NCJ Number
177207
Journal
Alternatives to Incarceration Volume: 5 Issue: 1 Dated: January/February 1999 Pages: 19-20-22
Date Published
1999
Length
3 pages
Annotation
The Drug Treatment Alternative to Prison (DTAP) Program, designed and implemented by the Kings County (Brooklyn) District Attorney in 1990 in response to increased budgetary pressures, offers nonviolent repeat felony defendants who typically face 3 to 6 years in prison under New York's mandatory sentencing laws the option of completing long-term residential drug treatment in lieu of incarceration.
Abstract
If defendants complete treatment, charges are dismissed. If defendants fail to complete treatment, they face prison terms of at least 18 months. The prospect of prison is enhanced by special enforcement teams that apprehend and return absconders. The result is an alternative, cost-effective initiative that maintains community safety while addressing underlying causes of drug-related crime. The DTAP program, a partnership of criminal justice and drug treatment, has gained cooperation from initially resistant agencies in the criminal justice system. Goals and objectives of the DTAP program are detailed, and performance measures and methods used to evaluate program success are described. Evaluation findings are presented that show program graduates are half as likely to be arrested as offenders with similar records. 2 photographs