ACT: Addiction Counselors Training
Begun in July 2005, the Addiction Counselors Training (ACT) at San Quentin State Prison is a unique educational and rehabilitation program designed to prepare inmates for certification to work as drug and alcohol counselors in treatment facilities when released or while in prison. Addiction specialists from major universities and drug/alcohol addiction treatment centers around the Bay Area volunteered to teach the required academic courses to the first class, which graduated in December 2006. Graduates will do their internship in the prison treatment program or, when released, at treatment centers in the community.
ACT goals:
- offer job training for inmates to become highly skilled, certified alcohol and drug addiction counselors. Certification is now required by the State of California for all non-licensed counselors working in drug/alcohol addiction treatment facilities.
- create a well-trained, diverse group of inmate peer addiction counselors in the prison who understand the recovery issues of the inmates they counsel from first-hand experience
- teach the ACT inmate trainees life and work skills that will benefit them and the prison, as well as increasing the health of their families and the communities to which they return.
ACT consists of 7 classroom courses, a 6-month practicum, and a 4000-hour internship. ACT training is geared to the rigorous certification requirements of CAADAC, the California Association of Alcohol and Drug Counselors, a well known and highly respected certifying organization. CAADAC has been extremely supportive of the ACT program at San Quentin.
ACT inmate counselors receive job placement counseling and referrals for employment in the addictions treatment field when they leave San Quentin. Our strong ties with CAADAC assist this effort.
There is a waiting list for the next ACT training, which must be postponed until classroom space and funding to oversee the program is secured. The U.S. Navy addiction counselors training school in San Diego has offered to provide volunteer teachers and materials for another round of the ACT training program.
ACT Scores High
CAADAC multi-phase certification process requires a written test, given across the State and around the country, after finishing 300 hours of practicum experience. After 4000 hours, there is an oral exam. For San Quentin’s first ACT class, CAADAC waived application fees and their Executive Director Rhonda Messamore proctored the 3-1/2 hour written examination in June 2007 in the prison — a first. Full Circle is proud to say that 9 of the 11 men passed the written test, a much higher percentage than the national rate.