For over 40 years, Gateway Foundation has been a leading not-for-profit provider of substance abuse treatment and therapeutic communities in correctional institutions.
Gateway currently provides alcohol and drug treatment services and cognitive intervention programs for prisons and jails in Illinois, Missouri, New Jersey and Texas. Gateway Corrections’ clinical professionals treat thousands of people each year through programs that reduce recidivism and rebuild lives.
The in-custody correctional treatment services provided to offenders are in large part considered to be the foundational treatment episode on which all other success is built. Gateway Corrections has been providing in-custody correctional treatment services in jails and prisons for over 40 years. In-prison substance abuse treatment programs can provide a 103% – 376% return on investment.
Our extensive history of Modified Therapeutic Community treatment and other institutional interventions, and the breadth of our service locations serve as evidence that Gateway is the leading non-profit provider of correctional treatment services. Having evolved over the past four decades, Gateway’s in-custody alcohol and drug treatment services are designed to meet an array of treatment needs, in variety of correctional treatment settings.
Typically, Gateway programs are structured for one of four distinct offender populations: jailed offenders; probationers; prisoners/inmates; and, parolees. Each of these offender populations presents with challenges whose needs must be addressed uniquely to their conditions. Gateway adapts correctional treatment interventions at the program level in response to thorough risk assessments, contractual mandates and expectations, and related regulatory or statutory guidelines.
Gateway prides itself on our ability to modify programming accordingly, through providing varying lengths of stay, updated treatment methods, interventions specific to the presenting condition and risk levels of the clients, and enhancements that far exceed most contractor expectations. Gateway’s mantra relative to work within the corrections setting is “we are guests in your home.”
Our therapeutic community treatment model methodology is one of collaboration and partnership, and is based on cooperative intervention in the provision of services for offenders. Gateway is an extremely experienced provider in correctional treatment settings, and has successfully operated fully-dedicated correctional programs as large as 950 inmates.
Gateway Foundation is perhaps best known for our in-custody Modified Therapeutic Community (TC) treatment model which we have developed and implemented over time based on our experience, careful study of TC research literature, and outcome studies over the past 40 years. Gateway’s lengthy history of providing TC services to clients in correctional treatment facilities clearly demonstrates our competence with Therapeutic Community treatment, modified to fit the treatment needs of the clients we serve, and the organizational needs of the customers with whom we contract.
Gateway is committed to providing clients with meaningful, therapeutic, interpersonal interactions, whether they take place in session with staff or within the therapeutic community client milieu. We have modified the traditional TC model according to the premise that therapeutic social interactions are an essential component of treatment. Change occurs and clients achieve recovery from substance abuse as they are exposed to healthy therapeutic community dynamics, participate in conflict resolution groups, perform TC job functions and learn to use the tools necessary to remain clean and sober while in custody and later upon release into the free world. We believe therapeutic community works best if it is separate from the general population and where inmates are expected to participate 24/7/365.
Fast Fact
Gateway is a recognized leader in the field of correctional substance abuse treatment, serving over 30,000 criminal justice clients per year.
Through a comprehensive Quality Assurance protocol, our in-custody alcohol treatment and drug treatment programs are constantly evaluated for efficacy and effectiveness, and are modified and updated as advancements are made in both research and the treatment field as a whole. As a result of our dedication to evidence-based practice, in coordination with our time-tested Therapeutic Community methodology, the Gateway treatment model has been proven to be one of the most effective institutional interventions available for the correctional substance abusing client.
Through the application of our Internal Evaluation Protocol, Gateway has made “adaptive” treatment a cornerstone of the treatment model, whereby the ongoing assessment process enables individualized care within the community structure. In addition, our participation in evaluation research and outcome studies over the years has demonstrated our ability to provide services that reduce recidivism and prepare clients to become productive, crime-free, drug-free citizens of society.
Gateway’s in-custody treatment programs are highly effective interventions for substance-abusing offenders. In addition to our core treatment model, however, we have successfully modified our treatment design for application across various populations. Most notably, Gateway developed its award-winning modified treatment model for “special needs” offenders, which includes those suffering from co-occurring mental health disorders, and those with physical and emotional disabilities as well. In addition, we have developed comprehensive, gender-specific, trauma-informed treatment programs for female offenders, which use a variety of proven, evidence-based curricula to improve the efficacy of our interventions.
Fast Fact
Gateway’s treatment approach is based on years of experience, updated with best practices, training and research.
Gateway’s ability to establish and maintain effective therapeutic community programs was recognized by a noteworthy evaluation of our program at the Estelle Substance Abuse Felony Punishment Facility in Huntsville, Texas. The evaluation was funded by the Center for Substance Abuse Treatment (CSAT) and was conducted by the Change Assessment Research Team of the University of Houston.
The evaluation found that Gateway’s program exhibited “careful planning of a holistic treatment approach and comprehensive curriculum,” and “deliberate and conscientious staff hiring practices to insure the required clinical experience [and] a successful partnership between security and treatment.”
The report continued: “We found that Gateway has developed a unique substance abuse treatment program for the special needs clients that has: a treatment staff with clinical, as well as substance abuse treatment background and experience, a security staff with a belief in and a commitment to treatment of criminal offenders with substance abuse or dependence, [and] . . . an adjusted confrontation approach.” These findings spoke to Gateway’s abilities to:
