The program is designed to divert offenders needing outpatient substance abuse treatment from the Texas Department of Criminal Justice Institutional Division to the community in a controlled setting.  This program's purpose is also designed to enhance supervision, assisting in the facilitation of the protection of society and rehabilitation of the defendant. 

This outpatient substance abuse treatment helps meet the obvious needs of the defendants, enhancing supervision/case management and increasing the likelihood of successful completion of community supervision.  The goals are to:  1) achieve a drug-free lifestyle; 2) improve the level of psychosocial functioning; 3) increase social productivity, and 4) eliminate behaviors that result in legal problems.  These goals will be achieved through providing the participants with skills that will enable them to attain a drug-free lifestyle, appropriate psychosocial functioning, increased social productivity, and prevent recidivism.

The following is a summary of the program:

Phase I:           Addictive Process History and Education – Offenders will identify the impact chemical use/abuse has had on their life by completing a time line on the history of their drug use, starting with age and drug at first use until present.  The timeline will also include convictions and other significant life events.  Offenders will be able to see the progression and unmanageability of their chemical use; identify their drug of choice.

Twelve Step Mapping – Mapping Your Steps provides mapping templates for helping offenders work the 12-step program and contemplate the deeper, personal relevance of each step.  The maps encourage reflection and serious consideration of the foundational ideas of 12-step programs such as powerlessness, making amends and helping others.

Process and Accountability Group – An experience designed to help offenders identify and learn more about their feelings and thoughts, and how these affect behavior.  Provides offenders with a time and place to learn more about how to appropriately express their feelings and thoughts, gain awareness of specific attitudes and behavior patterns through the use of self disclosure, peer feedback and confrontation.  

Cognitive Process and Intervention – Introduction to Corrective Thinking through the use of identifying thinking errors and the offenders use of tactics to avoid taking reasonability for their behavior and the need to change.  Adapted from the work of Stanton E. Samnow, Ph.D., Profile For Change.   

Goal Setting/Goal Wrap Up – Didactic information on goal setting and goal wrap up to prepare the offender for Relapse Prevention Planning in phase II.

Family Program – A monthly group process including family members or significant others having influence on the offender’s behavior and help to reduce the risk of relapse.  Information will also be provided on the dynamics of chemical dependency as a family disease, family roles and family systems.  Referrals will be made for family members interested in support groups. 

Phase II:          To include Relapse Prevention Strategies developed by Terrence Gorski, CENAPS, using his Staying Sober developmental model of recovery.    

Phase III:        Aftercare – To include peer support groups, AA/NA meetings, Process Groups and Goal Setting groups/follow-up.  

AA and NA meeting attendance will be required in all phases.

Offenders will complete Phase I in 18 weeks and Phase II in 4 weeks.  Phase III will be 28 weeks in length but the offender will be able to complete this phase earlier depending on the offender’s accomplishment of relapse prevention treatment plan goals and objectives.  The program length is twelve months but the offender can complete the program in less time depending on his participation and work assignment completion.  The minimum amount of time an offender can complete the program is 36 weeks (nine months).                    

The criteria for completion will be based on the offender’s phase advancement (determined by the satisfactory completion of treatment plan goals and objectives) and program participation.

The following table illustrates activity of the Outpatient Substance Abuse Counseling Program from FY ’06 through ’09: the program became operational in FY’ 06. 

The following table illustrates the Outpatient Substance Abuse Counseling Program discharge data by Discharge Reason:

N=Total Number Discharged