Process Evaluation of the Texas Youth Commission's Chemical Dependency Treatment Program -- Final Report

摘要

Despite the critical importance of process evaluations to enhancing the efficiency and effectiveness of chemical dependency treatment programs, systematic empirical attention to process-related dimensions of treatment programming has-been-largely neglected. This neglect is unfortunate, not least because successful completion of programs generally is viewed as a necessary precursor to treatment success (e.g., reduced dependency or recidivism). Using data collected on youthful offenders with chemical dependency treatment needs in the Texas Youth Commission (TYC), this report provides a systematic and empirical process evaluation of factors associated with successful program progress in TYC's Chemical Dependency Treatment Program (CDTP). Analyses focus on appropriate program placement and whether and to what extent risk, dynamic/criminogenic need, and treatment amenability factors are related to several key measures of program progress, including completion/expulsion, days to completion, days to expulsion, performance in treatment (e.g., understanding addiction and its impacts), and behavior infractions, as well as to variations in select outcomes across each of five treatment sites. Results indicate both that individual-level risk, need, and amenability factors are largely unrelated to various measures of program progress and that site variation in these measures is considerable. It is recommended that greater attention be given to multi-dimensional assessment of program delivery and progress within and across sites and that ongoing process evaluations be implemented to monitor and improve program delivery and impacts.