Program Profile: Delaware KEY Substance Abuse Program

This program is a prison-based therapeutic community for drug-involved individuals. The program is rated Promising. After 3 years, results showed statistically significant increases in remaining drug-free; however, there were no statistically significant effects in being arrest-free.

A Promising rating implies that implementing the program may result in the intended outcome(s).

Program Goals/Target Population

The KEY Substance Abuse Program is the prison-based portion of the continuum of substance abuse treatment for persons convicted of drug offenses who are reentering society, which is offered by the Delaware Department of Correction (DOC). The DOC provides a continuum of primary (in prison), secondary (work release), and tertiary (aftercare) therapeutic community treatment for drug-involved offenders. Each stage in the continuum corresponds to the person’s changing correctional status: incarceration, work release, and parole or community supervision.

The substance abuse treatment programs offered by the DOC allow for drug-involved offenders to go through the KEY Program and the CREST Outreach Centers. Alternatively, they can participate in the CREST Outreach Centers without participating in the KEY Program. This CrimeSolutions review focused on the KEY program only, without released individuals participating in the CREST Outreach Centers.

Program Components

KEY is the first component of the DOC’s substance abuse treatment continuum. It is a prison-based, therapeutic community program designed as a total treatment environment that is discipline-based and isolated from the rest of the prison population. The treatment perspective is that drug abuse is a disorder, and that addiction is the symptom and not the essence of the disorder. Therefore, the primary goal of KEY is to change negative patterns of behavior, thinking, and feelings that predispose an individual toward drug abuse. Individuals receive behavioral, cognitive, and emotional therapy that focuses on changing behavior first and emotion last.

Individuals typically become involved in the KEY program during the last 12 to 18 months of incarceration. They are provided with a routine that is disciplined and regimented and are required to complete program assignments that are seen as essential to treatment. KEY staff members provide oversight to treatment programming, which is scheduled 7 days a week. Individuals have access to staff counselors every day, if they feel the need to discuss issues related to their treatment and recovery. Individuals also meet twice a week with their caseload group (other program participants) to discuss issues related to recovery. After completing the KEY program, participants are released into the community with no further mandated therapeutic treatment.

Additional Information

View the program profile for:

• The Delaware CREST Outreach Centers
• The Delaware KEY/CREST Substance Abuse Program

Study 1

In a follow up to the Martin, Butzin, and Inciardi (1995) quasi-experimental study, Martin and colleagues (1999) looked at the outcome results 1 year and 3 years after participants left work release. The study examined the same four groups as in the previous study: 1) primary treatment in prison at KEY program with no subsequent treatment, 2) primary treatment in prison at KEY program and secondary (transitional) treatment at CREST Outreach Center, 3) primary treatment at CREST with no prior prison-based treatment, and 4) no treatment other than HIV/AIDS prevention education.

The study authors also looked at results from participants who received no in-prison treatment, were assigned to regular work release, were CREST dropouts, were CREST graduates without aftercare, or were CREST graduates with aftercare. However, the CrimeSolutions review of this study focused on the comparisons between the initial KEY group (n=38) and the initial comparison group (n=165).

The comparison group was predominately male (82 percent), 68 percent African American, 27 percent white, and 4 percent Hispanic. Their average age was 29 years. The KEY group was all male, 84 percent African American, and 16 percent white. Their average age was 31.

The outcome measures of interest were relapse (drug-free) and recidivism (arrest-free). Each outcome variable combined information from repeated self-reports and official data. To be considered drug-free, the participant must have reported no illegal drug use and tested negative for drugs on the urine screen at every follow-up point. Similarly, to be considered arrest-free, the participant must have reported no arrests and no official arrest record for new offenses since release from prison (excluding parole violations). The study authors relied on bivariate and multivariate logistic regression to analyze the data and did not conduct subgroup analyses of KEY participants.

These sources were used in the development of the program profile:

These sources were used in the development of the program profile:

Following are CrimeSolutions-rated programs that are related to this practice:

Incarceration-based Therapeutic Communities for Adults

This practice uses a comprehensive, residential drug treatment program model for treating substance-abusing and addicted inmates to foster changes in attitudes, perceptions, and behaviors related to substance use. The practice is rated Promising in reducing recidivism rates after release for participants in therapeutic communities.

Evidence Ratings for Outcomes

Crime & Delinquency - Multiple crime/offense types

Rehabilitation Programs for Adults Convicted of a Crime

This practice includes programs that are designed to reduce recidivism among adults by improving their behaviors, skills, mental health, social functioning, and access to education and employment. They may become participants in rehabilitation programs during multiple points in their involvement with the criminal justice system. This practice is rated Promising for reducing recidivism among adults who have been convicted of an offense.

Evidence Ratings for Outcomes

Crime & Delinquency - Multiple crime/offense types

Why might a practice's outcome ratings differ from the ratings of specific programs encompassed by that practice?