Natasha H Williams, PhD, JD, MPH, Brandeis University, 8201 16th St., #311, Silver Spring, MD 20910, 301-455-4925, natwilliams@att.net

Drug courts are a major innovation in penal responses to drug crime, and the first successful rehabilitation movement since the mid-1970s. Drug courts are judicially supervised programs that place the drug-abusing offender in an intensive community-based drug treatment program that not only provides treatment but other rehabilitative services such as job training, parenting classes, and GED assistance. Upon program completion, the court may dismiss the original charge, reduce the sentence, set aside the original sentence or offer a combination of these remedies. The purpose of this study is to evaluate how structural differences among adult drug courts affect program retention rates.

The sample was drawn from the Drug Courts 1999 Program Update Survey conducted by the U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs Drug Court Clearinghouse and Technical Assistance Project (DCCTAP). The survey was mailed to 210 adult drug courts that were in operation as of December 31, 1999. The sample used for data analysis consisted of 141 adult drug courts that had been in operation for at least twelve months. The data analysis involved factor analysis and regression analysis.

Due to limitations of the drug courts’ various theoretical models and outcome measures, the research design was unable to explain the interaction among the structural variables.

This research exposes inadequacies in current research and provides a basis upon which to develop more pragmatically focused evaluation designs built upon theoretical models that better explain drug court functions as well as generating a policy agenda that links research to policy development.

Learning Objectives:

• Learn about the history of drug courts and the different model types.
• Understand the drug court screening and assessment process.
• Develop a policy agenda for drug court research.

Keywords: Criminal Justice, Substance Abuse

Presenting author's disclosure statement:
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.

Handout (.ppt format, 142.5 kb)