Step'n Out: A Multisite Trial of Collaborative Behavioral Management for Drug-Involved Parolees

The target population consists of male and female parolees with a history of substance abuse treatment who are at moderate-to-high-risk of recidivism. They will recruited from in the criminal justice system and/or transitional residential drug treatment within one or two months of release or at the time they first report for parole supervision.

Participants from six states (KY, OR, RI, CT, VA, DE) will be randomized into the Step'n Out condition (integration of community supervision and addiction treatment with behavioral management) or a comparison condition including traditional community supervision and addiction treatment. Research interviews at baseline, and 3 and 9 months after release from confinement will assess study participants' outcomes.

The Step'n Out intervention will produce significantly better outcomes than the standard referral condition with respect to: recidivism rates (revocation, rearrest on a new charge, reconviction, reincarceration), as assessed 3 and 9 months after the end of the intervention; treatment participation (i.e., proportion of planned sessions attended, proportion of planned days retained in treatment, type of discharge [successful completion, transfer to another program, elopement, administrative discharge, return to custody], as assessed after the end of the intervention; self-reported drug use, criminal activity, and psychosocial functioning, as assessed 3 and 12 months after the end of the intervention; cost-effectiveness; collaboration between the supervision officer and treatment counselor ; and therapeutic alliance with the clients.