Drug Testing and Community Supervision

• NCJ Number: 155974
• Author(s): P K Lattimore; J R Baker; L A Matheson
• Date Published: 1995
• Length: 4 pages
• Grant Number(s): 95-DB-CX-0017
• Sponsoring Agency: Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA)
• Sale Source: National Institute of Justice/; NCJRS Photocopy Services; Illinois Criminal Justice Information Authority
• Publication Type: Survey
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America
• Note: On Good Authority, Executive Briefing on Trends and Issues in Criminal Justice (March 1995)

Annotation

This study clarified the impact of drug testing on community-supervised offenders in six Illinois counties.

Abstract

The six counties participating in the study had intensive supervision programs for drug-dependent probationers (DuPage, KIane, McHenry, Madison, St. Clair, and Sangamon). A double-blind study design was employed to ensure that collected urine specimens could not be linked to participating probationers by probation department staff. Baseline data collection occurred between November 1993 and January 1994, while experimental data collection occurred between January and July 1994. A total of 931 probationers participated in the study, approximately 80 percent were male, and the average age of participants was 28.5 years. Most participants had been convicted of nonviolent offenses. Study results showed that it was not necessary to provide probationers with test results each time a urine specimen was collected and that not all collected specimens had to be tested. Findings cast doubt on the notion that drug testing and feedback play overarching roles in drug use deterrence. Ways in which community supervision program administrators employing similar urine specimen collection schedules may lower drug testing costs are identified. 12 figures