On April 26, 2016, The Bureau of Prisons (BOP) revised regulations to get into the Residential Drug Abuse Treatment Program (RDAP). In sum, these changes will allow more prisoners to participate in the progrm.
Rather than re write the new changes, I am simply going to copy and paste these changes into this blog. For those that would like to read about these changes in greater depth, simply click here to visit the government website. I do have thoughts on these changes, and I will be writing about them in future blogs and videos. Again, to be clear, I am not posting the whole statement here. If I did this piece would run on for hours. I am sharing what I believe to be most releveant. I will also be updating my lesson plan on RDAP to include these changes.
Do not hesitate to call me at 818-424-2220 with any questions.
Justin
Drug Abuse Treatment Program
“In this document, the Bureau revises the Residential Drug Abuse Treatment Program (RDAP) regulations to allow greater inmate participation in the program and positively impact recidivism rates. Specifically, the Bureau (1) removes the regulatory requirement for RDAP written testing because it is more appropriate to assess an inmate’s progress through clinical evaluation of behavior change (the written test is no longer used in practice); (2) removes existing regulatory provisions which automatically expel inmates who have committed certain acts (e.g., abuse of drugs or alcohol, violence, attempted escape); (3) limits the time frame for review of prior offenses for early release eligibility purposes to ten years before the date of federal imprisonment; and (4) lessens restrictions relating to early release eligibility.
The proposed rule was published on July 22, 2015, (80 FR 43367). The comment period ended on September 21, 2015. In the proposed rule, we described the following changes:
Section 550.50 Purpose and scope. The regulation previously stated that Bureau facilities have drug abuse treatment specialists who are supervised by a Coordinator and that facilities with residential drug abuse treatment programs (RDAP) should have additional specialists for treatment in the RDAP unit. This is inaccurate. We proposed to change the regulation to explain that the Bureau’s drug abuse treatment programs, which include drug abuse education, RDAP and non-residential drug abuse treatment services, are provided by the Psychology Services Department.
We also proposed to make a minor corresponding change in § 550.53(a)(1), which also refers inaccurately to the Drug Abuse Program Coordinator, when instead the course of activities referenced in that regulation is provided by the Psychology Services Department.
Section 550.53 Residential Drug Abuse Treatment Program (RDAP)(f)(2). The Bureau proposed to remove subparagraph (f)(2) of § 550.53, which required inmates to pass RDAP testing procedures and referred to an RDAP exam. The RDAP program no longer includes written testing as a requirement for completion of the program. Instead, RDAP uses clinical observation and clinical evaluation of inmate behavior change to assess readiness for completion. Therefore, the current language is inaccurate and imposes a requirement upon inmates that no longer exists.
In 2010, the Bureau converted the Residential Drug Abuse Treatment Programs to the Modified Therapeutic Community Model of treatment (MTC). This evidenced-based model is designed to assess progress through treatment as determined by the participants’ completion of treatment goals and activities on their individualized treatment plan, and demonstrated behavior change. Each participant jointly works with their treatment specialist to create the content of their treatment plan. Every three months, or more often if necessary, each participant meets with their clinical team (four or more treatment staff) to review their progress in treatment. Progress in treatment is determined through assessing the accomplishment of their treatment goals and activities, along with demonstrated behavior change, such as improved personal and social conduct, no disciplinary incidents, etc. Unsatisfactory progress is evident when the participant does not accomplish their treatment goals and does not demonstrate mastery of skill development.
There are several studies about the effectiveness of the MTC model of treatment. The most seminal study pertaining to this topic is titled “Outcome Evaluation of A Prison Therapeutic Community for Substance Abuse Treatment.” [1]
This behavioral form of assessing progress is a much more powerful form of assessment than assessing the results of a written test. The written test assesses knowledge, but knowledge does not necessarily demonstrate whether the program has positively affected an individual’s behavior or addictive lifestyle.
All of the treatment coordinators in the Bureau have a doctorate degree in psychology. They are well qualified to use their knowledge of treatment and the behavior of individuals suffering from substance abuse to objectively determine if a participant is ready to complete the program. There are three decades of evaluation research that support the efficacy of the therapeutic community model of treatment. The most comprehensive source of program description, theory, and summary of research associated with this model of treatment is found in the book entitled The Therapeutic Community: Theory, Model, and Method. New York: Springer Publishing Company, Inc. (De Leon, G. (2000).
Section 550.53(g) Expulsion from RDAP. We proposed to remove § 550.53(g)(3), which required Discipline Hearing Officers (DHOs) to remove an inmate automatically from RDAP if there is a finding that the inmate has committed a prohibited act involving alcohol, drugs, violence, escape, or any 100-level series incident.
Removing the language gives the Bureau more latitude and clinical discretion when determining which inmates should be expelled from the program. Inmates will then only be expelled from RDAP according to criteria in § 550.53(g)(1) which allows inmates to be removed from the program by the Drug Abuse Program Coordinator because of disruptive behavior related to the program or unsatisfactory progress in treatment, and requires at least one formal warning before removal, unless there is documented lack of compliance and the inmate’s continued presence would present an immediate problem for staff and other inmates.
Removing paragraph (g)(3) removes the automatic expulsion of inmates committing the listed prohibited acts and allows for greater possibility of continuance of the program for inmates with discipline problems.
Section 550.55(b) Inmates not eligible for early release. We proposed to modify language precluding inmates from consideration for early release if they have a prior felony or misdemeanor conviction for homicide, forcible rape, robbery, aggravated assault, arson, kidnaping, or an offense that involves sexual abuse of minors. The Bureau modifies this language to clarify that we intend to limit consideration of “prior felony or misdemeanor” convictions to those which were imposed within the ten years prior to the date of sentencing for the inmate’s current commitment. By making this change, the Bureau clarifies that it will not preclude from early release eligibility those inmates whose prior felony or misdemeanor convictions were imposed longer than ten years before the date of sentencing for the inmate’s current commitment.
Title 18 U.S.C. 3621(e) provides the Director of the Bureau of Prisons the discretion to grant an early release of up to one year upon the successful completion of a residential drug abuse treatment program. In exercising the Director’s statutory discretion, we considered the crimes of homicide, rape, robbery, aggravated assault, arson, and kidnaping. In the FBI’s Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) Program, violent crime is composed of four offenses: Murder and nonnegligent manslaughter, rape, robbery, and aggravated assault. Violent crimes are defined in the UCR Program as those offenses which involve force or threat of force. The Director exercised his discretion, therefore, to include these categories of violent crimes and also expanded the list to include arson and kidnaping, as they also are crimes of an inherently violent nature and particular dangerousness to the public.
The Director exercises discretion to deny early release eligibility to inmates who have a prior felony or misdemeanor conviction for theses offenses because commission of such offenses rationally reflects the view that such inmates displayed readiness to endanger the public. The UCR explained that “because of the variances in punishment for the same offenses in different state codes, no distinction between felony and misdemeanor crimes was possible.”
The application of national standards to the numerous local, state, tribal, and federal prior convictions promotes uniformity, but creates unique issues since each separate entity will have its own criminal statutory schemes in which offenses may be categorized as either misdemeanors or felonies. Limiting the Bureau to an analysis of how an offense is categorized in local, state, tribal, or federal criminal codes, rather than to an analysis of the nature of the prior offense, would effectively prevent the Director from exercising the discretion authorized by 18 U.S.C. 3621(e). Furthermore, eliminating the analysis of prior violent misdemeanor convictions would allow inmates to receive the benefit of early release merely because of the manner in which the prior convictions were categorized.
Additionally, 28 CFR 550.55(b)(6) provides that inmates who have been convicted of an attempt, conspiracy, or other offense which involved certain underlying offenses are also precluded from early release eligibility. Many state statutes provide that “attempt” convictions are to be categorized as one degree lower than the underlying offense (e.g., Alaska Statutes sec. 11.31.100(d), N.C. Gen Stat. sec. 14-2.5, Tex. Penal Code sec. 15.01(d), and Wash. Rev. Code sec. 9A.28.020(3)). Therefore, eliminating the analysis of prior misdemeanor convictions may result in offenders convicted of attempting to commit a precluding offense being found eligible for early release, despite the provisions of 28 CFR 550.55(b)(6).
Further, based on a random sampling of inmates who participated in RDAP but were precluded from RDAP early release eligibility, the Bureau estimates that of the 856 inmates precluded in the year 2014 based only on convictions for prior offense, at least half that number would have been eligible for early release if the Bureau had not considered prior offenses greater than 10 years old. The Fiscal Year 2015 estimated annual marginal rate to incarcerate an inmate in the Bureau of Prisons is $11,324 per inmate. Based on an estimate of 400 inmates released up to a year early if this proposed rule change is made, that could equate to a cost avoidance of over $4.5 million per year.
Also, in § 550.55(b), the Director exercises his discretion to disallow particular categories of inmates from eligibility for early release, including, in (6), those who were convicted of an attempt, conspiracy, or other offense which involved an underlying offense listed in paragraph (b)(4) and/or (b)(5) of § 550.55. We narrowed the language of § 550.55(b)(6) to preclude only those inmates whose prior conviction involved direct knowledge of the underlying criminal activity and who either participated in or directed the underlying criminal activity. This change tailors the regulation to the congressional intent to exclude from early release consideration only those inmates who have been convicted of a violent offense. Furthermore, the changed language expands early release benefits to more inmates.
Beginning in 1991, in coordination with the National Institute on Drug Abuse, the Bureau conducted a 3-year outcome study of the RDAP. Federal Bureau of Prisons (2000). TRIAD Drug Treatment Evaluation Project Final Report of Three-Year Outcomes: Part I. (“TRIAD Study”). The study evaluated the effect of treatment on both male and female inmates (1,842 men and 473 women). This study demonstrates that the Bureau’s RDAP makes a positive difference in the lives of inmates and improves public safety.
The TRIAD study showed that the RDAP program is effective in reducing recidivism. Male participants were 16 percent less likely to recidivate and 15 percent less likely to relapse than similarly situated inmates who do not participate in residential drug abuse treatment for up to 3 years after release. The analysis also found that female inmates who participate in RDAP are 18 percent less likely to recidivate than similarly situated female inmates who do not participate in treatment.
The TRIAD study defined criminal recidivism was defined two ways: (1) An arrest for a new offense or (2) an arrest for a new offense or supervision revocation. Revocation was defined as occurring only when the revocation was solely the result of a technical violation of one or more conditions of supervision (e.g., detected drug use, failure to report to probation officer). Drug use as a post-release outcome, for the purposes of the study, referred to the first occurrence of drug or alcohol use as reported by U.S. Probation officers (i.e., a positive urinalysis (u/a), refusal to submit to a urinalysis, admission of drug use to the probation officer, or a positive breathalyser test).
Offenders who completed the residential drug abuse treatment program and had been released to the community for three years were less likely to be re-arrested or to be detected for drug use than were similar inmates who did not participate in the drug abuse treatment program. Specifically, 44.3 percent of male inmates who completed the program were likely to be re-arrested or revoked within three years after release to supervision in the community, compared to 52.5 percent of those inmates who did not receive such treatment. For women, 24.5 percent of those who completed the residential drug abuse treatment program were arrested or revoked within three years after release, compared to 29.7 percent of the untreated women.
With respect to drug use, 49.4 percent of men who completed treatment were likely to use drugs within 3 years following release, compared to 58.5 percent of those who did not receive treatment. Among female inmates who completed treatment, 35.2 percent were likely to use drugs within the three-year postrelease period in the community, compared to 42.6 percent of those who did not receive such treatment.
Section 550.56 Community Transitional Drug Abuse Treatment Program (TDAT). In addition to changing “Transitional Drug Abuse Treatment Program (TDAT)” to “Community Treatment Services (CTS)” throughout this regulation as indicated earlier, we also deleted paragraph (c), which appears to require that inmates successfully completing RDAP and participating in transitional treatment programming must participate in such programming for one hour per month. The provision in the regulation was an error. It did not relate to Community Treatment Services (CTS), but instead related to RDAP. It was therefore unnecessary to retain this language. The substance of this language will be retained as implementing text in the relevant policy statement as part of RDAP procedures.