§ 6531 — Treatment and rehabilitation programs

Delaware § 6531

• Jurisdiction: Delaware
• Title: 11
• Part: Prisons and Prisoners
• Ch. 65: DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTION
• Subch.: Classification and Employment

Text

(a) Persons committed to the institutional care of the Department shall be dealt with humanely, with effort directed to their rehabilitation. To the maximum extent possible, the Department shall evaluate each person using an objective risk and needs assessment instrument and shall create a case plan for those persons assessed to be moderate- to high-risk that targets the need factors identified by the assessment. The Department shall prioritize the provision of such evaluations according to the length of sentence and the severity of the conduct giving rise to the sentence of incarceration. The Department shall make efforts to provide treatment and services responsive to the person’s needs and characteristics. Use of the objective risk assessment instrument shall commence by December 31, 2013.

(b) The Department shall establish alcohol and drug counseling and treatment programs for inmates. The Department may further establish a program of mandatory drug testing for inmates. In establishing such programs, the Department shall also establish rules and regulations regarding the order in which inmates shall be eligible to participate in such courses.

(c) When the Department shall make programs of counseling and treatment available to inmates at a correctional facility, inmates at such facility who are eligible in accordance with the rules and regulations of the Department established under subsection (b) of this section, shall be required to enroll in and participate in such programs.

(d) The costs of providing such counseling and treatment programs established pursuant to subsections (b) and (c) of this section shall, in accordance with a schedule to be established by the Department, be assessed against those inmates required under subsection (c) of this section to be enrolled, and may be deducted from said inmate’s account in accordance with the provisions of § 6532(f) of this title.

(e) An inmate’s refusal to participate in compulsory programs of drug or alcohol counseling or treatment established by the Department does not prohibit an application for sentence modification under § 4217 of this title or eligibility for parole under § 4346(e) of this title, but may be considered by the court under § 4217(b) of this title. An inmate refusing to participate in compulsory programs of drug or alcohol counseling or treatment established by the Department is subject to disciplinary measures as the Commissioner may establish by regulation.

(f) The Department shall establish programs of work, case work counseling and psychotherapy, library and religious services and commissary, and shall further establish procedures for the classification of inmates for those purposes.

(g) The Department shall undertake an assessment of its ability to meet treatment and rehabilitation needs of the confined population every 3 years and endeavor to provide programs in accordance with identified needs. The first report shall be completed by December 31, 2012.

Legislative History

11 Del. C. 1953, § 6531; 54 Del. Laws, c. 349, § 1 ; 67 Del. Laws, c. 396, § 7 ; 78 Del. Laws, c. 392, §§ 14, 15 ; 83 Del. Laws, c. 233, § 2 ; 85 Del. Laws, c. 76, § 5