Texas currently has over 118,000 inmates housed in 106 secure facilities across the state

The Texas Office of the Governor received a $3.8 million formula grant award from the Department of Justice Office of Justice Programs Bureau of Justice Assistance under the Residential Substance Abuse Treatment for State Prisoners (RSAT) program (CFDA #16.593). The funding will support Texas' RSAT program to provide substance abuse treatment and reentry services to 1,500 incarcerated offenders with substance use disorders through residential and jail-based programs.

The Public Safety Office of the Texas Governor will make subawards to state correctional agencies and county governments to deliver counseling, education, workforce training and other reentry services. Key subawards were made to Harris, Dallas, Hidalgo, and El Paso Counties to establish residential substance abuse treatment facilities providing case management, counseling and treatment. The goal is to equip offenders with skills for a drug-free lifestyle and successful reintegration into their communities upon release. All subrecipients will report performance data to support program evaluation and management under the award period from October 1, 2022 through September 30, 2026.

At the beginning of FY2021, 14% of the state's incarcerated population at that time was serving a sentence for a direct drug related offense. Texas intends to address this problem through its residential substance abuse treatment (rsat) program which will target these incarcerated offenders whom are currently serving direct or indirect drug convictions and have a validated substance use disorder. The goal of texas' rsat program is to reduce future drug-related crime by implementing residential and jail-based rsat programs that provide offenders with substance abuse treatment, prepare offenders for reentry, and assist with reintegration into their community. The public safety office (PSO) of the texas office of the governor will make sub-awards available to agencies operating correctional/detention facilities including the texas department of criminal justice, texas juvenile justice department, and county governments operating local facilities. PSO administers the program in partnership with these entities and designs the program with their input. PSO sub-recipients will provide substance abuse and other counseling, instruction and support for life-skills, academic programs, and employment or workforce training. Training, professional development or technical assistance for personnel who provide these services is also allowable. PSO will review sub-recipient applications for compliance with program requirements including needs assessment and identification of eligible participants, treatment modalities, drug testing policies, and the expected number of offenders to enroll-in and complete the program. Successful applicants will receive awards for projects beginning on or after october 1, 2022 and ending on or before september 30, 2023. Each sub-recipient will be required to provide performance data for review, analysis and reporting for the performance management tool (PMT). Texas' major deliverables are to provide substance abuse treatment services to 1,500 participants and having 800 participants successfully complete all requirements of the respective program with an anticipated outcome of reducing drug use and increasing successful reentry of offenders back into the community.