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Assessing Released Inmates for Substance-Abuse-Related Service Needs

NCJ Number
232300
Journal
Crime & Delinquency Volume: 52 Issue: 1 Dated: January 2006 Pages: 94-113
Author(s)
Steven Belenko
Date Published
January 2006
Length
20 pages
Annotation
This article examines the need for new assessment tools to determine the service needs for recently released offenders with substance-abuse problems.
Abstract
High rates of substance abuse and recidivism and limited in-prison and postrelease treatment access and transitional planning complicate community reintegration. Moreover, drug-related health and social problems are related to treatment outcomes. In the framework of risk-responsivity theory and structured, integrated reentry models, this article argues for new, psychometrically sound assessment tools that are multidimensional, facilitate risk management and service linkages, and combine static and dynamic factors and multiple time frames. The organizational complexity of reentry increases the urgency to develop tools to accurately identify parolee service needs. Such tools will increase knowledge about factors determining or mediating postrelease outcomes. References (Published Abstract)