NCJ Number
175612
Journal
National Drug Court Institute Review Volume: 1 Issue: 1 Dated: Summer 1998 Pages: 1-42
Date Published
1998
Length
42 pages
Annotation
The author reviewed 30 evaluations pertaining to 24 drug courts throughout the United States and concluded a number of consistent findings emerged from available drug court evaluations.
Abstract
The drug court model differs in important ways from previous efforts to provide drug treatment to offenders. In the drug court model, various components of the criminal justice and the drug treatment systems work together to use the coercive power of the court to promote abstinence and prosocial behavior. Key goals of most drug courts are to reduce drug use and associated criminal behavior by engaging and retaining drug-involved offenders in program and treatment services, to concentrate expertise on drug cases into a single courtroom, to address other offender needs through clinical assessment and effective case management, and to free prosecutorial and defense resources for adjudicating nondrug cases. The review of 30 drug court evaluations specifically looked at the effectiveness of the drug court model in dealing with offenders while in the program and compared the drug court model to other forms of community supervision. It was found that drug courts provided closer, more comprehensive supervision and much more frequent drug testing and monitoring during the program than other forms of community supervision. More importantly, drug use and criminal behavior were substantially reduced while offenders participated in the program. Drug courts generated cost savings, at least in the short term, from reduced prison use, reduced criminality, and lower criminal justice system costs. In addition, drug courts were quite successful in bridging the gap between the court and the treatment-public health systems and spurring greater cooperation among the various agencies and personnel within the criminal justice system. Gaps in knowledge about drug courts that future research should address are identified. 30 references and 1 table