The Key Extended Entry Program (KEEP): A Methadone Treatment Program For Opiate-Dependent Inmates

Over the next 2 years, a new, evidence-based, methadone treatment program will be developed and implemented by King County's Jail Health Services (JHS) for targeted, Opioid-dependent (primarily heroin dependent) inmate-patients housed at the King County Correctional Facility (Seattle, WA) and the Regional Justice Center (Kent, WA). This program is known as the Jail-based Opioid-Dependency Engagement and Treatment Program (JODET). JODET is modeled after the KEEP program. 

The Key Extended Entry Program (KEEP) is the only known methadone treatment program for incarcerated opiate-dependent inmates in the United States. Initiated in 1987, KEEP performs approximately 18,000 detoxifications and 4,000 admissions for methadone treatment per year. Of those methadone treatment patients discharged to the community, mostly to outpatient KEEP programs, 74 - 80% report to their designated program. Recidivism rates reveal that 79% of KEEP patients were incarcerated again only once or twice during a recent 11-year period. Finally, KEEP data point to the importance of dedicating slots in the community for released inmates and maintaining them on sufficient blocking doses to eliminate the craving for heroin. About 6% of KEEP patients, some with mental illness, have a high incidence of recidivism. (Abstract from above report).