The Parolee Services Network (PSN) program provides community-based alcohol and drug abuse treatment for eligible parolees throughout 17 counties statewide. The purpose of the PSN project is to provide prison parolees with a full array of treatment and recovery services to promote long-term sobriety, support community reentry and reduce criminal recidivism.

The Los Angeles County PSN project was implemented in 1991. The Los Angeles County Department of Public Health, Substance Abuse Prevention and Control (SAPC) oversee local community treatment providers that provide PSN services throughout the county.

Funding for the PSN project is made possible by the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR). The program is a collaborative partnership between CDCR and the California Department of Alcohol and Drug Programs.

The Co-Occurring Disorders Court (CODC) is a specifically designed pilot court program created to supervise criminal defendants diagnosed with both a mental illness and a substance abuse disorder. The project involves an 18 month program that integrates mental health and substance abuse treatment services.

The Los Angeles County CODC program was implemented in 2007 and is funded by the County of Los Angeles Homeless Prevention Initiative and Mental Health Services Act. In 2008, the SAPC received an enhancement grant for the CODC program from the federal Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration which allows CODC clients to receive residential services at the Antelope Valley Rehabilitation Center in Acton.

The Los Angeles County Department of Public Health, Substance Abuse Prevention and Control (SAPC), The Department of Public Social Services (DPSS) and The Department of Mental Health (DMH), have collaborated to address the issue of substance abuse and its impact on families in Los Angeles County. These three departments serve families who receive public assistance and supportive services through the California Work Responsibility to KIDs (CalWORKs) Program. This program focuses on helping welfare recipients move from public assistance to employment or from welfare-to-work (WtW). In Los Angeles County WtW services are provided by GAIN. Most able bodied parents are required to participate in the GAIN employment services program. Participants meeting WtW requirements may receive treatment for substance abuse and mental health services. The ultimate goal is to assist CalWORKs participants in becoming self-sufficient.

Life Skills Support Group Curriculum Vol 1

Life Skills Support Group Curriculum Vol 2
 

The Los Angeles County Department of Public Health, Substance Abuse Prevention and Control (SAPC) and the Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS) have collaborated to address the issue of substance abuse and its impact on families in Los Angeles County. These two departments serve families where one or more children have been removed from parental custody for fifteen months or less due to suspected child abuse or neglect. The program is called Promote Safe and Stable Families (PSSF). The PSSF Program is a time-limited reunification program funded and managed by DCFS. The program is time-limited meaning these services are provided to families where children have been removed from parental custody for fifteen (15) months or less. The parents and/or caretakers have been directed to enter AOD treatment services as a part of their family reunification plan.
 

Under the leadership of the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors, Superior Court, Department of Children and Family Services, County Counsel, Alcohol and Drug Program Administration of the Department of Public Health, and attorneys for both the parent and children, the Dependency Drug Court Program addresses the needs of substance abusing parents while efforts are being made to foster family reunification. It offers a minimum of twelve months to complete a treatment plan. The plan includes Five Phases involving the client in orientation, intensive treatment, transition, two parts of aftercare, graduation, incentives, and if necessary, creative sanctions. Incentives acknowledge each client’s progression through treatment and sanctions are consequences resulting from a client’s resistance to treatment requirements. The goals of this program is to 1) decrease time to reunification; 2) reduce the number of substantiated allegations of abuse or neglect following reunification; 3) lower the rate of subsequent removal after reunification; and 4) track re-entry rate and time to termination of parent rights.
 

Under the leadership of the Los Angeles Board of Supervisors, Superior Court, District Attorney, Public Defender, Sheriff, Probation Department, and the Alcohol and Drug Program Administration of the Department of Public Health, treatment strategies were developed to address drug-using offenders including: intensive judicial supervision, case management, mandatory substance abuse treatment, drug testing, graduated sanctions, and rewards. During this time, offenders are on probation and are subject to the rules of the Probation Department. Upon successful completion of the program, offenders will have their guilty plea vacated and their case dismissed.
 

The Los Angeles County Department of Public Health, Substance Abuse Prevention and Control (SAPC) and the Department of Public Social Services (DPSS) have collaborated to help General Relief (GR) applicants/recipients with substance abuse problems recover from their chemical dependency. These two departments jointly developed the General Relief Mandatory Substance Abuse Recovery Program (MSARP) in Los Angeles County. It encourages personal responsibility by providing services to indigent adults who want to help themselves to reach self-sufficiency.
 

SAPC contracts with programs comprising a network of community-based prevention projects throughout the County. The programs engage youth and other community residents in conducting activities to strengthen local conditions to prevent and reduce alcohol and other drug problems by implementing the following evidence-based strategies: alternative activities, community organizing, environmental/social policy, information dissemination, prevention education/skills training, and problem identification and referral. These programs are aimed at individuals who currently do not require treatment for alcohol and drug problems, but may be at risk for such problems based on their present activities.
 

Proposition 36, also known as the Substance Abuse and Crime Prevention Act, is an initiative measure passed by California voters on November 7, 2000, which made significant changes in California’s judicial processes and substance abuse treatment systems for handling certain non-violent drug offenders. Implementation was effective July 1, 2001.

- Requires probation and drug treatment, instead of incarceration, for persons convicted of possession, use, transportation for personal use, or being under the influence of a controlled substance, and for probationers and parolees with drug-related probation or parole violations.

- Applies to non-violent drug possession/use offenses only; excludes sales or anyone with prior violent felony convictions.

- Provides for up to six months of community-based substance abuse treatment and up to four months of aftercare and authorizes the court to also require vocational training, family counseling, literacy training, and other services.

- Permits the Court to sanction offenders who are not amenable to treatment.

- Allows for dismissal of charges after successful completion of substance abuse treatment.

- Requires participating drug treatment programs to be State certified or licensed.

- Provided statewide funding of $60 million in FY 2000-01 for planning and start-up costs and $120 million annually from FY 2001-02 through FY 2005-06. Funds may be used for drug treatment, vocational training, family counseling, literacy training, as well as probation, court monitoring and other Proposition 36-related expenses. Commencing with Fiscal Year 2006-2007, the Governor proposed additional funding under the Substance Abuse Offender Treatment Program (OTP). Assembly Bill 1808 established in Fiscal Year 2006-2007 appropriated $25 million for OTP services to counties that demonstrated a funding commitment of ten percent.

- SB 223 (Chapter 721, Statutes of 2001) appropriated $8.4 million from the Federal Substance Abuse Prevention and Treatment Block Grant for FY 2001 for Proposition 36 drug testing grants to counties that meet the application requirements. Upon approval of its application, Los Angeles County received $2.2 million for FY 2001-02.

- Prohibits funding to be used for drug testing purposes.

- Funds allocated to counties are based on a formula that distributes 50% on a base allocation, 25% on drug arrests, and 25% on drug treatment caseload.

- Requires annual State evaluation and a long-term study on the effectiveness of Proposition 36.
 

The collaborative efforts of the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors, Superior Court, Sheriff, District Attorney, Public Defender, Probation Department, Countywide Criminal Justice Coordination Committee, UCLA Integrated Substance Abuse Programs, and the Alcohol and Drug Program Administration of the Department of Public Health, a Second Chance Women’s Re-Entry Court Program was established to provide services for 25 female offenders who are legal residents of Los Angeles County and are 1) paroled from a California Department of Correction and Rehabilitation institution under jurisdiction of the Los Angeles Superior Court and facing a new, non-violent, non-serious felony charge; 2) concurrently on parole and probation; or 3) on felony probation with at high risk of being sentenced to State prison. Eligible clients are required to complete a four phase treatment plan including: stabilization, orientation, assessment, intensive treatment, transition, and enhancement services. As with the traditional Drug Court program, the Second Chance Women’s Re-entry Program allows incentives and sanctions. Incentives acknowledge each client’s progression through treatment while sanctions are consequences resulting from a client’s resistance to treatment requirements.
 

SAPC’s Youth System of Services is comprised of fourteen community-based programs (thirteen outpatient and four residential) that provide substance abuse prevention, treatment, and recovery services tailored to the specific needs of youth. Prevention services target children and youth, and their families/caregivers, who are at risk of, or who have already initiated, experimentation and use of illicit substances. Treatment services serve youth ages 12 through 17, and up through 21 as clinically appropriate, whose alcohol and/or drug use has escalated to substance abuse or dependence. Recovery services serve those youth who are abstaining from alcohol and drug use, and/or who are transitioning from treatment, that require additional support to prevent relapse.

While each program determines their own program design and service philosophy, the programs are contracted to provide a level of care consistent with national best practices. This includes defined core services, specified staff qualifications, and the ability to serve youth with co-occurring substance use and mental health needs.

Access to Recovery in Los Angeles County