English Title

Abstract

This article describes the recent development of a Prison Opiate Agonist Treatment Program (OATP) sponsor by the Department of Correction and Rehabilitation of Puerto Rico, and it also presents a critical analysis of the context in which the program is been developed. Moreover, the article discusses what are the expectations of professional organizations and various accreditation boards regarding the integration of family members in the treatment process of prisoners who are opiate dependent, and present a review of the literature about the needs of these families. The desirability to intégrate the family in the treatment process of opiate dependent prisoners raised the urgent need to conduct a local need assessment among families from our program. Ethical values and principies of the social work profession justify and promote the presence of social workers in the decriminalization process of substance disorders, Still, more presence of this professional group is needed.