The Residential Drug Abuse Program (RDAP) is an intensive nine-month, 500-hour

substance use disorder Substance use disorder (SUD) is the persistent use of drugs (including alcohol) despite substantial harm and adverse consequences as a result of their use. Substance use disorders are characterized by an array of mental/emotional, physical, and ...

rehabilitation program administered by the United States

Federal Bureau of Prisons The Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) is a United States federal law enforcement agency under the Department of Justice that is responsible for the care, custody, and control of incarcerated individuals who have committed federal crimes; that i ...

(BOP), offered to

federal prison A federal prison is operated under the jurisdiction of a federal government as opposed to a state or provincial body. Federal prisons are used for convicts who violated federal law (U.S., Mexico), inmates considered dangerous (Brazil), or those s ...

ers who qualify and voluntarily elect to enroll. Upon successful completion of the program, prisoners who meet the necessary criteria are eligible for up to a 12-month reduction of their sentence and possibly six months in a halfway house depending on how many months they have left on their sentence. Due to the high demand and insufficient spots, inmates are placed on a waiting list typically when they have 12 months or less time left on their sentence and are accepted when there is an opening. This is part of the reason why inmates receive different amounts of time off their sentences. For example, if an inmate has waited for a slot until he has 12 months left and the program is six months long, then he only receives six months off his sentence and so forth.

Michael Vick Michael Dwayne Vick (born June 26, 1980) is a former American football quarterback. Regarded as having transformed the quarterback position with his rushing abilities, he is the NFL leader in quarterback rushing yards and was the league's firs ...

was rumored to have entered the program while serving out his sentence at the

United States Penitentiary, Leavenworth The United States Penitentiary, Leavenworth (USP Leavenworth) is a medium security U.S. penitentiary with an adjacent minimum security satellite camp in northeast Kansas. It is operated by the Federal Bureau of Prisons, a division of the Unite ...

Kansas Kansas () is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its capital is Topeka, and its largest city is Wichita. Kansas is a landlocked state bordered by Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to the ...

. Violent offenses normally disqualify defendants from the early release portion of the program. Felony or misdemeanor convictions for homicide, forcible rape, robbery, aggravated assault, and child sexual abuses all render a prisoner ineligible to participate. Bad behavior and regular rule breaking will definitely lead to expulsion from the Residential Drug Abuse Program The program is open to inmates with a documented history of substance use in the 12-month period prior to arrest for the sentence they are currently serving. It is authorized in 18 U.S.C. § 3621. RDAP is only available to inmates in federal prisons; state prisoners are not eligible to participate. Research commissioned by the BOP revealed lower rates of

recidivism Recidivism (; from ''recidive'' and ''ism'', from Latin ''recidīvus'' "recurring", from ''re-'' "back" and ''cadō'' "I fall") is the act of a person repeating an undesirable behavior after they have experienced negative consequences of th ...

and a higher quality of life upon returning to civilian life for offenders who successfully complete the program.

References

{{Reflist

External links

RDAP locations from BOP.gov

Wall Street Prison Consultants
Substance dependence Substance-related disorders Rehabilitation medicine