D.
Intake and Treatment Planning
The information obtained from the clinical screening and assessment provides the foundation for development of the treatment plan. The treatment plan should be tailored and
individualized to meet each participant’s needs. It should also be updated regularly as the individual progresses through the Healing to Wellness Court. The following elements are used in developing a treatment plan.
Intake
Intake is the process for accepting an individual into the treatment program and completing requisite administrative tasks relevant to their participation. At intake, the treatment and monitoring/check-in schedule is arranged with the participant and initial goals for treatment are established. The issues to address at intake include:
• Explain the Wellness Court team members roles to the participant;
• Clarify schedule requirements and program rules/sanctions/incentives with the participant;
• Provide the participant with team members’ contact information and clarify questions they may have; and
• Offer examples of other participants who are further along in the treatment program or who have successfully completed it.
Identifying Level of Care
Once a substance use disorder is diagnosed, a level of care must be determined. The ASAM criteria for determining level of care encompasses a continuum of five broad levels of care.77
The ASAM Criteria takes note of issues presented by “transitional age youth”—roughly considered to be the seventeen to twenty-six age groups.
77 Kushner, Peters, and Cooper, A Technical Assistance Guide for Drug Court Judges on Drug Court Treatment
Servicesat 8, citing American Psychiatric Association, Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 5th ed. (American Psychiatric Association, 2013).
V. Adapting State Drug Court Treatment D. Intake and Treatment Planning
ASAMCRITERIA FOR DETERMINING LEVEL OF CARE
ASAMCRITERIA LEVELS OF
CARE
LEVEL DESCRIPTION OF ASAMLEVELS OF CARE
Early Intervention 0.5 Assessment and education for at-risk individuals who do not meet diagnostic criteria for a substance-related disorder
Outpatient Services 1 Less than 9 hours of service/week (adults); less than 6 hours/week (adolescents) to treat multidimensional instability
Intensive Outpatient (IOP) 2.1 9 or more hours of service/week (adults); 6 or more hours/week (adolescents) to treat multidimensional instability
Partial Hospitalization (PHP)
2.5 20 or more hours of service/week for multidimensional instability not requiring 24-hour care
Clinically Managed Low- Intensity Residential
3.1 24-hour structure with available trained personnel; at least 5 hours of clinical service/week (e.g., halfway house) Clinically Managed Population-Specific High- Intensity Residential 3.3 (Adults only) Not designed for adolescents
24-hour care with trained counselors to stabilize multidimensional imminent danger. Less intense milieu and group treatment for those with cognitive or other impairments unable to use full active milieu or therapeutic community.
Clinically Managed High- Intensity Residential
3.5 24-hour care with trained counselors to stabilize multidimensional imminent danger and prepare for outpatient treatment. Able to tolerate and use full active milieu or therapeutic community.
Medically Monitored Intensive Inpatient
3.7 24-hour nursing care with physician available for significant problems in Dimensions 1, 2, or 3; 16 hours/day counselor availability
Medically Managed Intensive Inpatient
4 24-hour nursing care and daily physician care for severe, unstable problems in Dimensions 1, 2 or 3. Counseling available to engage patient in treatment
Opioid Treatment Program (OTP) (Level 1)
OTP Daily or several times weekly opioid medication and counseling available to maintain multidimensional stability for those with severe opioid use disorder
Identifying Criminogenic Risk
Criminogenic risk refers to factors found to be associated with the increased likelihood that an individual will continue to be involved in the criminal justice system if these factors are not addressed:
• Antisocial attitudes;
• Antisocial friends and peers;
• Antisocial personality patterns;
V. Adapting State Drug Court Treatment D. Intake and Treatment Planning
• Family and/or marital problems;
• Lack of education;
• Poor employment history; and
• Lack of prosocial leisure activities.
Individuals involved in the criminal justice systems present a relatively high frequency of substance use, mental, and other health disorders. When these disorders are undetected, these individuals are likely to repeatedly cycle through the criminal justice system. When each participant is adequately screened and assessed, their individualized treatment plan can target the criminogenic needs he or she may need.78
Treatment Planning
Following intake, the next step is to develop a meaningful plan for treatment. The goal of this process is to create an individualized written treatment plan that is based on the assessment of the participant’s needs, strengths, and weaknesses. Some plans may require a focus on specific needs exhibited by the participant, such as depression, anxiety, or anger management. Each special focus area—in addition to the basic focus on substance abuse/dependency treatment— is incorporated into the treatment plan, developed jointly by the substance abuse treatment professional and the individual.
Issues addressed in a typical individualized treatment plan might include the following:
• Frequency of services to be provided (e.g., number of counseling sessions/activities per week).
• Modalities of services to be provided (e.g., type of therapy/activities, such as individual, group, family, sweat lodge).
• Duration of services (e.g., length of sessions/activities).
• Objectives of services (e.g., tasks and/or assignments to be completed each week).
• Time frames for services and assignments.
• Content of the sessions planned.
The treatment plan should be shared with the Wellness Court team. Updates to the plan should indicate any new developments that may affect the initial treatment plan; a narrative of the progress to date; additional interventions that may be recommended; additional challenges that may need to be addressed; and updated goals, objectives, and time frames.79
78 Kushner, Peters, and Cooper, A Technical Assistance Guide for Drug Court Judges on Drug Court Treatment
Servicesat 9. 79 Id.