Outcome Evaluation of a Residential Substance Abuse Treatment (RSAT) Program in Dallas County, Texas, 1998-2000
Description
This study was an outcome evaluation of the Dallas County
Judicial Treatment Center (DCJTC), a six-month residential substance
abuse treatment (RSAT) facility in Dallas County, Texas. The primary
goal of this evaluation was to assess offender recidivism following
treatment in this six-month community-based modified therapeutic
community for probationers. Secondary goals were to examine change in
social functioning over time among probationers mandated to this
program, to determine which characteristics at intake and which
during-treatment social functioning indicators were predictive of
dropping out of treatment early, and to identify which indicators
predicted being arrested one to two years after treatment. These goals
were accomplished by a comparison of outcomes between treated
probationers and an untreated comparison group and by an assessment
of the relationships among treatment, social functioning, and
recidivism. For both treatment and comparison groups, a criminal
records search was performed on the Institutional Division database of
the Texas Department of Criminal Justice for all of the study
participants for the two years following discharge for treatment or
following commitment to probation. In addition to these records,
treatment participants were asked to complete a set of data collection
forms over their course of treatment. These forms collected
information about mental status, background and psychosocial
functioning, substance abuse, psychological status, offenders'
perceptions of the program and their experiences in treatment,
evaluations of counselors, self-evaluations, and counselors'
evaluations of clients.