When Derek was 19, he made his first contact with the Anoka County, Minn., Jail on minor charges including resisting arrest. But eight years later, the jail has become like a second home to him - a trend that jail officials want to change.

This month, on his 16th stay at the jail, Derek - now 27 -- is charged with controlled substance offenses and intent to manufacture and distribute methamphetamines. Without a major life change, he - and others like him -- will likely be back.

Janeen Allran, Program Coordinator for the Anoka County Jail understands this and hopes she can do something about it.

"When they are in jail and the temptations aren't around, they can be pretty steadfast in making up their minds not to use [drugs] again. Their biggest realization is they have to change their lives; they can't go back and do it the way they always did it. My goal is to give them alternative choices," said Allran.

Allran facilitates a new course at the jail for pre-trial offenders and others called Choice and Change Drug Abuse Education. The goal is to present information to these offenders about the kinds of drugs they may be using; the effect they can have on their bodies, their relationships and life; and then, help them create a plan for changing their lives and to stop using.

The program began in December 2003 and since then, Allran has facilitated four groups of offenders. Derek finished the program last week.

Talking About Change

Choice and Change is part of a group of programs developed by The Change Companies, which creates curriculum for offender populations and others.

Allran said this program was chosen because of the large number of offenders who come into the jail with some type of drug offense or addiction.

"I would say it is definitely an issue. Most of the guys who have gone through are [here] on drug related charges, mostly methamphetamines," she said.

So, the prospect of talking to offenders truthfully about what these drugs do, how they can affect their bodies and how drug use can affect their families was an attractive one.

According to Allran, the 40-hour course is divided into 11 sessions that begin with discussion about drug use and the differences between substance abuse and dependency and progress to the influence that drugs can have on the family, children and how to create plans or action for ending their drug use.

One unique part of the program, which Allran said helps offenders absorb the educational information, is something called an interactive journal that they write in after each session.

The interactive journal is a workbook in which the offender writes down the personal thoughts that have been triggered from the session and their relation to personal experience.

Allran said one early journal exercise is to compile a list of costs and benefits to drug and substance abuse. If they want to, the offenders can discuss what they have written in class.

"They are not shy about sharing their experiences. I tell them I work for the sheriff, but I'm not 'working for the Sheriff.' What is said in class stays in class," Allran said.

According to Mike Judnick, Vice President of Criminal Justice for the Change Companies, this is precisely what the interactive journal is designed to do.

"They may not be in the action stage of change - most aren't. Interactive journaling is the delivery system that allows them to internalize and it becomes personally relevant to them and their circumstances," he said.

A Different Approach to Education

Judnick said that the Change Companies' courses, which have been developed and used in collaboration with the federal Bureau of Prisons, differ from other education programs because they focus on allowing the learner or student to take in the information at their own pace.

Education does not equate to change. We are able to integrate evidence-based processes that engage an individual in the processed change they are in. That helps to move an individual forward in the continuum of change and enables them to sustain what is being initiated in the programmatic setting," Judnick said.

The Choice and Change program and the other programs developed by the Change Companies are segmented into modules that the facilitator can tailor to the time frames they have to work in - even a short-term setting such as pre-trial detention.

Judnick said even in very short-term settings, the students could participate in self-directed study where they can use the interactive journal and other resources and take them with them.

"You begin requiring individuals to take responsibility for change, but where you need to begin is to supply resources in their hands. Whatever sticks or what they take out with them is what counts," he said. "To sit and listen to a lecture is one thin, but it's not processed in a way they can take it with them and apply it. It's not going to be as effective."

With the interactive journal, offenders can look back at what they had written during the course and refer to it, as they need to.

Allran said every little bit helps in her plan to impact these offenders and help them see another life beyond drugs and crime.

And, when she reads course evaluations such as "You learn a lot about drugs open my eyes and see my disease," and "It made me feel better," Allran knows she is making some headway.

"I'm trying to pull all kinds of things together for them. I tell them 'This isn't just a book and you're not the only guys living thorough it,'" said Allran, who knows that these offenders may have to try several times before they kick drugs. "Even the one's who are serious about it have a hard time."

Resources:

For more information about the Change Companies course, including the Choice and change program, visit
http://www.changecompanies.net/