BACK TO HOMEPAGE

Program Overview

The Short-Term Intensive Residential Remediation Treatment (STIRRT) program seeks to assist substance abusers who fail to maintain sobriety while on parole or probation. The program includes both residential (housing up to 20 men for two weeks) and intensive outpatient treatment. STIRRT provides ongoing assistance for clients to learn how to remain abstinent from alcohol and drugs and take responsibility for their lives. The program is funded through a contract with the Colorado Alcohol and Drug Abuse Division and the Department of Criminal Justice. STIRRT is designed as an alternative to incarceration. In the absence of STIRRT, these men would be entering jail or prison. The goal of the program is to avoid incarceration in this very risky population.

Program Services

STIRRT is a 14-day intensive residential treatment program that focuses on substance abuse and criminal behavior, milieu therapy, problem solving, and decision making. Services address perpetrator/victim cycle, thinking errors, conflict management, refusal skills, anger management, family issues, communication skills, assertiveness training, coping skills, relapse prevention, job skills, relaxation meditation, spirituality, and development of support system. The treatment philosophy integrates motivational interviewing, cognitive behavioral theories, and Strategies for Self-Improvement and Change (SSC).

Admission Criteria

All clients are referred by probation, parole, Treatment Alternatives to Street Crimes (TASC), and Denver Drug Court and Community Corrections. Men must have severe substance abuse histories, one or more felony convictions, and must be at risk of being incarcerated in a Department of Corrections or county jail to be accepted into the program.

People Most Able to Benefit from this Program

• Men whose criminal record consists of felony convictions;
• Men who are unable to maintain abstinence from alcohol and drugs while under supervision of the Criminal Justice System;
• Men who are unable to maintain abstinence from alcohol and drugs while in outpatient treatment;
• Men who are at risk of having probation or parole revoked and of being incarcerated;
• Men who are assessed as needing intensive levels of treatment; and
• Men completing the STIRRT program who are in need of intensive outpatient services are most able to benefit from the STIRRT Continuing Care program.

Expected Length of Stay

The STIRRT program is fourteen days. STIRRT Continuing Care has a five-week and an eight-week program.

Results Achieved

Evaluation is ongoing. Six-month follow-up interviews are conducted with a random sample of clients. Analyses revealed the following about men enrolled in the program in the past year:

• Almost half reported no drug or alcohol use in the past 30 days at the follow-up interview. Of those who reported using, the frequency of use declined.
• According to Colorado Bureau of Investigations information, only 29% of those followed up were arrested in the six months following discharge.
• Although 100% of the men admitted to STIRRT were high risk for incarceration, thirty-seven percent of those interviewed at follow-up reported that they had not been incarcerated since discharge.
• STIRRT clients scored significantly higher in program satisfaction as compared to clients in other Arapahoe House programs, which suggests that they are very satisfied with the program.
• Probation and Parole officers also report being very satisfied with the STIRRT program. More than two-thirds of discharged clients reported receiving some kind of aftercare.

Hours

STIRRT: 24-hour residential treatment.

STIRRT Continuing Care: Monday through Saturday, 9 a.m. to 9 p.m.

For more information please contact our Information and Access Team, at (303) 657-3700 OR (303) 412-3695. Phone lines are open Monday through Saturday between 8 a.m. and 7 p.m. or e-mail at info@ahinc.org.