Attitudes of participants and counselors in Integrated Substance Use Disorder Treatment program improve

All involved in San Quentin’s Integrated Substance Use Disorder Treatment program are reaping the benefits of a move from the facility’s gym to spaces vacated by other programs when the new Learning Center opened in March.

The gym was a challenging environment in which to run the big program and the move alleviated some of those challenges.

Parole Services Associate Dennis Farez, who has been with ISUDT since 2017, told San Quentin News that operating the program in the gym felt like a makeshift arrangement. Everyone associated with the large program was together in one big, open space not designed for classroom instruction. “But we accomplished a lot in there nonetheless,” said Farez.

ISUDT is part of the Division of Rehabilitative Programs. Its five-part program includes: substance use disorder screening and assessment; medication assisted treatment for addiction disorders; cognitive behavioral interventions and therapy for all substance use disorders; supportive housing; and enhanced pre-release planning and transition services.

Before the move, the program ran ten improvised classrooms in the gym separated only by portable partitions that did little to insulate one group from the noise of others. At times the noise prevented face-to-face speakers in close proximity from hearing one another during conversations.

It was, “not an ideal learning environment,” said Farez. The lighting in the space was poor and instructors had only portable white boards on which to present their curriculum.

Peer Mentor Lou Bernabei said it was hard to keep clients involved given the conditions prevalent in the gym and that he sometimes saw participants “checking out” during the program.

In spite of the difficult operating conditions in the gym, the program pushed forward, graduating 176 in September 2025. Program Director Timothy Fitzgerald talked about the impact of ISUDT. “The recidivism rate has dropped significantly since this program started,” said Fitzgerald.

ISUDT works to reduce morbidity and mortality from substance use disorders, which highlights the need for a learning environment in which clients remain engaged. In the newly adopted spaces, the 10 classes that were previously separated only by portable partitions are now housed in separate classrooms. Four of those classrooms are in the Education Annex A Building and six are in Building 32, what most San Quentin residents are accustomed to calling the B Building.

“The classrooms are definitely conducive to learning,” said Fitzgerald. Students previously crowded together in the gym now each have their own table. Participants have more privacy and confidentiality to talk about difficult subjects. Instructors now have smart-boards as well as white boards affixed to the walls of some of the classrooms. The smart-boards give them greater flexibility with their presentations.

“The closed environment has created a safe space for everyone,” said Fitzgerald. Bernabei agreed. He said of the program’s clients, “I can see the difference in them. Guys don’t check out.”

Benefits of the program’s improved surroundings extend beyond its clients. Staff that were all previously crammed into a single area now are located in three distinct spaces and the 17 incarcerated Offender Mentor Certification Program workers and six Peer Mentors are all working in improved conditions.

San Quentin resident and OMCP worker Duane Gillespie, who described himself as soft-spoken, serves in the ISUDT program. He said that the move from the gym means that the most important persons in his workday can hear him and he can hear what they have to say. “That’s a morale booster for me,” said Gillespie.

Fitzgerald summed up the effect of the program’s move to its new spaces. “The attitude of everybody has changed,” he said.