The Florida Department of Corrections has developed Correctional Substance Abuse Programs at Institutional and Community-based sites throughout the state. These programs serve offenders with substance involvement, abuse, dependence, and other related problems, including employment issues. The substance abuse programs’ principle objectives are to identify substance abusers, assess the severity of their drug problems, and provide the appropriate substance abuse program services. The Department of Children and Families, in accordance with Chapter 397, Florida Statutes and Chapter 65D-30, Florida Administrative Code, licenses all substance abuse programs.

Offenders screened as being in need of services are either referred to a program or placed on a waiting list pending availability of needed programming. The Bureau of Substance Abuse Programs is responsible for the coordination and delivery of these services listed below for offenders under community supervision.

• Nonsecure Substance Abuse Treatment Programs are six (6) month community-based substance abuse therapeutic communities with two (2) components. The Intensive Treatment Component (ITC) lasts two (2) months. During the ITC, the offender participates in counseling, therapeutic and educational activities at the residential facility. The Employment/Re-Entry component (ERC) lasts four (4) months, with a primary focus on successful re-entry into the community. During the ERC, gaining and maintaining employment is incorporated into the offender's treatment plan. The offender resides in the treatment facility while maintaining gainful employment in the community. In this component the offender participates in a minimum of six (6) hours of counseling per week. The residential program is staffed by paid awake staff twenty-four (24) hours a day, seven (7) days a week.
  
  
• Long-term Residential (Secure) Substance Abuse Treatment Programs are community-based, full service, long-term substance abuse therapeutic communities (secure indicates a long-term program, not a program in a locked facility) with two (2) components. The Intensive Treatment Component (ITC) lasts up to twelve (12) months. During the ITC the offender participates in counseling, therapeutic and educational activities at the residential facility. The Employment/Re-Entry component (ERC) lasts six (6) months, with a primary focus on successful re-entry into the community. During the ERC, gaining and maintaining employment is incorporated into the offender's treatment plan. The offender resides in the treatment facility while maintaining gainful employment in the community. In this component, the offender participates in a minimum of six (6) hours of counseling per week. The residential program is staffed by paid awake staff twenty-four (24) hours a day, seven (7) days a week.
  
  
• Probation and Restitution Centers (PRC's) are community-based residential programs for selected offenders under Department supervision and for recently released inmates. The program consists of a four (4) to six (6) month Residential Program Phase (Phase I), followed by a three (3) to six (6) month extended Support and Follow-up Services Phase (Phase II), during which participants reside within the community. The PRC offers a sentencing alternative to the Courts while providing a resource for participants who experience difficulty meeting their court-imposed financial obligations to victims, the Courts, and the Department. Additionally, PRCs provide transitional assistance to newly-released inmates during their re-entry into the community. The program provides a continuum of services that offer at a minimum employability skills, job placement, budgeting skills development and assistance, vocational and educational training through linkages to community-based employers and providers, substance abuse services, transitional housing, support services to facilitate successful participation in the community, and other such services to promote personal responsibility, self-improvement and public safety.
  
  
• Outpatient Treatment Programs provide therapeutic activities and interventions to offenders to assist them in their recovery from substance abuse while they maintain residence and employment in the community. The focus of the programs is on treatment and the provision of ancillary services. Outpatient services are provided to offenders on a variety of intensity levels statewide (i.e., education classes, outpatient treatment, intensive outpatient treatment, and day or night treatment.)