Intervening with Women in Jail around Alcohol and Substance Abuse During Preparation for Community Reentry

The Women and Jails Project involved a jail in-reach brief screening and feedback intervention for women experiencing problems with alcohol or other substances. The screening and brief intervention (SBI) protocol involved the application of an evidence informed screening interview (the Alcohol Use Disorder Identification Test-Including Drugs, or AUDIT-12) and the provision of personalized feedback on each woman's screening results, delivered in a brief motivational interview format. Comparisons of interview data while incarcerated and 2 months postrelease indicated significantly greater improvement in alcohol and other substance use screening results (lower AUDIT-12 scores) among women randomly assigned to intervention versus treatment as usual groups. This greater improvement could not be attributed to greater treatment engagement because that difference was not significant. The authors discuss practice and future research implications of the jail in-reach intervention and providing resource information to women preparing for community reentry.