Transitional Case Management Study

To address the issues involved in treatment participation by substance-abusing parolees, the CJ-DATS Transitional Case Management (TCM) study proposes to test a parole re-entry model that consists of (1) completion by the inmate of a strengths and goals assessment as part of discharge planning, (2) a telephone case conference call that includes the inmate and significant members of the inmate's aftercare plan (including the parole officer), and (3) strengths case management (for 12 weeks) in the community to promote treatment participation and support the client's access to needed services.

More specifically, the multi-site study will evaluate the effects of a strengths case-management intervention on community-based treatment/service admission, retention, and utilization among inmates released from supervised treatment programs. If the intervention is successful, its wider adoption would increase the likelihood that inmates enter and remain in community services.

The specific aims of this multi-site study are to:

• Increase the likelihood that offenders leaving prison (or other supervised setting) with a referral to community aftercare program services enroll in treatment.
• Increase the amount of time that such offenders participate in community treatment.
• Assist clients to get the services that they need during the first 12 weeks of return to the community.
• As a result of the above, reduce relapse and reoffending during and following treatment.
• Achieve the above results at a favorable cost-effectiveness ratio.
• Encourage closer collaboration between the treatment and criminal justice systems.

Study participants (200 at each site, 25% of will be women) will be recruited in prison (or other confined setting) from inmates who have a referral to community treatment. After informed consent and a baseline interview, they will be randomly assigned to one of two conditions: (1) the Transitional Case Management condition, and (2) the Standard Referral condition (i.e., usual transition/re-entry procedures used by the facility, including a referral to community treatment).

Individual-level outcomes will include (1) treatment admission and participation (based on data collected from programs), (2) drug use, criminal activity, and psychosocial functioning (based on telephone interviews conducted 3 months after the end of the intervention) and (3) recidivism (based on records collected 12 months after the end of the intervention). The study will also assess the impact of the intervention on organizational and system factors (based on information from the case manager, treatment staff, and criminal justice staff) and the cost effectiveness of the intervention.

Inclusion criteria

• Age 18 years or older
• Participate in a treatment program within a correctional institution (prison, work release, community correctional facility)
• Have a referral to a community-based substance abuse treatment program (as arranged by correctional staff or treatment staff)
• Within about 3 months until release
• Being released to the metropolitan area where case manager activities are being conducted

Exclusion criteria

• Referral to formal case management services in the community (e.g., for offenders with co-occurring disorders)
• Inability to provide informed consent (as determined by a set of questions about the consent process)
• Registered sex offender (as determined by the institution)
• Parole requirements that would prevent participation in the study (e.g., INS hold for deportation)