Intensive Outpatient Program (IOP) and Non-Hospital Residential (NHR) Program
Problems addressed
Effectiveness

Promising

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Promising

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Life periods served
Country of application
Description

There are two community-based substance use treatment programs for individuals recently released to the open system. The objective is to treat substance dependence and reduce the risks of recidivism.
The programs allow participants to serve their sentences within their communities and with psychological and medical follow-up to treat dependency. Program participants are those who have completed at least half of their sentences and have six months to one year remaining, who do not have a record of a serious psychiatric disorder, and who volunteer to participate in the programs.
After the individual assessment, a clinical evaluator and a psychiatrist refer participants to the programs best suited to their cases. The intensive outpatient program consists of three days of treatment with individual and group therapy and educational and preventive approaches. The non-hospital residential program lasts six months and includes individual and group therapy, social rehabilitation, and skills development.

Impact evaluations

An impact evaluation study showed that, after 24 months of follow-up, 22% of the people who received probation and program follow-up were convicted of a new crime, compared to 34% of the people in the control group, who did not receive the intervention. This difference was statistically significant [1].

Bibliographic reference

[1] Zanis, D. A., Mulvaney, F., Coviello, D., Alterman, A. I., Savitz, B. & Thompson, W. (2003). The Effectiveness of Early Parole to Substance Abuse Treatment Facilities on 24-Month Criminal Recidivism. Journal of Drug Issues, 33(1), 223–235. https://doi.org/10.1177/002204260303300109

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