Suffolk TASC

Studies have shown there is a direct correlation between drug abuse and crime.

Divert individuals with alcohol and substance abuse issues out of the criminal justice system and into treatment facilities.

Suffolk TASC is an alternative to incarceration program that diverts individuals who have substance use or mental health concerns and charged with non-violent offenses from imprisonment to treatment and other supportive services.

Our aim is to stop cycles of addiction, crime, and incarceration by helping individuals become and remain drug-free, reclaim their lives, reunite with their families, and rebuild their communities. TASC is a well-developed and proven program model designed to engage persons referred by the justice system, connect them to substance abuse treatment and other services, and collaborate with both justice and treatment to ensure that appropriate and adequate services are available to empower participants to live up to the hopes they have for themselves and the promises they make to others.

TASC case management is distinguished from more typical types of case management because of the level of assertiveness, its ongoing nature, its focus on long-term positive outcomes, and its continual inter-agency and inter-system communication.

The TASC model comprises four discrete activities:

1) identification of alcohol or drug-involved and/or mentally ill individuals to determine their appropriateness for referral by the criminal justice system into the TASC case management system;

2) assessment of the individual’s behavioral health treatment needs,

3) referral to the appropriate treatment placement, and

4) continuous case management through reporting protocols, urine monitoring, and ancillary requirements to ensure compliance with criminal justice orders and the treatment regimen.