenting skills, and skills for
  functioning in the community (e.g., money
  management)

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Education Programs

• In CSC the following education programs are
  available at all institutions
• Adult Basic Education (Grades 1 to 10)
• Secondary Education
• Vocational Education
• Post-Secondary Education

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Vocational Education - Examples

• Agriculture
• Welding and metal trades
• Hairdressing
• Small engine repair
• Auto mechanics
• Electronics
• Carpentry and cabinet-making
• Plumbing
• Computer programming

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Employability Programs

• on-the-job training, usually with some kind of
  certification provided
• Employment and career planning programs problem
  solving, critical thinking, punctuality,
  interacting with coworkers, dealing with
  authourity figures

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• Questions and Comments