Rapid Referral Program Spectrum Youth and Family Services

• NCJ Number: 247289
• Author(s): Peter Wicklund, Ph.D.; Max Schlueter, Ph.D.; Tim Halvorsen, B.S.
• Date Published: June 2012
• Length: 29 pages
• Corporate Author: Vermont Ctr for Justice Research
• Sale Source: Vermont Ctr for Justice Research
• Publication Format: Document (Online)
• Publication Type: Research (Applied/Empirical); Report (Study/Research); Program/Project Evaluation; Program/Project Description
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

The evaluation methodology and findings are presented for Vermont's Rapid Referral Program (RRP), whose main objective is to provide judges with a mechanism at arraignment that enables the rapid referral of defendants to Spectrum Youth Services for substance abuse screening and treatment before the case is disposed by the court.

Abstract

The evaluation found that the RRP is serving its intended target population, i.e., those defendants who have a variety of risk factors generally considered to be related to recidivism. The vast majority of RRP participants who recidivated were convicted of new crimes within 1 year of program completion. Generally post-program reconvictions for RRP participants involved minor crimes. The RRP has been relatively successful in reducing the number of reconvictions for alcohol and drug crimes. This study analyzed the criminal histories of the 171 subjects who were referred and accepted into the RRP from November 2008 to September 2011. Criminal histories were provided by the Vermont Criminal Information Center. The recidivism analysis was based on all charges and convictions prosecuted in a Vermont district court that were available as of December 5, 2011. 16 tables