NCJ Number
247213
Date Published
2013
Length
8 pages
Annotation
This is the Program Performance Report (October 2011-September 2012) for grants intended for the implementation of new drug courts under the Adult Drug Court Discretionary Grant Program (ADC Program) administered by the U.S. Justice Department's Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA), which is intended to "build and/or expand drug court capacity at the State, local, and tribal levels to reduce crime and substance abuse among high-risk, high-need offenders."
Abstract
The report indicates that the graduation rate for the Drug Court Implementation program was 45 percent (493 participants), which was slightly lower than BJA's target graduation rate of 48 percent. This may be partially due to the newness of these programs and their focus on participants who were high-risk and have high substance abuse treatment needs. The most common reasons given for participants not graduating were further court or criminal involvement (36 percent), a lack of engagement by participants (23 percent), and absconding (21 percent). Twenty-four percent of substance-abusing candidates were ineligible for drug court participation because of an exclusionary violent offense in their criminal history. In addition, just over half of eligible drug-court candidates refused to enroll in the program. The demographic profile of drug court participants enrolled in an implementation-funded drug court program did not resemble the national demographic profile. The demographic composition of admitted candidates was 79 percent White, 10 percent Black, 10 percent American Indian/Alaska Native or Pacific Islander, and 5 percent Hispanic. A 2009 national survey of drug courts showed a demographic profile on average of 62 percent White, 21 percent Black, and 10 percent Hispanic or Latino On average, drug courts receiving implementation grants have been operating for 2 years, which for many was as long as the period of their grant award. 8 tables and 1 figure