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Adult and Adolescent Community Correctional Services Program

William S. Tanner, B.S., A.S.A.C.
Waterville, Maine

This paper describes the development of the Community Correctional Services Program which seeks to reduce recidivism by establishing user accountability, directly impacting upon the efficacy and efficiency of the seven county jails, the seven county probation and parole offices, the district and superior courts, and the local police departments.

The multijurisdictional effort brought together Federal, State, county, and local resources to meet the needs of the offender population. By combining the Federal Bureau of Justice Assistance (represented by the State JAA) and the Federal Health and Human Services Office of Treatment Improvement (now the Center for Substance Abuse Treatment) (represented by the State Office of Substance Abuse), the seven-county consortium is now able to provide services to both the adult offender and the at-risk adolescent population.

It is the philosophy of the consortium and the Community Correctional Services Program to network with community-based services whenever possible in order to best serve rural Maine.

Purpose

The overall goal of the Community Correctional Services Program is to reduce the recidivism of the substance-abusing offender by

creating an atmosphere of user accountability, providing alternative sentencing, and testing for drug use among offenders. The immediate goals of the program are:

• To identify and meet the treatment needs of adult and juvenile drug-dependent and alcohol-dependent offenders.
• To provide treatment alternatives at the pre-adjudication and pre-trial phases of the criminal justice system for perpetrators posing no danger to the community.
• To provide drug testing for the identification, assessment, referral, case management, and monitoring of drug-dependent offenders. The program collects region-specific data on the type and pattern of substance abuse in order to contribute to long-range law enforcement, corrections, and treatment planning.

Method

It is becoming increasingly apparent that, as State funding and other resources decrease, there must be a concerted effort to maximize Federal, State, county, and local community efforts to provide a coalition approach to services.

Kennebec Valley Regional Health Agency is a rural, community-base,d nonprofit health care provider with a major division of substance abuse and mental health services. Its Community Correctional Services Program recognizes that to ensure services to at-risk youth and adults in the correctional system, it is necessary to form multiple strategic alliances with organizations providing such services to identified populations and their families.

In 1986, Kennebec Valley Regional Health Agency began providing substance abuse services to the Kennebec County Jail. The services were provided in-house with no identified formal, community-based support.

As a result of this lack, the intended impact on recidivism was minimal. It soon became apparent that services needed to extend beyond the jail to the community. These community-based services were necessary to ensure a smooth transition from the institution and continuity of treatment. Our experience indicated that without them, approximately 47 percent of those treated in jail would reoffend by committing new alcohol- or drug-related crimes. If we had continued in our original direction, services in the institution would have had little impact.

Funding for initial substance abuse services was provided by Kennebec and Franklin Counties and the State of Maine. These community-based services included case management by a substance abuse counselor and an alternative to incarceration, the First and Second Offender Operating Under the Influence (OUI) Program.

Sheriffs from five other counties joined the sheriffs from Kennebec and Franklin Counties as well as probation and parole officers to support the development of a consortium.

In Maine, probation officers were significantly hampered by large caseloads (adult: 200 plus per officer; adolescent: 60 plus); responsibility for expansive geographic areas; layoff days that reduced their client time by 2 days per month; and the inability of 85 percent of their clients in need of substance abuse services to pay for these services.

At the time of the development of the multiple strategic alliance, a recidivism study was conducted. The results of the study indicated that 64 percent of the people on probation reoffended.

Kennebec County Sheriff Frank Hackett had just been elected president of the Maine Sheriff's Association when he and the sheriffs of Lincoln, Knox, Penobscot, Sagadahoc, Somerset, and Franklin Counties joined us to develop the consortium. We presented to the sheriffs the idea of a consortium and explained the logic behind its development. The seven counties represented 52 percent of the voting population of the State. The sheriffs were the only officials in the counties elected by a plurality of the vote. We were able to show that the impact on recidivism and the information resulting from a unified treatment, law enforcement, and correctional effort could be profound.

Having obtained the sheriffs' commitment, we identified that, to be successful in our recidivism reduction efforts, it was also necessary to involve the district attorneys of the seven counties. We met with each DA and learned that if the plan could reduce dockets, speed the court process, and garner judges' support, then the DAs would lend their support as well.

Based on our previous work with them, we were able to enlist support of the Superior Court Judges of Kennebec and Franklin Counties. As a result, we also received the support of the other superior and district court judges.

The collaboration between Kennebec and Franklin Counties and Kennebec Valley Regional Health Agency resulted in development of the Community Correctional Services Program, which also provides services to Lincoln, Knox, Sagadahoc, and Penobscot Counties.

The consortium of sheriffs then applied for a Federal Bureau of Justice Assistance Grant. Sheriff Hackett w as named contract administrator, and Community Correctional Services was designated as the sole service provider. The award was made in 1988, w with funds going to the Maine Justice Assistance Council through the grant from the Bureau of Justice Assistance.

The State Department of Corrections, specifically Probation and Parole, offered its cooperation based on its agreement with our philosophy of accountability, responsibility, and consequences.

Our clinicians feel strongly that accountability, responsibility, and consequences are the basis of behavioral changes, and that though we cannot excuse it, we ca provide explications for the behavior. The correctional population must be held to these standards if there is to be any success in the recovery process. Probation's perception of the "do gooder social worker" had to be put to rest in order to gain their support. This was accomplished by close communication and cooperation with the probation officers built on a positive history of work together.

Content Area

From our work with Probation and Parole, the need to provide substance abuse services and mental health assessment to adolescents at risk became apparent. We identified the fact that rural youth experienced distinct difficulties in accessing affordable services. In order to truly have an impact on this population, we had to accomplish rural outreach. In 1990, the consortium of sheriffs and the Community Correctional Services Program— with the additional support of Probation and Parole, local law enforcement, area schools, courts, and district attorneys—developed and presented a comprehensive grant to service at-risk youth aged 14-22. The grant was funded by the Office of Treatment Improvement (now the Center for Substance Abuse Treatment). Services have now been in place for 2 years. To ensure that the Community Correctional Services Program bridged gaps between corrections, law enforcement, and clinical services and maintained credibility with our collaborators, it was necessary to develop a somewhat unique clinical program approach. The Community Correctional Services Program identified seven program areas that needed to be adapted in order to ensure the continuity of services to the correctional population:

1. Services needed to be available to clients at the time of entry to the correctional system. These services were designed to allow for pre-adjudication and presentencing evaluation and screening with recommendations for potential diversion being provided to probation and parole officers as part of the presentencing investigation. To ensure counselors' consistent contact with both the client and probation and parole officers, counselors' offices are located either at Probation and Parole or within a short walking distance. Our experience over a 7-year period indicates that 72 percent of the cases presented to Probation and Parole and the court have been accepted in part or in full into the sentencing process. The Community Correctional Services Program currently provides services from seven Probation and Parole offices and eleven other locations in the seven counties' rural communities.
   
   
2. Loss of client contact with Probation and Parole during the time of incarceration was identified as a major problem. This loss of contact is not unique to rural communities, but is a serious problem in terms of recidivism in rural States. The program reports the client's involvement in counseling while incarcerated and also reports specific release dates to Probation and Parole. The release date information facilitates early probation contact and continuity of services to the community.
   
   
3. Psychosocial educational groups were developed in the seven counties. The structure of the group allows for early access to services. Each jail client is referred directly to the group upon release from jail. The psychosocial modality allows for a larger numbers of clients, including the dually-diagnosed, to be served in each group. As a result, it is possible for each group to serve up to 25 clients. The program currently has 17 active groups in the 7 counties. Each group has a time limit of 16 weeks. Clients needing more extensive services are referred either to outside clinical services or to our own advanced treatment groups. Those clients who successfully complete the Community Correctional Services Program by completing their treatment plan are recommended for probation termination. Approximately half of all clients referred to the program receive early termination from Probation and Parole.
   
   
4. Once the screening and assessment process is completed, clients are referred to psychosocial education groups and to our case management process. Case management permits the counselor and Probation and Parole to maintain contact with the client and at the same time refers the client to appropriate clinical and support services that aid in rehabilitation. Traditionally, rural States have had difficulty accessing services. This case management system allows the program to search out and refer to the variety of services necessary for the clients' successful integration to the community. Clients who leave the program either through early termination or through completion of the psychosocial educational and/or the treatment group, and who are not in need of further clinical support, are provided with case management services that extend to the end of their probation. To ensure user accountability, the clients in case management receive sproradic urine monitoring. If the clients' results are positive, they return to the formal program with a new treatment plan.
   
   
5. The Community Correctional Services Program has assumed the responsibility of drug testing for the clients of Probation and Parole. Testing acts as a strong additional deterrent to client use and allows for user accountability.
   
   
6. The adult and adolescent programs pay particular attention to gaining access to the whole family whenever possible. The consortium has identified the fact that longlasting intervention requires contact with the family.
   
   
7. Probably the single most important part of the program is the willingness of the counselors to regularly communicate the status of the clients to Probation and Parole. We do not report the content of counseling sessions, but we do report attendance and dangerous behavior. The adolescent program draws its treatment modality from the adult program. However, it focuses primarily on working with at-risk youth before they become involved with the criminal justice system. There are modifications that include a wilderness diversion component. The wilderness program allows the adolescents to spend 1 day every 6 weekends in the wilderness. During this day, they explore ways to develop self-esteem and participate in teambuilding exercises. Rural and frontier States, especially in New England, are faced with the real problem of adolescent alcohol abuse. According to our adolescent client contact, 88 percent report that their primary drugs are not a problem, but that alcohol is clearly the gateway drug. Furthermore, because alcohol is so readily available, it is difficult to intervene on its negative impact.
   

Findings

Correctional services in rural and frontier States are faced with many Adult and Adolescent Community Correctional Services Program

difficulties, including the responsibility of covering expansive geographic areas, large numbers of probationers with varied criminal backgrounds, and the sense on the part of many probation officers that they are only bandaging. It has been repeatedly expressed that the officers find themselves setting priorities according to their probationers' level of criminal involvement, because they do not have enough time for their caseloads.

The Community Correctional Services Program has offered Probation and Parole the opportunity to lessen its caseloads. Probation and parole officers are able to rely on the Correctional Services Program Counselors' ability to work with their chemically abusing and addicted adults and adolescents.

Conclusion

Recommendations

My only recommendation is that you be willing to look at the model to see how it applies to your rural or frontier State or county. The program or parts of it could easily be replicated.

(Other materials on our program include First and Multiple Offender Alternative Sentencing Policies and Procedures Manual, Adolescent Thumbs-Up Diversion Program Policies and Procedures Manual, intake and screening instruments (adult and adolescents), "Urine-Monitoring Policies and Procedures," and "Wilderness Experience Development Plan.")

Last Updated 11-7-02