ISAP Research Projects
Name of Project: TC Treatment for Prisoners: Long-Term Outcomes and Costs
Principal Investigator: Michael Prendergast
Co-Principal Investigator: Harry Wexler
Project Director: Elizabeth Hall
Funding Agency: National Institute on Drug Abuse
Funding Period: March 1998-February 2004
Scope of Project: This 5-year study, conducted by the UCLA Drug Abuse Research Center and National Development and Research Institutes, Inc. was a 5-year follow-up of clients in a modified therapeutic community (TC) program for drug-abusing prison inmates. The Amity prison TC Program, established in 1990 at the R.J. Donovan Correctional Facility near San Diego, had been evaluated previously in a process and outcome study, with one-year follow-up data. The Amity TC program provides intensive substance abuse treatment to male inmates for 9 to 12 months. In addition, participant inmates paroling from prison may voluntarily enroll in an aftercare residential program, called Vista, for up to 12 months. The study conducted 5-year post-treatment follow-up interviews with the same subjects (N=715). The project had the following specific aims: (1) To conduct secondary analyses of data previously collected on the sample. (2) To assess long-term post-treatment outcomes of a prison-based TC program. (2A) To determine differential outcomes within selected subgroups. (2B) To examine factors that contribute to the recovery of drug-abusing offenders who did not participate in treatment. (3) To provide a comprehensive economic cost analysis of the prison TC program, the aftercare TC programs, and the control group.
For more information, contact Michael Prendergast.
Last updated - 04/09/04
Last reviewed - 04/09/04