NCJ Number
180583
Date Published
1999
Length
52 pages
Annotation
This monograph explores the benefits of the two types of reentry drug courts identified by focus groups: jail-based reentry drug courts and prison-based reentry drug courts.
Abstract
Reentry drug courts are a workable approach for closing the "intervention gap" that exists for those drug-using offenders sentenced to substantial terms of jail or prison. Reentry drug courts provide a mechanism for the successful reintegration of the serious drug-using offender back into society. This is done by keeping offenders engaged in corrections-based treatment and court-based monitoring throughout their custody term and upon release, providing a continuity of appropriate treatment and court-based accountability in the community. Under the jail-based treatment regimen, from the time an offender enters the treatment program, he/she is being prepared for reentry into the community as a responsible citizen. Treatment involves an in-custody treatment phase, followed by a community supervision phase. Even after the offender's jail term ends, the treatment program and the purview of the drug court continue. Upon an offender's release from jail, he/she enters a drug court program. Under this program, the offender enters an outpatient treatment program where he/she likely will remain for up to 1 year. During this year, the offender is supervised by the drug court team, which is led by the drug court judge. Currently, offenders who are incarcerated in State prison generally fall outside the jurisdiction of drug courts. With the decrease of parole throughout the country and the increasing interest in reentry courts, drug courts increasingly are viewed as an important structure through which drug-involved offenders can exit a State correctional system. Appended descriptions of particular jail-based and prison-based reentry drug courts and 15 references