How long is the RDAP program?

The unit part of RDAP usually takes about nine months. BOP says RDAP "is typically nine months in duration" (BOP: Substance Abuse Treatment).

The law and the rule set a floor of six months for the unit part (18 U.S.C. § 3621(e)(5)(A); 28 C.F.R. § 550.53(a)(1)). BOP policy goes further:

"Programming consists of a minimum of 500 contact hours; i.e., face to face contact between treatment staff and inmate participants, over no less than 9 months of half-day programming."

The same policy says RDAP "has a duration of 9 to 12 months" (P5330.11, ch. 2, § 2.5.1, p. 8). BOP's First Step Act program guide also lists RDAP at 500 hours (BOP First Step Act Approved Programs Guide, p. 19). That is why people call it "the 500-hour drug program."

Follow-up treatment and community treatment come after the unit part. So the whole program lasts longer than nine months.

The three components of RDAP

To complete RDAP, you must finish all three components (28 C.F.R. § 550.53(a)):

  1. Unit-based component. Treatment "in a treatment unit set apart from the general prison population," for at least six months.
  2. Follow-up services. If there is time before you move to the community, you must take part in follow-up treatment.
  3. Community Treatment Services (CTS). Treatment after BOP moves you to a halfway house or home confinement. See the aftercare guide.

The three phases inside the unit

Inside the unit, RDAP has three phases. Your treatment team decides when you move on, based on your progress (P5330.11, ch. 2, § 2.5.11, p. 15).

Phase I: Orientation

You learn the program's rules and expectations. Staff do a full assessment of your history with you, which guides your treatment plan. Phase I "should not last more than two months" (P5330.11, ch. 2, § 2.5.11, p. 16).

Phase II: Core Treatment

This is the main work. Using BOP's treatment journals, staff help you build the "thought processes and pro-social skills required to live a substance-free, crime-free, and well-managed life." Phase II will "last no more than five months" (P5330.11, ch. 2, § 2.5.11, p. 16).

Phase III: Transition

You practice the skills you learned and plan for leaving the unit. Phase III will "last no more than two months." You do not finish until you have "mastered the expected behaviors" of this phase (P5330.11, ch. 2, § 2.5.11, p. 16).

How you move from phase to phase

Your behavior decides it, not a written test. BOP policy says testing for each phase is "behavioral in nature" (P5330.11, ch. 2, § 2.5.12, p. 16). Before moving on, you must show that you have (p. 17):

  • accepted your diagnosis
  • taken on duties in the treatment community
  • made a commitment to change, shown in your daily behavior
  • spoken up in group and given and taken feedback
  • mastered the ideas of that phase

In 2016, BOP removed the written test from its rule. It now uses "clinical observation and clinical evaluation of inmate behavior change" (81 Fed. Reg. 24484 (Apr. 26, 2016)).

BOP said each person meets with a clinical team every three months, or more often, to go over progress. To finish the unit part, you need "satisfactory attendance and participation in all RDAP activities" (28 C.F.R. § 550.53(f)).

What a day looks like

RDAP takes half of your day. Under BOP policy, programming runs daily on weekdays during day hours "for half of the inmate's work day" (P5330.11, ch. 2, § 2.5.10, p. 14). Evening sessions can add to it but cannot replace daytime treatment.

BOP says people "participate in half-day programming and half-day work, school, or vocational activities" (BOP: Substance Abuse Treatment). You live in a unit used only for RDAP (P5330.11, ch. 2, § 2.5.6, pp. 10–11). People in RDAP are drug tested like everyone else in the prison (P5330.11, ch. 2, § 2.5.7, p. 11).

CBT and the modified therapeutic community

RDAP uses cognitive behavioral therapy inside a "modified therapeutic community."

Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT)

Treatment that works on how your thoughts and beliefs affect your feelings and actions. BOP's policy says that by helping people "perceive events objectively and modify their irrational beliefs, they may become more successful in achieving pro-social goals" (P5330.11, ch. 1, § 1.2, p. 1).

Modified therapeutic community

A treatment unit where the people in the program help each other change. BOP says it "stresses pro-social values and behaviors that are needed in the outside community" (P5330.11, ch. 1, § 1.5, p. 2). BOP moved RDAP to this model in 2010 (81 Fed. Reg. 24484).

BOP's program guide says RDAP focuses on "overall lifestyle change needs, not simply abstinence from drug use." It encourages "right living," which it describes as "based on honesty, responsibility, hard work, and willingness to learn" (BOP First Step Act Approved Programs Guide, p. 19). As you move through the phases, you take on more responsibility in the unit, including leadership and mentoring roles.

RDAP criminal thinking errors

"Criminal thinking errors" is BOP's own term. BOP's policy explains the idea this way:

"As an example, inmates' ongoing criminal behavior is conceived, supported, and perpetuated by a set of habitual thinking errors: both criminal thinking and cognitive thinking errors. Using CBT, the Bureau is able to treat inmates by replacing those thinking errors with pro-social thinking."

The policy also gives a sample progress note. It describes someone who "has developed the skills to identify most of his own Criminal Thinking Errors" but "still struggles with Power Orientation" (P5330.11, ch. 2, § 2.6.5, p. 23).

The RDAP curriculum itself is in BOP's treatment journals and facilitator guides, which BOP's central office approves (P5330.11, ch. 2, § 2.2, p. 1). The policy does not publish them. We do not list thinking errors from outside sources, because BOP's own materials are what count in the program.

Follow-up treatment

After you finish the unit part and return to the general population, follow-up treatment begins. It is the second component of RDAP.

Under BOP's August 2026 program guide, you stay in follow-up treatment for 12 months or until you move to a halfway house or home confinement (BOP First Step Act Approved Programs Guide, p. 19). BOP's 2009 policy described the same stretch of time and named the halfway house (P5330.11, ch. 2, § 2.6.1, p. 22).

You join a monthly group within the first month. Each group is at least 60 minutes (§ 2.6.2, p. 22). Refusing follow-up treatment makes you an RDAP failure and costs you rewards such as early release (§ 2.6.3, p. 22).

After the unit: community treatment

The last part of RDAP happens in the community. The aftercare guide explains Community Treatment Services (CTS). Older BOP papers call this part of RDAP TDAT.

How do you know where you are in RDAP?

Ask staff for your actual status in writing, because nine months on the calendar does not mean you have finished. RDAP is complete only after the unit part, any required follow-up treatment and community treatment are all done. Finishing the three unit phases is an important step, but it is not the same as finishing RDAP.

RDAP uses the number three in two ways. Orientation, Core Treatment and Transition are the three phases inside the unit. The unit part, follow-up treatment and community treatment are the three components of the whole program (28 C.F.R. § 550.53(a)).

The early release comes only after all three components (§ 550.53(a)(3)).

Useful questions to ask staff:

  • Have I finished the unit part?
  • Do I still owe follow-up treatment?
  • Has community treatment been set up?
  • Is my early release date still provisional?
  • Has BOP recorded that I completed all of RDAP?