Department of Youth Services: Integrated Co-Occurring Treatment

The Second Chance Act of 2007 (Pub. L. 110-199) provides a comprehensive response to the increasing number of people who are released from prison and jail and returning to communities, including resources to address the myriad needs of these offenders to achieve a successful return to their communities. Section 201 of the Second Chance Act authorizes the Second Chance Act Reentry Demonstration Program Targeting Offenders with Co-occurring Substance Abuse and Mental Health Disorders Program, which is designed to provide treatment and recovery support services to offenders during incarceration and after their return to the community. This section specifically addresses the treatment needs of offenders who have substance abuse disorders and authorizes grants to states, units of local government, territories, and Indian tribes to improve the provision of drug treatment to offenders in prisons, jails, and juvenile facilities during the period of incarceration and through the completion of parole or other court supervision after release into the community.

The term co-occurring disorders (COD) refers to co-occurring substance-related and mental disorders. Clients said to have COD have one or more substance-related disorders as well as one or more mental disorders. At the individual level, COD exist when at least one disorder of each type can be established independent of the other and is not simply a cluster of symptoms resulting from [a single] disorder. Projects will implement or expand offender treatment programs for re-entering offenders with co-occurring substance abuse and mental health disorders. Programs should require urinalysis and/or other proven reliable forms of drug and alcohol testing for program participants, including both periodic and random testing, and for former participants while they remain in the custody, or under community supervision, of the state, local, or tribal government.

The Ohio Department of Youth Services (DYS) was awarded a FY 2010 Second Chance Act Reentry Demonstration Program: Targeting Offenders with Co-occurring Substance Abuse and Mental Health Disorders (Category 4) Grant in the amount of $537,998. The grant funds will be used to support the DYS: Integrated Co-Occurring Treatment Project. The project meets the priority considerations of the solicitation by targeting higher-risk youth, demonstrating a high degree of collaboration, effective case assessment, and management abilities to provide a comprehensive and continuous reentry process. The goal of the project is to increase public safety and reduce recidivism for youth committed to DYS and returning to Franklin County, Ohio. The strategies to be used include collaborative reentry planning, Integrated Co-Occurring Treatment and sustained aftercare.

Key major deliverables include:

1. Use of a fourth-generation actuarial risk assessment tool to identify criminogenic risk/ needs and inform the reentry process.
2. Formalization a collaborative reentry planning process that engages a community provider.
3. Establishment of an Intensive Co-Occurring Treatment team at Nationwide Children's Hospital.
4. Evaluation of the impact of Intensive Co-Occurring Treatment on the offender population.
5. A reduction in one-year post-release recidivism of 50%.

CA/NCF