January 19, 2015
Residential Drug Abuse Program
I attach a short video and provide a brief overview on my lesson plan that covers the Residential Drug Abuse Program:
The Residential Drug Abuse Program results in 12-month time cuts (plus six months in the halfway house) for thousands of federal prisoners. Successful completion of the drug program, commonly known as RDAP, results in participants being released from a Bureau of Prisons facility 18 months sooner than if they did not participate. Unfortunately, many defendants do not learn about the Residential Drug Abuse Program––RDAP––until after they completed their pre-sentence investigation or surrendered to federal prison. By then, they realize that original statements they made during the Presentence Investigation process might forever disqualify them from being able to participate in RDAP or reap the benefits of an 18-month time cut.
At Federal Prison Advice, we urge all defendants to understand everything they can about the Residential Drug Abuse Program. The sooner defendants learn about RDAP, the sooner they can make a decision of whether they want to participate. Our program on RDAP discusses the program in its entirety, helping readers understand the advantages and disadvantages. Most of our clients realize the primary advantage of the RDAP program is that successful participants serve up to 18 months less in prison than they would serve if they did not complete the program. Others, like one of our RDAP coaches, Philip Jamison, highlighted the cognitive transformation RDAP presented him and other prisoners at Lompoc Camp. The primary disadvantage is the somewhat complicated process they must endure in order to ensure that they qualify.
Since the Residential Drug Abuse Program represents the only opportunity defendants have to work toward completing their sentence sooner, many want to learn about it. The more they learn, the more they realize that people with serious substance-abuse problems aren’t the only people who participate or benefit. We have worked with countless defendants who ran businesses, who were well educated, and who had achieved high levels of economic or professional success. By understanding how the system operated, they were able to position themselves to qualify for the Residential Drug Abuse Program. As a consequence of RDAP, those clients completed their prison terms 18-months sooner than they otherwise would have served.
If you think that you would like to receive up to 18 months off of your time in prison, then you owe it to yourself and family to learn everything you can about the Residential Drug Abuse Program. At Federal Prison Advice, we can help you position yourself to qualify for RDAP.
Justin Paperny
