A Case Management Treatment Program for Drug-Involved Prison Releasees

Abstract

This article considers the application of the case management model for community-based treatment of prison releasees. The case management model has been successfully applied to rehabilitation in the social work and mental health fields. The analogies to issues of building protective factors and relapse prevention suggest a direct application to the treatment of drug abusers, and the monitoring components of case management parallel many of the desired supervisory functions of parole and probation. This article reviews the rationale, potential, and few existing applications of case management approaches for criminal justice clients. It then presents findings from an ongoing outcome evaluation of a case management program for parolees. Both the positive and negative results from this study suggest that case management treatment, when mandated in the context of criminal justice supervision, shows promise in reducing relapse to drug use and recidivism.