Getting into RDAP

How to get into RDAP, from sentencing to the waiting list

To get into RDAP, you apply to BOP staff once you are in prison, BOP checks your records for a drug or alcohol problem, and the Drug Abuse Program Coordinator interviews you. What happens before sentencing matters too. Your records and the judge's recommendation can help, but BOP makes the decision.

As seen in

By Brandon Sample

Last revised: November 9, 2026

Key points

Before sentencing, the presentence report (PSR) is the main record BOP will later read about your drug or alcohol use.
A judge can recommend RDAP, but the recommendation does not bind BOP.
In prison, you apply through your unit team or the Drug Abuse Program Coordinator (DAPC).
BOP checks your records, interviews you, and places you based on how close you are to release.
Follow the unit rules while you wait. You can be taken off the waiting list for bad behavior.

Before sentencing

You cannot formally apply for RDAP before you are in BOP custody. The rule says you apply by sending a request to a prison staff member (28 C.F.R. § 550.53(c)). But what happens before sentencing shapes your chances.

Records of your drug or alcohol use

BOP will look for records of a drug or alcohol problem. The policy names records from the 12 months before your arrest for your current offense, such as treatment or medical records, or a note from a probation officer or social service worker (P5330.11, ch. 2, § 2.5.8, p. 12).

If you were treated during that time, it helps to know where the records are. BOP staff must receive them straight from the source, not from you (P5330.11, ch. 2, § 2.5.8, p. 13).

Being truthful in your presentence interview

The presentence report is the first place BOP looks.

Presentence report (PSR): The report a federal probation officer writes for the judge before sentencing. It describes your history, including drug and alcohol use. It goes to BOP with your judgment.

If your PSR and other official records do not verify a problem, BOP staff tell you there is no verifying documentation and explain your other options (P5330.11, ch. 2, § 2.5.8, p. 12). So tell the probation officer the truth about your use. Talk with your lawyer first about how to answer.

Asking the judge to recommend RDAP

A judge can recommend RDAP in the judgment. BOP considers it, but BOP decides.

The law lists "recommendations of the sentencing court" as one factor in where BOP places you. It also lists any statement by the court "recommending a type of penal or correctional facility" (18 U.S.C. § 3621(b)). The same law says BOP's choice of prison "is not reviewable by any court."

The Supreme Court made two points in Tapia v. United States:

A judge may not give a longer prison term to help you get into RDAP. The law "does not permit a sentencing court to impose or lengthen a prison term in order to foster a defendant's rehabilitation" (564 U.S. 319, syllabus).
A judge can recommend a program, but "the authority to make the placement rests with the Bureau of Prisons" (syllabus). In that case, the judge's strong recommendation for RDAP "went unfulfilled."

The rule against lengthening a sentence comes from 18 U.S.C. § 3582(a). For more on judges and treatment: When a judge may not lengthen a sentence for drug treatment on sentencing.net.

After you arrive

Once you are in a BOP prison, getting into RDAP has five steps: apply, a records check, an interview, the waiting list, and, if needed, a transfer to a prison with RDAP.

Step 1: Apply

You apply by sending a request to a staff member, "ordinarily, a member of the unit team or the Drug Abuse Program Coordinator" (28 C.F.R. § 550.53(c)). You can use an Inmate Request to Staff form sent to the DAPC (P5330.11, ch. 2, § 2.5.8, p. 11).

Drug Abuse Program Coordinator (DAPC): The BOP staff member who runs drug treatment at a prison and decides whether to place you in RDAP (28 C.F.R. § 550.53(e)).

Staff may also refer you. After your psychology intake screening, the psychologist refers people with a substance use history and an interest in treatment to the DAPC (P5330.11, ch. 2, § 2.5.8, p. 11).

Step 2: The records check

Drug treatment staff review your central file and other records. Under the policy, they check whether (P5330.11, ch. 2, § 2.5.8, pp. 11–12):

you have enough time left on your sentence, "ordinarily 24 months"
records show your use of specific drugs, including alcohol
records show a pattern of abuse or dependence
you can finish all parts of RDAP, including community treatment

If no records verify a problem, staff explain other ways to get them. The eligibility guide lists them.

Step 3: The RDAP interview

If records are found, the DAPC interviews you in person. The eligibility guide explains the diagnostic standard the DAPC uses and how your answers must match the records.

If you qualify, you sign the Agreement to Participate in RDAP. Around the same time, BOP checks whether you can get the early release (P5331.02, § 8, p. 5).

Step 4: The waiting list

The law gives priority based on "proximity to release date" (18 U.S.C. § 3621(e)(1)(C)). BOP policy says interviews are based on how close you are to release, "ordinarily no less than 24 months from release" (P5330.11, ch. 2, § 2.5.9, p. 13).

The rules do not set a fixed wait time. Your place depends on your release date.

While you wait, you can ask to join BOP's non-residential drug program. BOP policy names people waiting for RDAP as one of the groups it serves (P5330.11, ch. 2, § 2.4.2, p. 5). See other BOP drug programs.

Step 5: Transfer to a prison with RDAP

If your prison has no RDAP, BOP can move you to one. This is called redesignation.

BOP staff "will monitor waiting lists to ensure inmates are transferred for RDAP with sufficient time to complete the entire RDAP program before their release from Bureau custody, ordinarily at 24 months" (P5330.11, ch. 2, § 2.5.5, p. 10). The agreement you sign says BOP may send you to "any suitable Bureau RDAP based on" your release date.

If you leave RDAP after BOP moved you for it, BOP may send you back to your old prison (28 C.F.R. § 550.53(g)(3)).

Follow the unit rules while you wait

People waiting for RDAP who live on or next to the RDAP unit must follow the same rules as people in the program (P5330.11, ch. 2, § 2.5.5, p. 10).

If you do not, you ordinarily get a warning at a treatment team meeting first. If your behavior does not change, you are removed from the waiting list.

"After six months," you may formally reapply with an Inmate Request to Staff form. The treatment team then meets with you and decides.

How should you prepare for RDAP?

Prepare with true records and proper requests: keep a timeline, fix PSR errors through your defense lawyer, and help BOP get past treatment records from the source. Never make up, exaggerate or backdate a drug or alcohol history. RDAP needs a real disorder that records verify, and made-up records or answers do not meet that rule.

Keep a timeline. Write down dates of treatment, arrest, sentencing, arrival in BOP custody, each request to staff, and each written answer.
Fix PSR errors the proper way. If the PSR leaves out or gets wrong your drug or alcohol history, ask your defense lawyer about the process for raising it.
Find the records. A family member or friend can help find past treatment providers. But BOP policy says records must reach BOP staff straight from the source (P5330.11, ch. 2, § 2.5.8, p. 13).
Tell the truth. Do not make up or exaggerate a drug or alcohol history, get backdated records, or practice false answers for the interview. RDAP requires a real disorder that records verify and a clinical interview confirms (28 C.F.R. § 550.53(b)(1); P5330.11, ch. 2, § 2.5.9, p. 13).

If time is short, find the real holdup. Is it the records, the interview, the waiting list, a transfer or the community placement? Asking a lawyer for help does not move anyone up the waiting list or pause a BOP deadline.

If BOP says no

You can ask for a formal review of an RDAP decision through BOP's administrative remedy process (28 C.F.R. § 550.57). The expulsion guide lists the steps and deadlines.

Which prisons offer RDAP

Not every federal prison has an RDAP. BOP’s public list is dated January 2025. It says there are 65 RDAP programs at 53 locations: BOP RDAP locations list (PDF). The same list marks some of those programs as closing or suspended, so the number that are open can be lower. The list does not show whether a program has space today. BOP decides where you serve your sentence.

Prison-by-prison details: lockedup.com.

Sources

Preparing for sentencing or waiting on an RDAP decision?

You can request a consultation to talk about the records, the timing and the BOP decision involved. If you already have a lawyer on the case, tell us so everyone's role is clear. No lawyer can promise a program spot or a particular prison.

Frequently asked questions

Can you apply for RDAP before you get to prison?

Not formally. The rule says you apply by sending a request to a prison staff member, ordinarily your unit team or the Drug Abuse Program Coordinator (28 C.F.R. § 550.53(c)). Before then, your presentence report and a judge's recommendation can matter, because BOP considers the court's recommendations when it places you (18 U.S.C. § 3621(b)).

Does a judge's recommendation get you into RDAP?

No. A judge can recommend RDAP, but BOP makes the placement decision, and BOP's choice of prison "is not reviewable by any court" (18 U.S.C. § 3621(b)). The Supreme Court said a judge may not lengthen a prison term so someone can take RDAP (Tapia v. United States, 564 U.S. 319 (2011)).

What happens at the RDAP interview?

If records verify a drug or alcohol problem, the Drug Abuse Program Coordinator interviews you and uses the DSM to decide whether you have a substance use disorder (P5330.11, ch. 2, § 2.5.9, pp. 13–14). Your account must fit your records "in time, intensity, and duration." If you qualify, you sign an Agreement to Participate.

How does the RDAP waiting list work?

Placement is based on how close you are to release (18 U.S.C. § 3621(e)(1)(C)). BOP policy says interviews happen "ordinarily no less than 24 months from release," and staff can remove you from the waiting list if you break the unit's rules after a warning (P5330.11, ch. 2, §§ 2.5.5, 2.5.9).

Will BOP transfer me to a prison with RDAP?

It can. BOP policy says staff monitor waiting lists so people are transferred for RDAP with enough time to finish, "ordinarily at 24 months" before release, and that you may be sent to "any suitable Bureau RDAP" (P5330.11, ch. 2, § 2.5.5, p. 10). If you leave RDAP after such a transfer, BOP may return you to your old prison (28 C.F.R. § 550.53(g)(3)).

This page is general information about federal law, not legal advice for your case. BOP decides who gets into RDAP and who gets time off. Read the disclaimer.