An Evaluation of a Jail-based Public Inebriate Intervention and Treatment Program

The effectiveness of the Jail-Based Public Inebriate Treatment and Intervention Program, in the city of Roanoke, VA, is evaluated. This program targets those who have violated their interdiction status, ordered by the Circuit Court, to not consume, possess or purchase beverages containing alcohol. A voluntary treatment program has been set up to treat those interdicted housed within the jail. This treatment program hopes to rehabilitate the offender, decrease the number of arrests within the City of Roanoke and improve the attractiveness of the downtown area. The typical participant in this program is a 51-year-old homeless male who has been drinking for approximately 33 years. Methods of evaluation include the analysis of arrest data collected from January 1996 to June of 2000, as well as interviews conducted in local day shelters, within the jail, with a court community corrections representative, in the court house, at the Blue Ridge Community Treatment Center and with a representative of the downtown business community. The goals of the program are evaluated for their effectiveness. Some goals are found to be more effective than others and Richard Hall’ s Contradiction Model is used to explain this variation.