The Court Services and Offender Supervision Agency (CSOSA) joined the nation in recognizing September as National Recovery Month. National Recovery Month is an annual opportunity to promote and support evidence-based treatment and recovery practices as well as raise awareness about addiction recovery.

Substance abuse is one of the six most significant criminogenic needs. A criminogenic need is a factor in an individual’s life that is directly related to criminality. In other words, for many people, their involvement in the criminal justice system is inextricably linked to their challenges with substance use, which is why it is critical to address this criminogenic need.

Of the 6,076 individuals under CSOSA supervision on September 30, 2021, 30% had a substance use issue. Recovery is not one size fits all. In reentry, there is more than one way to achieve success. Likewise, there are multiple pathways to recovery. CSOSA provides programming and makes referrals to services and resources designed specifically to address a supervisee’s criminogenic needs.

CSOSA’s Re-entry and Sanctions Center (RSC) is a residential facility that provides people under supervision with structured, holistic, and multidisciplinary interventions designed to address their criminogenic needs. Supervisees with extensive substance abuse histories and other people under supervision who, by abusing substances, violate the conditions of their release, are referred to the RSC for evidence-based therapeutic engagement. The RSC closed out National Recovery Month with a series of events, including a panel discussion featuring speakers with lived criminal justice and recovery experiences, a walk to honor National Recovery Month, and a virtual art exhibition featuring the works of individuals residing at the RSC.

Although National Recovery Month has come to a close, CSOSA remains concerned about and committed to people under our supervision who are at various stages of the journey to recovery.