I. Substance Abusing Offenders

Assessment Issues:

Staff has multiple tools available to help determine whether an offender has a drug problem, and if so, how severe it is. A number of public domain instruments (e.g. Addiction Severity Index (ASI), Texas Christian University Drug Screen (TCU), POSIT for juveniles) and some propriety instruments exist (e.g. Level of Service Inventory-Revisited, Youth Service Assessment Inventory, etc.) that can be used to identify the severity of an offender's problem and highlight priorities for participation in treatment. Drug test results offer another way to evaluate the presence and severity of substance abuse. The results of drug tests also indicate the offender's continuation or cessation of drug use throughout supervision.