The purpose of the Intake program is to help the newly
incarcerated person to make a more effective adjustment to
their situation so that they can take greater advantage of
their experience in the jail. Intake includes
assessment, motivational interviewing, anger management, as
well as direct preparation of how to succeed in jail.
It is at this time that the inmate receives his Reentry
Workbook to begin to identify the problems that they face
and their capabilities in addressing those problems.
More...
Lack of intensive substance
abuse treatment for offenders is one of the factors that
contributes to overcrowding in the Monroe County jail. The
jail built in 1986 to house 126 currently (late 2007) is
averaging 270+ inmates. CARES, the Monroe County affiliate
of the Commission for a Drug Free Indiana, estimates (2006)
that 80% of the inmates in the jail suffer from addictions
problems. Intensive treatment for offenders with addictions
problems is a necessary component of any plan to break the
ongoing cycle of crime, arrest, incarceration Conventional
addictions programs have had limited success in the
corrections environment due to the short duration of time
available for intervention. However, addictions treatment
can be very difficult in the open community because
offenders are often embedded in a culture of drinking,
dealing and drugging. Even when treatment is enforced, the
offender may be living in an environment that promotes
substance abuse. The Drug Court has a track record of
success with offenders who comply with treatment, thereby
shows promise to reduce recidivism and overcrowding as more
offenders are processed by the Court.
Jail as a therapeutic milieu
Incarceration removes the addicted
individual from a culture that encourages addictions and
criminal behavior. Jail is an opportunity for appropriate,
short duration interventions. The typical inmate in the
MCCC is incarcerated for about 3 months - enough time for
significant learning to take place. The goal of the
proposed project is the development of in-jail programming
that can be effective with jail stays averaging 3 months.
The proposed project also includes support services for
family members and aftercare treatment for offenders who
complete the in-jail programming and are released into the
community. Aftercare and family services are needed to
sustain and strengthen the positive effects of programming
in the jail.
Upon consideration and review of options for provision of
intensive addictions services for incarcerated individuals
that could be implemented in the Monroe County jail with
limited resources, New Leaf - New Life undertook to
establish a therapeutic community in two cell blocks. We
identified the Community Model (CM), a social learning
approach pioneered in corrections by the Center for
Therapeutic Justice, as the core of in-jail programming
during the first year of the project. CM, which is based
on more than 30 years of successful practice in addictions
treatment appeared to be suited to take advantage of the
relatively short term corrections environment to immerse
offenders suffering from addictions in a 24/7 pro-social
culture. We have built on our experience
with CM to develop a Therapeutic Milieu (TM) in designated
cellblocks in the jail that make more intensive use of
volunteer and professional therapists and also integrate
more with Aftercare Programming as well as Enrichment
Programming offered by NewLeaf-NewLife and its volunteers in
the jail. More...
