I. Introduction

This report presents the methodology and findings from the first national survey of adult and juvenile correctional facilities regarding substance abuse treatment services provided on-site to adult inmates and juvenile residents. The survey was conducted in 1997 to assess substance abuse treatment provided within the nation’s Federal prisons, state prisons, jails, and public and private juvenile facilities.

The nation’s battle against substance abuse and addiction is having a growing impact on U.S. correctional systems. Substance abuse and crime appear inextricably linked. About half of the inmates in state and Federal prisons in 1997 reported using drugs or alcohol while committing their offense, and about one in six inmates in state and Federal prisons said they committed their current offense to obtain money to buy drugs. Involvement of inmates in drugs or alcohol in the month before the offense or at the time of the offense increased during the 1990s (Bureau of Justice Statistics [BJS], 1999a). Correctional systems nationwide are witnessing ever-increasing numbers of drug offenders coming under their supervision. Recent criminal and juvenile justice research cites arrests for illicit drug use as a major contributor to substantially increasing correctional populations. In 1998, the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Uniform Crime Reports estimated that there were about 1.6 million state and local arrests for drug abuse violations, an increase of almost 1 million since 1980. Drug abuse violations in 1998 accounted for an estimated 30% of all arrests (BJS, 1999b). In addition, a large proportion of arrestees today are testing positive for drug use at the time of arrest. Data collected through the National Institute of Justice (NIJ) Arrestee Drug Abuse Monitoring (ADAM) program have shown that in 35 major cities across the nation, about two thirds of adult arrestees and more than half of juvenile male arrestees tested positive for at least one drug at the time of arrest in 1998 (NIJ, 1999). ADAM data also show that multiple drug use is a serious problem among this nation’s arrestees. In one major city, more than 40% of males and 30% of females tested positive for more than one drug (NIJ, 1999). Data such as these suggest that a large number of individuals who enter the nation’s correctional institutions each year have some form of substance abuse problem.

In recent years, all types of correctional facilities, including Federal and state prisons, jails, and juvenile facilities, have observed significant increases in the proportion of their populations held for drug offenses. According to the BJS, 38,900 drug offenders in 1985 were in the custody of state correctional authorities (BJS, 1997). By 1997, the number had risen to 227,400, almost a sixfold increase (BJS, 1999b). In Federal prisons, the number of drug offenders rose from 9,482 in 1985 to 55,194 in 1996, and drug offenders accounted for the largest portion of Federal inmates, 60% (BJS, 1999b). The nation’s jails have also experienced an increase in the number of inmates charged with or convicted of drug offenses. Drug law violations constituted the largest source of growth in jail populations during the late 1980s. The proportion of jail inmates charged with or convicted of drug offenses rose from 9% in 1983 to 22% in 1996 (BJS, 1999b). Juvenile arrests for drug abuse violations increased 86% between 1989 and 1998 (Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention [OJJDP], 1999b). Additionally, the number of juvenile drug cases involving detention increased 89% between 1987 and 1996, and 58% between 1992 and 1996 (OJJDP, 1999a). The increase in drug-related incarcerations reflects an increase in the general level of drug involvement of the populations in our nation’s correctional facilities. These trends over the past decade suggest a need for more data about the level and character of substance abuse treatment within the nation’s correctional facilities.

The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) currently conducts an annual census of substance abuse treatment facilities, identified primarily by state substance abuse agencies, but also by other sources, such as hospital listings, business directories, and facilities themselves. Federal facilities are also included. This annual data collection effort is the Uniform Facility Data Set (UFDS) survey (Office of Applied Studies [OAS], 1999). This survey primarily focuses on community-based treatment centers and thus underrepresents treatment programs in jails, prisons, and juvenile facilities. Starting in 1999, the annual UFDS excludes altogether treatment programs in correctional facilities.

In 1997, at the request of ONDCP, SAMHSA designed and conducted a special survey of substance abuse treatment services in adult and juvenile correctional facilities. The project included development of an inventory from Department of Justice (DOJ) lists of all correctional facilities that potentially provide on-site treatment. These facilities were surveyed to determine whether treatment is provided and to assess treatment characteristics.

This report has eight sections and three appendices. Following this introduction, Sections II and III present the background and reasons for conducting the UFDS 1997 Survey of Correctional Facilities; the survey methodology, including the creation of the universe of correctional facilities; the development and the pilot testing of the survey instrument; the data collection and response rate; and the terminology and definitions used in this report. The main findings from the survey are presented in Sections IV through VIII. Section IV includes an enumeration of facilities providing supplemental non-treatment substance abuse services by facility type (Federal prison, state prison, jail, or juvenile facility), the number of facilities providing treatment by treatment setting (specialty substance abuse treatment unit, treatment in the general inmate population, or treatment in hospital inpatient/psychiatric units), and the number of facilities providing treatment by type of counseling (individual counseling, group counseling, or family counseling). Section IV also presents data on the number of individuals receiving various types of treatment in correctional facilities and the ratio of patients to paid staff providing treatment. Sections V through VIII focus on more detailed data for Federal prisons, state prisons, jails, and juvenile facilities, respectively.

Appendix A presents the correctional facilities that provided treatment, broken down by facility type and state. Appendix B includes a copy of the UFDS 1997 Survey of Correctional Facilities instrument. Appendix C includes a sample of a letter sent to all correctional facilities in the survey universe prior to the UFDS 1997 Survey of Correctional Facilities.

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This page was last updated on July 16, 2008.

SAMHSA, an agency in the Department of Health and Human Services, is the Federal Government's lead agency for improving the quality and availability of substance abuse prevention, addiction treatment, and mental health services in the United States.

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