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V. CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS
The purpose of this project was to examine multiple post-release outcomes for 2,981
inmates who participated in TC drug treatment'programs or comparison groups at five state
prisons, and to examine interactions between client selection, program structure, treatment
process, responses to treatment and multiple measures of outcome. Matched comparison groups
made up of TC-eligible inmates participating in less intensive forms of treatment (e.g., short-term
drug education and outpatient treatment groups) at the same five institutions were constructed
based upon known predictors such as drug dependency, need for treatment and criminal history.
Process and outcome measures incorporated institutional, intermediate (e.g., attitudinal and
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behavioral change) and post-release measures (e.g., drug relapse, rearrest, reincarceration).
Below, we summarize Sndings and recommendations in five major areas: post-release outcomes,
inmate characteristics, treatment process, programmatic variations, and information systems.
Post Release Outcomes
Overall, we found positive effects of TC, especially for successful program graduates (but
not failures), and mainly on reincarceration rates (but not rearrest or drug relapse rates).
Controlling for selection differences (e.g., criminal history and assessed level of need for drug
treatment), reincarceration rates were significantly lower for TC graduates (19%) than
Comparison inmates (26%). Interestingly, the positive effects of TC were moderated considerably
by post-release employment. With minor exceptions (discussed below), programmatic effects
were invariant across the five institutions.
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TC significantly lowered the likelihood of reincarceration, although it did so only when
successll program graduates were isolated. When program failures were included in analyses, TC
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This document is a research report submitted to the U.S. Department of Justice. This report has not
been published by the Department. Opinions or points of view expressed are those of the author(s)
and do not necessarily reflect the official position or policies of the U.S. Department of Justice.