Less Is More: The Effect of a Short-term Substance Use Disorder Treatment Program on Recidivism

Abstract

ABSTRACT Most people behind bars suffer from substance use disorders (SUDs), but very few of them participate in treatment prior to leaving prison. Minnesota implemented a shorter-term therapeutic community-based treatment program to target higher custody individuals serving relatively short terms of incarceration. The purpose of this research is to determine whether this program reduced the likelihood of recidivism. This study used propensity score matching to compare 351 men who participated in the short-term SUD treatment program to 351 men who left prison without participating in any treatment. Cox regression was used to predict four different types of recidivism. This research found that participation in the short-term program significantly reduced the likelihood of three out of four measures of recidivism. A medium level of treatment exposure (four to five months) significantly reduced the likelihood of all four types of recidivism relative to individuals who did not participate in any treatment. This research contributes to a growing body of evidence showing that evidence-based SUD treatment programs do not need to be long to be effective. By reducing the length of treatment, prisons can increase their treatment capacity, ensuring that fewer individuals leave prison without treatment.