DOI: 10.3886/icpsr02914
title: National Evaluation of Residential Substance Abuse Treatment (RSAT) Programs in the United States, 1995-1999
title: Archival Version

description: The Residential Substance Abuse Treatment (RSAT) for State Prisoners 
 Formula Grant Program, created by Title III (Subtitle U of the Violent Crime 
 Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994), was designed by Congress 
 to implement residential substance abuse programs providing individual and group 
 treatment for inmates in residential facilities operated by state and local 
 correctional agencies. Under the Corrections Program Office of the Office of 
 Justice Programs of the United States Department of Justice, state and local 
 correctional agencies received funds to develop or enhance existing programs 
 that: (1) lasted between six and 12 months, (2) provided residential treatment 
 facilities set apart from the general correctional population, (3) were 
 directed at the substance abuse problems of the inmate, (4) were intended to 
 develop the inmate's cognitive, behavioral, social, vocational, and other 
 skills in order to treat related problems as well as the substance abuse, and (5) 
 continued to require urinalysis and/or other proven reliable forms of drug 
 and alcohol testing of individuals assigned to treatment programs during and 
 after release from residential custody. The National Development and Research 
 Institutes, Inc. (NDRI) entered into a cooperative agreement with 
 the National Institute of Justice wherein NDRI would evaluate the extent to which the goals of the RSAT program 
 were being accomplished and the problems that were encountered by the 
 participating states. The methods of this national evaluation were: (1) 
 an initial state survey to ascertain the RSAT programs and program directors 
 in each of the 50 states plus five territories and the District of Columbia 
 and to collect basic information on the aggregate impact of the RSAT-funded 
 programs in each state or territory (Part 1, State Data), (2) a follow-up state survey to 
 collect more detailed information on the aggregate impact of the RSAT-funded 
 programs in each state (Part 1, State Data), and (3) an initial program survey to describe 
 the separate RSAT programs as they came on line and to assess whether a few of 
 the programs might serve as model programs which could undergo subsequent 
 intensive evaluation (Part 2, Program Data). The sampling method used was a census of all the existing RSAT-funded 
 programs and all of the state RSAT officials. Part 1 variables include the 
 amount of RSAT funds received by the state in fiscal years 1996 to 1998, 
 amounts from other sources of funding, and amount spent on salaries, training, 
 drug tests, other supplies, and facilities, as well as number of residents, number of 
 staff, reasons why funding was delayed, RSAT award date, and RSAT end date.
 Part 2 variables include the number of clients in the program, number of beds 
 available, number of staff by gender, race, age, education, profession, and 
 years of experience, admission inclusion criteria, reporting procedures, treatment 
 type and duration, type of drug testing and number of tests, annual budget, 
sources of funding, and cost per capita.
description: The Residential Substance Abuse Treatment (RSAT) for State 
 Prisoners Formula Grant Program, created by Title III (Subtitle U of the Violent 
 Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994), was designed by Congress to implement residential substance abuse programs providing individual and 
 group treatment for inmates in residential facilities operated by state and 
 local correctional agencies. Under the Corrections Program Office of the Office 
 of Justice Programs of the United States Department of Justice, state and 
 local correctional agencies received funds to develop or enhance existing 
 programs that: (1) lasted between six and 12 months, (2) provided residential 
 treatment facilities set apart from the general correctional population, (3) 
 were directed at the substance abuse problems of the inmate, (4) were intended 
 to develop the inmate's cognitive, behavioral, social, vocational, and other 
 skills in order to treat related problems as well as the substance abuse, and (5) 
 continued to require urinalysis and/or other proven reliable forms of drug 
 and alcohol testing of individuals assigned to treatment programs during and 
 after release from residential custody. The National Development and Research 
 Institutes, Inc. (NDRI) entered into a cooperative agreement with the 
 National Institute of Justice wherein NDRI would evaluate the extent to which the goals of the RSAT program were being 
 accomplished and the problems that were encountered by the participating 
states.
description: The methods of this national evaluation were: (1) an initial 
 state survey to ascertain the RSAT programs and program directors in each of the 
 50 states plus five territories and the District of Columbia and to collect 
 basic information on the aggregate impact of the RSAT-funded programs 
 in each state or territory (Part 1, State Data), (2) a follow-up state survey to collect 
 more detailed information on the aggregate impact of the RSAT-funded programs 
 in each state (Part 1, State Data), and (3) an initial program survey to describe the 
 separate RSAT programs as they came on line and to assess whether a few of 
 the programs might serve as model programs which could undergo subsequent 
 intensive evaluation (Part 2, Program Data). The sampling method used was a census of all the existing RSAT-funded 
 programs and all of the state RSAT officials. Universe lists needed to be 
 established for two different levels of units. The state level consisted of the 
 50 states plus five territories plus the District of Columbia. The Corrections 
 Program Office provided the name, address, and telephone number of the state 
 official serving as the RSAT contact person in each state. The program level 
 consisted of the actual RSAT programs, with many states having more than one 
 program. No clear specified universe of RSAT programs existed when the national 
 evaluation began. Since some states did not have detailed plans for the programs 
 and had not yet decided on program directors, there was neither a complete 
 official list of the RSAT programs nor a list of designated program directors. 
 Also, as the national evaluation team was carrying out its survey work, the 
 set of RSAT programs continued to grow. The initial list of program names 
 and contact people was created from information obtained from the initial 
 state survey. All surveys were sent by mail and project staff followed up 
 by fax and telephone. Three systematic attempts were made to 
have a survey completed and returned.
description: Part 1 variables include the amount of RSAT funds received 
 by the state in fiscal years 1996 to 1998, and amounts from other sources of 
 funding, amount spent on salaries, training, drug tests, other supplies, and 
 facilities, as well as number of residents, number of staff, reasons why funding was 
 delayed, RSAT award date, and RSAT end date. Part 2 variables include the 
 number of clients in the program, number of beds available, number of staff 
 by gender, race, age, education, profession, and years of experience, admission 
 inclusion criteria, reporting procedures, treatment type and duration, type 
 of drug testing and number of tests, annual budget, sources of funding, and 
cost per capita.
description: Response Rates: For Part 1 the response rate for the initial state 
 survey was 77 percent and the response rate for the final state survey was 
82 percent. For Part 2 the response rate for the program survey was 91 percent.
description: Presence of Common Scales: Several Likert-type scales were used.
description: Not applicable.
description: Datasets: 
DS0: Study-Level Files
DS1: State Data
DS2: Program Data
description: All states in the United States and all residential substance abuse 
treatment programs in operation from 1995 to 1999.
description: The user guide, codebook, and data collection instruments 
 are provided by ICPSR as Portable Document Format (PDF) files. The PDF 
 file format was developed by Adobe Systems Incorporated and can be 
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 Information on how to obtain a copy of the Acrobat Reader is provided on 
the ICPSR Web site.