ISAP Research Projects
Name of Project: CDC Prison Treatment Expansion
Project: Program Evaluations and Research Studies (2,000-Bed Treatment
Expansion)
Principal Investigator: Michael Prendergast,
Ph. D.
Project Directors: William Burdon, Ph.D., and
Nena Messina, Ph.D.
Funding Agency: State of California Department
of Corrections
Funding Period: May 1999-April 2004
Scope of Project: Currently, the California Department
of Corrections (CDC) operates 34 therapeutic community (TC) substance
abuse programs (SAPs) for prisoners in 17 state prisons. These
programs provide treatment to male and female substance-abusing
inmates at all levels of security using the therapeutic community
model of treatment during the last 6-24 months of incarceration,
followed by up to 6 months of treatment during parole in community-based
treatment programs. Under two contracts with CDC, ISAP is conducting
evaluations of 15 of these programs located in 9 prisons. The
1,000-bed evaluation study commenced in 1998. The 2,000-bed evaluation
study commenced in 1999. As of July 1, 2003, our database contained
14,869 treatment participants (7,383 men and 7,486 women). In
addition, information on participation in community treatment
following release to parole has been collected on 5,084 parolees
(2,688 men and 2,396 women). These evaluations address a number
of questions regarding the TC SAPs and their effects on the participants,
including (1) How were the in-prison and community-based treatment
components planned, developed, and implemented? (2) What problems
were encountered and how were they addressed? (3) To what extent
do activities and services achieve the goals and objectives of
each of the providers and CDC? (4) How were inmates selected and
assessed for assignment to the programs? (5) What are the characteristics
and needs of inmates who participate in the programs? (6) What
is the impact of the programs on inmate performance (e.g., disciplinary
actions, drug use)? (7) How many clients enter community-based
treatment, what types of programs do they enter, how long do they
remain in treatment, and how many complete treatment? (8) What
effects do the programs have on clients at 12 months after leaving
the prison in terms of recidivism, drug use, and psychosocial
behaviors? (9) What are the costs of the programs? The evaluations
are divided into two phases, a process evaluation and an outcome
evaluation. We have completed data collection for the process
evaluations and baseline data collection for outcome evaluations
at four programs, using a treatment and matched-comparison group
design.
For more information, contact Michael Prendergast.
Last updated - 07/23/2003
Last reviewed - 07/22/2003