NCJ Number
195268
Journal
Journal of Psychoactive Drugs Volume: 33 Issue: 4 Dated: October-December 2001 Pages: 369-378
Date Published
2001
Length
10 pages
Annotation
This article reports on a review of California drug court evaluations through January 2000 conducted as part of an evaluation of the California Drug Court Partnership Program (DCPP).
Abstract
In California there are over 128 drug courts, with 49 out of the 58 counties operating at least one. This review of drug court evaluations through January 2000 involved 23 evaluations. Seventeen of these were reviewed in detail and six were excluded because they were internal reports rather than evaluations. A standardized review process was initiated that led to a scored rating of the evaluation reports. The findings of this review support previous evaluation findings that drug court participants may experience reduced rearrest rates by 11-14 percent compared with nonparticipants. The largest reduction in rearrest rates was among program graduates. The graduation rates were between 19 percent and 54 percent. Costs and savings associated with drug courts are discussed, but no conclusions were possible based on the findings from these evaluations. Because there is evidence that outcomes are better for program graduates, the overall effectiveness of drug courts may be enhanced by interventions to retain participants and increase graduation rates. In addition to problems of systematic bias, a number of evaluations neglected to report on important considerations. Those engaged in funding, leading, operating, and evaluating drug courts may wish to consider the feasibility of randomized designs, which directly address the issue of systematic bias due to noncomparability between drug court and comparison groups. Evaluations that use comparison groups would be strengthened by comparing groups at baseline on demographics and criminal history and, where differences are found, controlling for these in the outcome analysis. 4 tables and 29 references