Hello All
I am newcomer, but will be sending a lot of mail and asking a lot of questions....I am doing paper on prisons and comparing services offered and if someone could tell me about how the drug and alcohol counseling
works there I would greatly appreciate it.
Thanx

Welcome to PTO I am sure someone will be along to answer your question.

Sunnie

Welcome to PTO !!
Im not totally clear on your question, are you asking about how the drug councilling works in prisons ? If so, it is different in each facility and some do not have any, especially since there have been many budget cuts in every states correctional budget. Some inmates are ordered as part of their sentence to attend drug councilling/courses within prison. There are mixed responses as far as the worth of these groups and the quality. My husband has been threw all the levels two times. The first time he found it quite lame and also commented that many inmates were only there because it was part of their sentence and didnt contribute to their own healing or the group and no one made any effort to teach them why it would be of value. The second time around he felt it was of great benefit to him and had good quality and learning experiences as well as a very informed teacher. He has also attended judge ordered drug councilling classes in a county jail and I have the workbook from that and it is quite inpressive and unfortunately my husband wasnt there long enough to finish it but it was much better than the groups offered in the prisons in Michigan. That particular one was offered at Dickerson Jail in Detroit.
Each state is different and the best input you will get will be from various members commenting on their loved ones experiences or their own while incarcerated. Hopefully you will get more responses though I dont think you will get many positive responses.
Over all, the quality and the availability of drug councilling in prisons has declined in America though there are some rare incidences of Wardens who are making changes in their prisons and I hope to have some information about those facilities posted soon. Outside groups that come into prisons seem to be a better option for many prisoners these days. Another thing is when a prisoner is required to take these 'groups' they are not always available at the prison they are in and need to transfer in order to complete it. There are often big waiting lists and some prisoners wait years to get in them and are refused parole because they are still on waiting lists. My husband is currently serving a long sentence but is required to take the drug course again. He is not even allowed on to the waiting list until he is one year away from his earliest release date even though it will take him at least a year to complete all the levels and in my opinion he needs it now since he has already been caught with drugs in prison and he is in prison as a result of drugs and a very long term addiction to them.
Hopefully that has given you some insight and Im sure there will be others around to post to give you some other experiences and points of view.
Perhaps some more specific questions might help.
Again welcome to PTO and glad you found us.

I've attended AA meetings inside, then led them as the outside AA rep, and I've got a friend now who's inside and attending meetings. We give the regular AA program, focusing on responsibility and gratitude, two topics that active addicts usually avoid. My exp has been that a few--very few--really get into the AA program while inside, and they continue it once released. Private me with more specific questions. Good luck! Ralph