Inmate Pre-Release Assessment (IPASS) Aftercare Placement Recommendation as a Predictor of Rural Inmate's 12-Step Attendance and Treatment Entry Post-Release.

The purpose of this study is to use the Criminal Justice Drug Abuse Treatment Studies' (CJ-DATS) Inmate Pre-Release Assessment (IPASS), which recommends either intensive or non-intensive treatment after release, to predict rural offenders'12-step attendance and treatment entry within 6 months of release from prison. IPASS scores indicated that 52% of rural offenders needed intensive treatment upon community re-entry. In bivariate analyses, rural offenders with an intensive aftercare placement recommendation were significantly younger, more likely to have been employed more months in the year prior to incarceration, to have ever injected drugs, and to have ever received outpatient substance abuse treatment. The variables which were significant at the bivariate level were entered into two logistic multivariate models predicting 12-step attendance and treatment entry within 6 months of being released from prison. Age and having ever injected drugs were positive predictors of having attended a 12-step meeting, while the number of months legally employed was negatively related to 12-step attendance. In the treatment entry model, age increased the odds of entering formal treatment while having ever injected a drug decreased the odds. IPASS aftercare placement recommendation was not significant in either of the multivariate models. Findings from this study suggest that offenders re-entering rural communities may receive limited community-based continued care and future studies should explore geographic-specific treatment barriers. Implications for rural substance abuse treatment are provided.