Visionary Programs for Addiction Recovery and Rehabilitation in Prisons
Full Circle Addiction Recovery Services, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, offers several unique and visionary programs at San Quentin State Prison addressing addiction recovery, rehabilitation, reentry, and recidivism.
Addiction Counselors Training (ACT): training inmates to be professional drug/alcohol counselors certified by CAADAC (California Association of Drug and Alcohol Counselors), the gold standard that makes them very employable. CAADAC backs ACT as a pilot program they want to take across the state.
Addiction Recovery Counseling (ARC): a comprehensive outpatient best-practices drug/alcohol treatment program, utilizing ACT’s trained inmate counselors, working under the clinical supervision of experienced addiction treatment specialists.
Reentry services: Addressing a 70% recidivism rate, Full Circle has begun to provide a seamless continuum of care: reentry planning, community resource referrals, and placements for ARC graduates and ACT inmate counselors. Partnerships are being formed with multi-service community agencies, starting with Options Recovery Services in Berkeley, to do pre-release case management, pick up parolees at the gate, and provide housing, job training, continued addiction and mental health treatment, and a full range of services as needed.
Taking It on the Road: Requests have been received from other prisons asking Full Circle for information and to consult with them about our innovative programs. Inquiries are welcomed.
StandUp Program: The Warden’s new StandUp program will target inmates who want to change their lives and become healthy, productive family and community members. Full Circle has been asked to provide addiction treatment in the StandUp program. StandUp will serve 1000 men when fully operational in approximately mid-2008. All StandUp enrollees who have drug/alcohol addiction on their record (as high as 90%) are mandated to receive addiction treatment.
Proposed Additional Services
As funding becomes available, the following are other needed services that Full Circle will offer in conjunction with ACT and ARC to provide a continuum of care and address issues that contribute to preventing recidivism:
- Family education and counseling services, to teach the prisoner’s family about addiction and recovery and to assist with the prisoner’s re-entry into the family and community.
- Counseling services for the ACT inmate trainees, provided by post-masters intern counselors from the community who are pursuing licensure, under supervision of licensed professionals.
- Pre-treatment addiction education in the Reception Center at San Quentin, for those awaiting assignment to prisons throughout the State.