The Residential Substance Abuse Treatment (RSAT) Aftercare Study, United States, 2014-2015 (ICPSR 36377)

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Data Collection Notes View help for Data Collection Notes

Study Purpose View help for Study Purpose

The goal of the Residential Substance Abuse Treatment (RSAT) Study is to provide programmatic information about the treatment and aftercare services funded by the Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA) RSAT program, to help understand the extent to which, and in what ways, RSAT programs are fulfilling their mandate under the Second Chance Act to connect participants to aftercare services. The study focuses on describing the range and types of substance abuse treatment, re-entry/release planning activities, and related aftercare services that are provided to offenders through the BJA RSAT program. The major objectives of the study are to:

• Document how states make decisions about how to use RSAT funds for treatment and aftercare services;
• Describe the types of treatment and other services supported with BJA RSAT funds, including implementation of evidence-based practices;
• Document the re-entry/release planning activities for RSAT participants; and
• Describe the aftercare services available to RSAT participants, and the challenges and facilitators to implementing these services.

Study Design View help for Study Design

RSAT State Coordinator Program Inventory (RSAT_State_Coordinator_Program.sav)

State coordinators in all U.S. States and territories were invited to participate in a self-administered web survey. Questions were developed to ascertain how states make decisions about program funding, and the efforts at the state level to support aftercare. At the end of January 2015, an email invitation was sent to POCs (Points of Contact) containing a brief overview explaining the study's purpose and procedures as well as a link to the State Inventory. Eighty-four percent responded and completed the survey.

RSAT Subgrantee Program Inventory (RSAT_Subgrantee_Program.sav)

Subgrantee programs serving more than ten individuals were interviewed by phone. The questions for the RSAT Subgrantee Inventory (Subgrantee Interview) were adapted from the National Criminal Justice Treatment Practices Survey, a national survey of prisons, jails, and community correction agencies. Specifically, the evaluation adapted questions and scales from the Survey of Treatment Staff.The Subgrantee Interview included questions on: RSAT program funding, staffing and enrollment criteria; screening and assessment procedures; program enrollment and completion rates; types of general treatment, wraparound, evidence-based practices, and transitional services provided to clients. Seventy-eight percent completed the survey.

Sample View help for Sample

The sampling frame for RSAT_State_Coordinator_Program.sav (State Inventory) included all RSAT State Coordinators/Points of Contact (POC) from the 50 U.S. states and six U.S. territories. The POC is the individual designated by his/her state or territory to monitor BJA funding. BJA provided a list of the POCs to researchers and staff conducted phone calls to confirm and update relevant contact information to ensure the appropriate respondent received the invitation to participate in the web survey.

Subgrantees are RSAT programs funded by states. The sample for RSAT_Subgrantee_Program.sav (Subgrantee Interview) included RSAT-funded programs reporting active programs serving 10 or more individuals during the July-September 2014 quarter. To ensure that we would be reaching out to active programs, we chose to focus on a single reporting quarter using the most current BJA data. Given the larger amount of resources telephone interviews entail, we decided to exclude programs that had served fewer than 10 individuals in the reporting quarter. The only exception to the criteria was for programs in the 'aftercare' category. Given the focus of the study to learn about aftercare, all aftercare programs identified were included in the sample regardless of the number of individuals served.

Time Method View help for Time Method

Universe View help for Universe

RSAT Program Coordinators and RSAT funded programs active during the July-September 2014

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Description of Variables View help for Description of Variables

The data file RSAT_State_Coordinator_Program.sav (n=47; 92 variables) contains data about the RSAT program. A few variables describe who is the State Coordinator. The bulk of the data are the result of a web survey used to determine the basis of the information used to allocate RSAT funds and the impact of that funding. An SPSS syntax file describes how the survey data were transformed to create the variables in the dataset. In some instances information about the state was used in these transformations.

The data file RSAT_Subgrantee_Program.sav (n=60; 1,018 variables) contains data about the Subgrantee's participation in the RSAT program. Both SPSS and Stata syntax files describe how data from the telephone interviews were transformed to create the variables in the dataset. In some instances information about the state was used in these transformations. The Stata syntax file contains more detail on the transformations. The bulk of the information describes how RSAT funds were used.

Response Rates View help for Response Rates

RSAT State Coordinator 84%

RSAT Subgrantee 78%

Presence of Common Scales View help for Presence of Common Scales

Interview questions were adapted from the National Criminal Justice Treatment Practices Survey

Original Release Date View help for Original Release Date

2018-03-01

Weight View help for Weight

None.