Adult Drug Courts: Evidence Indicates Recidivism Reductions and Mixed Results for Other Outcomes

• NCJ Number: 209632
• Date Published: February 2005
• Length: 86 pages
• Corporate Author: US Government Accountability Office
• Sale Source: Merrimack Book Service; NCJRS Photocopy Services
• Publication Format: Document (Online)
• Publication Type: Program/Project Evaluation
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America
• Note: Report to Congressional committees; downloaded April 29, 2005.

Annotation

This report describes the results of a review of published evaluations of adult drug court programs, particularly relating to recidivism outcomes, substance use relapse, program completion, and the costs and benefits of drug court programs.

Abstract

Drug court programs have become popular in the criminal justice system nationwide and are designed to reduce defendants’ recidivism and substance abuse behavior by engaging them in judicially monitored substance abuse treatment. Determining the effectiveness of these programs however, has been difficult due to the large amount of weak empirical evidence. This report describes the results of the required review, as authorized by the 21st Century Department of Justice Appropriations Authorization Act, of evaluations of these drug court programs. The research identified 117 evaluations that were published between May 1997 and January 2004 and reported recidivism, substance use relapse, or program completion outcomes. Of these 117 evaluations, 27 were selected for review because they met additional criteria for methodological soundness. The research found that in most of the evaluations reviewed, adult drug court programs led to recidivism reductions during periods of time that generally corresponded to the length of the drug court program. These recidivism reductions were observed for any felony offense and for drug offenses, whether felonies or misdemeanors. However, the review did not indicate any conclusive evidence that specific components of the programs contributed to participants’ within-program recidivism. The review also found that evidence about the effectiveness of the programs in reducing participants’ substance use relapse was limited to eight drug court programs and that the evidence showed mixed results. In addition, the review found that completion rates in selected drug court programs ranged from 27 to 66 percent. Finally, the review found that a limited number of evaluations, four evaluations of seven adult drug court programs, provided sufficient cost/benefit data to estimate their net benefits. Bibliography, 9 appendixes, and 14 tables