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RSAT Forum > Monthly Discussion > January 2024: Jail RSAT Requirements View modes: 
skossow - 1/11/2024 1:05:41 PM
   
January 2024: Jail RSAT Requirements

Question: Our jail gave up its RSAT grant because it proved too difficult to keep a separate pod for RSAT participants.  While the treatment advantages of having participants away from the general population is understood, we don't have the facility to maintain a separate unit for participants.  In addition, as with most jails, most of those detained at any given moment are pretrial. Most will not be here long enough to complete a 90-day treatment program so our RSAT program always had empty beds while the rest of the facility was overcrowded.  The RSAT solicitation says grant money can be used for medication.  Can we apply for this at least?
skossow - 1/11/2024 1:06:13 PM
   
January 2024
 Answer: Congress amended the RSAT statute.  Jails can now receive RSAT grants from their states for something Congress called "Jail-Based Substance Abuse Treatment Programs."   Unlike prison and jail residential RSAT programs, participants in these jail-based programs do not have to be housed separately from the general population.  The programs do not have to be 90 days.  And they are open to pretrial detainees.  This means your jail is eligible for state RSAT grants for short term programs for sentenced and detained individuals who may only be there a matter of weeks.  But even  such short-term programs can address crucial need to screen and assess individuals for substance use and co-occurring disorders, oversee safe and medically appropriate withdrawal management for those who need it, provide induction on OUD and AUD medication for those who request it, as well as initiate the first stages of treatment and put together a post-release plan for continued treatment in the community.  For pretrial detainees, referral to available drug or treatment courts might be the most appropriate way for participants to be supervised and treated post release and avoid further incarceration. With such a program, RSAT grants can also pay for OUD and AUD medication.


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