DOI: 10.3886/icpsr03102.v1
title: Process Evaluation of the Residential Substance Abuse Treatment (RSAT) Program at the Illinois Youth Center, St. Charles, 1999-2000
title: Version 1

description: As part of the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement
Act of 1994, Congress provided funding for the development of
substance abuse treatment programs in state and local correctional
facilities with the Residential Substance Abuse Treatment (RSAT) for
State Prisoners Formula Grant Program. To be eligible for this
funding, programs were required to last between six and 12 months, be
provided in residential treatment facilities set apart from the
general correctional population, be directed at the inmate's substance
abuse problems, and be intended to develop the inmate's cognitive,
behavioral, social, vocational, and other skills to address substance
abuse and related problems. The Illinois Youth Center (IYC) in
St. Charles started an RSAT program on September 30, 1999. The primary
emphasis of this process evaluation was to describe why and how the
St. Charles RSAT program was designed, implemented, and operated. To a
lesser degree, attention was also directed toward examining the
effects of program participation on offender pre-release
behavior. This was considered to be a primary indicator of program
impact. This project sought to answer the following research
questions: (1) Did the program fit within the institutional
environment? (2) Was the program operating as a therapeutic community?
(3) Were the appropriate offenders selected for program participation?
and (4) Were any short-term impacts evident within the youth? This
study followed a process evaluation design with a focus on determining
how a product or outcome was produced, rather than on assessing the
product or outcome itself. Information in this data collection was
collected from youth participants and youth files. Subjects consisted
of the 44 youths who began the RSAT program in 1999 (the treatment
group), as well as a matched sample of non-program participants (the
comparison group). The comparison group was used to contrast
institutional behavior of youths not in the treatment program and to
establish a non-treatment cohort for an expected follow-up impact
study. Part 1 contains data from two surveys of program youth only,
and Parts 2-4 contained data on both program youth and the comparison
group. Part 2 data were gathered from a review of the youths' master
files at the correctional facility. Part 3 data were obtained from
behavior action tickets (BATs), which were an institution-wide
semi-formal mechanism to recognize positive and negative youth
behavior. Part 4 data were collected from institutional disciplinary
reports (IDRs). Part 1 surveyed youth about what they hoped to achieve
in the RSAT program, whether they thought the program would help them,
how well they understood the program, how they assessed their own
substance abuse problems, what they liked and disliked about the
program, their opinions about program staff, and their recommendations
for changing the program. Demographic variables in Part 2 include age,
race, and education level. Other variables record reading test scores,
math test scores, IQ scores, location of parents, number of siblings,
drug use and frequency, criminal history, types of prior substance
abuse treatments, family history of drug use, suicidal ideations, and
personality test scores. Part 3 contains monthly counts of positive
and negative behavior action tickets. Part 4 contains information
about the number and types of guilty institutional disciplinary
reports, the severity of the offenses, and the number and types of
punishments received.
description: As part of the Violent Crime Control and Law
 Enforcement Act of 1994, Congress provided funding for the development
 of substance abuse treatment programs in state and local correctional
 facilities with the Residential Substance Abuse Treatment (RSAT) for
 State Prisoners Formula Grant Program. To be eligible for this
 funding, programs were required to last between six and 12 months, be
 provided in residential treatment facilities set apart from the
 general correctional population, be directed at the inmate's substance
 abuse problems, and be intended to develop the inmate's cognitive,
 behavioral, social, vocational, and other skills to address substance
 abuse and related problems. The Illinois Youth Center (IYC) in
 St. Charles started an RSAT program on September 30, 1999. The primary
 emphasis of this evaluation was to describe why and how the
 St. Charles RSAT program was designed, implemented, and operated. To a
 lesser degree, attention was also directed toward examining the
 effects of program participation on offender pre-release
 behavior. This was considered to be a primary indicator of program
 impact. This project sought to answer the following research
 questions: (1) Did the program fit within the institutional
 environment? (2) Was the program operating as a therapeutic community?
 (3) Were the appropriate offenders selected for program participation?
and (4) Were any short-term impacts evident within the youth?
description: This study followed a process evaluation design
 with a focus on determining how a product or outcome was produced,
 rather than on assessing the product or outcome itself. Process
 evaluations permit decision-makers to understand the dynamics of
 program operations and decide whether a program is operating according
 to their expectations. Information in this data collection was
 collected from youth participants and youth files. Subjects consisted
 of the 44 youths who began the RSAT program in 1999 (the treatment
 group), as well as a matched sample of non-program participants (the
 comparison group). The comparison group was used to contrast
 institutional behavior of youths not in the treatment program and to
 establish a non-treatment cohort for an expected follow-up impact
 study. Part 1 contains data from two surveys of program youth only,
 and Parts 2-4 contain data on both program youth and the comparison
 group. The first survey administration took place on October 14, 1999,
 approximately two weeks following program implementation. The survey
 instrument included 11 questions and asked youths about their prior
 drug and/or alcohol usage, whether they believed they needed
 treatment, if they previously had been in treatment, and what they
 believed they would get out of the program. The instrument was written
 at approximately a 4th-grade reading level. The second survey
 administration occurred on April 4, 2000, less than one week following
 program completion for the majority of program youths. The instrument
 included 11 questions and was designed to elicit evaluative
 information about the program from each youth. Specific questions
 included what the youths liked, disliked, and would change about the
 program. Additional questions focused on the actions of the program
 staff. This instrument was also written at a 4th-grade reading
 level. Part 2 data were gathered from a review of the youths' master
 files at the correctional facility. Demographic, social history,
 substance abuse, and criminal history information were included. Part
 3 data were obtained from behavior action tickets (BATs), which were
 an institution-wide semi-formal mechanism to recognize positive and
 negative youth behavior. They were written at the discretion of a
 staff member. BATs were monitored by each youth's counselor and used
 as one factor in determining the privileges granted. The research team
 asked the counselors to save individual BATs of study youth from
 December of 1999 through June of 1999 so that information could be
 coded into a data file. Part 4 data were collected from institutional
 disciplinary reports (IDRs). Staff wrote IDRs whenever they observed a
 youth committing a more serious negative behavior. Unlike BATs, IDRs
 never reflected positive behavior. IDRs were classified as major or
 minor, depending upon the seriousness of the act. An officer reviewed
 minor IDRs, while the adjustment committee reviewed major IDRs. IDRs
 commonly resulted in confinement, a delay in recommending the youth's
 parole to the Prisoner Review Board, or a reduction in
 privileges. Individual IDRs were maintained permanently in each
 youth's master file. The IDRs for this study were collected between
 July 1, 1999, and June 30, 2000, in order to allow the evaluators to
 review behavior three months prior to the program, during the program,
and during a three-month follow-up period.
description: Part 1 surveyed youth about what they hoped to
 achieve in the RSAT program, whether they thought the program would
 help them, how well they understood the program, how they assessed
 their own substance abuse problems, what they liked and disliked about
 the program, their opinions about program staff, and their
 recommendations for changing the program. Demographic variables in
 Part 2 include age, race, and education level. Other variables record
 reading test scores, math test scores, IQ scores, location of parents,
 number of siblings, drug use and frequency, criminal history, types of
 prior substance abuse treatments, family history of drug use, suicidal
 ideations, and personality test scores. Part 3 contains monthly counts
 of positive and negative behavior action tickets. Part 4 contains
 information about the number and types of guilty institutional
 disciplinary reports, the severity of the offenses, and the number and
types of punishments received.
description: Response Rates: For Part 1, 86.4 percent of youth participated
 in the first youth survey, 56.8 percent completed the second survey,
and 47.7 percent completed both surveys. Parts 2-4: Not applicable.
description: Presence of Common Scales: Several Likert-type scales were used in Part 1. Several
psychological scales were used in Part 2.
description: Matched comparison sampling.
description: Datasets: 
DS0: Study-Level Files
DS1: Youth Survey Data
DS2: Master File Data
DS3: Behavior Action Ticket Data
DS4: Institutional Disciplinary Report Data
description: Youths aged 13 to 18 with substance abuse problems in the
St. Charles, Illinois, Youth Center in 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 accessed using PDF reader software, such as the Adobe
Acrobat Reader. Information on how to obtain a copy of the Acrobat
Reader is provided on the ICPSR Web site.