NCJ Number
165446
Date Published
1990
Length
93 pages
Annotation
The Detection and Monitoring of Drug-Using Arrestees (DMDA) Program in Multnomah County, Oregon, is part of a multisite demonstration project sponsored by the Bureau of Justice Assistance that seeks to incorporate drug use information in the pretrial process by providing the arraignment court with information on arrestee drug use and by providing a program of drug use monitoring under supervised pretrial release.
Abstract
The DMDA program in Multnomah County is administered by the county's Community Corrections Division. The program incorporates drug testing and monitoring into both release and pretrial supervision stages of the pretrial process. Program goals are to reduce the incidence of failure to appear (FTA) for scheduled court appointments and to minimize rearrest (RA) for new crimes while on release. An evaluation of the program was conducted that focused on arrestees released to the custody and supervision of the Pretrial Release Supervision Program prior to disposition of their cases. An experimental research design was implemented to assess the impact of drug monitoring on pretrial FTA and RA rates. Data collected on 396 monitored and 154 control group clients included a range of client characteristics, such as charge, criminal history, demographics, community ties, and drug monitoring performance. Control group clients were placed under the same pretrial supervision as monitored clients but were not tested for drug use. Results showed monitored and control clients were comparable across a range of characteristics. Several arrestee characteristics were correlated to a statistically significant degree with pretrial FTA and to a lesser extent with RA. Characteristics correlated with FTA included employment status, prior criminal record, and education. Analysis did not demonstrate referral to drug monitoring reduced FTA or RA rates of monitored clients. Although drug use information gained through monitoring was used by case managers to make referrals to treatment program, monitored and control clients were referred to treatment at equal rates. The monitoring program itself suffered from chronically high rates of client noncompliance. Releasees did not show up for their scheduled drug testing appointments, and less than half of releasees placed on monitoring ever provided a urine specimen. Analysis of monitoring behavior indicated clients who did not comply with the program had significantly higher FTA and RA rates, while clients who complied with monitoring had lower FTA and RA rates. Additional information on study findings and methods is appended. Tables and figures