0 - National Criminal Justice Reference Service

Evaluations Of Prison-Based TC
The most recent and state-of-the-art research on prison-based TC was reported in a
special issue of the Prison JournaZ (1999, Volumes 3 & 4). Evaluations of prison-based treatment
were described in three states (California, Delaware, and Texas) that mounted major treatment
initiatives in correctional settings. The three studies all used a common time interval (3 years) for
tracking follow-up outcomes, including performance indicators extracted fiom official criminal
justice records in each state. Studies found that graduates of prison TC had lower rates of
rearrest, drug relapse, andor return to custody than comparison samples, especially when prison
TC was combined with structured aftercare following release fiom prison.
In Delaware (Martin et al., 1999), 3-year follow-ups showed that rearrest rates were
lowest for those who graduated prison TC and successfully completed an aftercare program
(31%). Those who completed TC but no aftercare still did significantly better (45%) than those
who dropped out (72%) or those who received no treatment (71%). In California (Wexler et al.,
1999), those who successfully completed prison TC plus aftercare showed a rearrest rate of 27%
in 3-year follow-up studies, compared to 75% for a no-treatment comparison group. In Texas
(Knight, Simpson & Hiller, 1999), those who completed TC plus aftercare had a 3-year rearrest
rate of only 25%, compared to 42% of a no-treatment comparison group.
Effectiveness is related to the length of time an individual remains in treatment (Lipton,
1995). Evaluations of New York’s Stay’n Out program (Wexler, Fa& and Lipton, 1990;
Wexler, Falkin, Lipton, and Rosenbaum, 1992), Oregon’s Cornerstone Program (Field, 1984,
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1989, 1992), Delaware’s Key-Crest programs (Inciardi, 1995, 1997), California’s Amity Prison
TC program (Wexler, 1995), the Texas In-Prison TC (Fabelo, 1995; Knight, Simpson, Chatham,
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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.