Outcome Evaluation of a Residential Substance Abuse Treatment (RSAT) Program in Dallas County, Texas, 1998-2000 (ICPSR 3716)

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Date of Collection View help for Date of Collection

Data Collection Notes View help for Data Collection Notes

Study Purpose View help for Study Purpose

The Dallas County Judicial Treatment Center (DCJTC) is a six-month residential substance abuse treatment (RSAT) facility managed by Cornell Corrections, Inc., under contract from the Dallas County Community Supervision and Corrections Department. Like many corrections-based treatment programs, the DCJTC is modeled after the traditional community-based therapeutic community and is provided in three major phases, including (1) orientation, (2) main treatment, and (3) re-entry. Treatment includes group and individual counseling, behavior modification, peer-to-peer therapy, life skills training, vocational and educational instruction, and regular meetings with an onsite probation officer, with emphasis on 12-step recovery, identification of criminal thinking patterns, and relapse prevention. Offenders advance through a hierarchical recovery sequence wherein they receive progressively more responsibilities and privileges, as they become more senior members of their treatment "family." The primary goal of this outcome evaluation was to assess offender recidivism following treatment in a six-month community-based modified therapeutic community for probationers. Secondary goals were to examine change in social functioning over time among probationers mandated to a six-month modified therapeutic community, 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 untreated comparisons and by an assessment of relationships among treatment, social functioning, and recidivism.

Study Design View help for Study Design

The evaluation of the six-month modified therapeutic community began with the prospective collection of baseline and during-treatment data on probationers admitted to the DCJTC program in 1998. Additionally, the researchers identified a comparison group of felony probationers who were eligible for, but did not receive, treatment at the DCJTC during approximately the same time span as those who participated in the modified therapeutic community program. 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 originated in the Drug Abuse Reporting Program (DARP), the first multisite evaluation of community-based treatment funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (Sells and Simpson, 1976, and Simpson and Sells, 1982, 1990). They were modified more recently for use in a project entitled "Improving Drug Abuse Treatment, Assessment, and Research (DATAR)" (Simpson, Chatham, and Joe, 1993, and Simpson, Dansereau, and Joe, 1997). The overall evaluation system was adapted further for use in residential correctional settings (Knight et al., 1997). Revisions to these forms included rewording items to reference the six months prior to the commitment arrest as the time frame for the collection of baseline information. Written, informed consent was obtained from each resident prior to the collection of these assessments. During the first week of treatment, residents completed a comprehensive intake battery that included (1) the Initial Assessment, (2) Self-Rating Form, and (3) Intake Interview (Simpson, Knight, and Hiller, 1997). The Initial Assessment was a brief, structured, counselor-led interview completed within 24 hours of treatment entry that recorded sociodemographic background information and drug use history. Immediately following this, residents also completed the Self-Rating Form, a 95-item self-report instrument designed to assess psychosocial functioning and treatment motivation at intake. Finally, a counselor administered the Intake Interview approximately two to seven days after the Initial Assessment, after residents had time to become acquainted with the program and staff. The Intake Interview included detailed questions on the residents' social background, family and peer relations, health and psychological status, criminal involvement and history, and drug use problems. Indicators of during-treatment process and therapeutic progress were based on program records and on the TCU Resident Evaluation of Self and Treatment (REST) and TCU Counselor Rating of Client (CRC). The prospective collection of the REST and CRC at the end of treatment months one, three, and six were linked to major landmarks in a resident's treatment episode, namely, end of orientation, 90-day treatment plan, and discharge plan, respectively.

Sample View help for Sample

The sample consisted of 429 probationers admitted to the RSAT program in 1998. Based on program treatment retention and discharge records, clients were classified as treatment graduates (n=290) and treatment dropouts (n=116). Graduates were comprised of individuals who completed their required treatment at the program, and dropouts were clients who chose to leave the program early or who were discharged for noncompliance with program rules. A third group (n=23) included individuals who were discharged for medical problems or who were transferred to another county for an outstanding arrest warrant. This third group was dropped from the analyses because it represented a set of offenders "not appropriate" for treatment at the DCJTC, leaving a total sample of 406 clients. The Dallas County Community Supervision and Corrections Department database was used as the source for identifying a comparison group (n=100) for this study. This involved generating a list of probationer commitments in Dallas County to identify individuals who were placed on felony probation during approximately the same time span as those who went to the modified therapeutic community program and who were eligible for, but did not receive, treatment at the DCJTC program. A random sample of 100 probationers was chosen from this list for comparison to the treatment graduate and dropout groups for a total sample size of 506 individuals.

Universe View help for Universe

Probationers in Dallas County, Texas in 1998.

Unit(s) of Observation View help for Unit(s) of Observation

Data Source View help for Data Source

Data Type(s) View help for Data Type(s)

Description of Variables View help for Description of Variables

The TCU Initial Assessment collected information on mental status, background and psychosocial functioning, alcohol and drug use, and psychological status. The TCU Self-Rating Form generated Likert-type variables measuring psychological functioning, social functioning, and motivation for treatment. The TCU Intake Interview covered sociodemographic background, family background, peer relations, criminal history, health and psychological status, drug history, AIDS risk assessment, interviewer comments, and the client assessment profile. The TCU Resident Evaluation of Self and Treatment form collected information on changes in psychosocial functioning, offender's perceptions of the structure of the program and their experiences while in treatment, evaluations of the counselors, self-evaluations of the resident's personality, and ratings of group and individual sessions. Lastly, the Counselor Rating of Client form gathered information on treatment engagement, rapport with others, psychosocial problems, self-confrontation, life skills development, family, and financial management. Recidivism data include offense and sentencing variables for felony convictions two years after release from treatment.

Response Rates View help for Response Rates

Not applicable.

Presence of Common Scales View help for Presence of Common Scales

Many scales used in this study were based on those that originated in the Drug Abuse Reporting Program conducted by Sells and Simpson (1976) and later modified for the "Improving Drug Abuse Treatment, Assessment, and Research (DATAR)" project by Simpson, Chatham, Joe, and Dansereau (1993 and 1997). A measure for classifying risk of recidivism was modeled after the Lifestyle Criminality Screening Form. Measures of patients' perceptions of program structure and their treatment experience were adapted from the Client Self-Rated Progress Checklist. Other scales used in this study were the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual, fourth edition, the Mini-Mental Status Exam, the Pearlin Mastery Scale, the problem recognition, desire for help, and treatment readiness scales developed by Joe, Knezek, Watson, and Simpson, the TCU HIV/AIDS Risk Assessment, and several Likert-type scales.

Original Release Date View help for Original Release Date

2003-06-05

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