NCJ Number
188168
Journal
Journal of Drug Issues Volume: 31 Issue: 1 Dated: Winter 2001 Pages: 177-206
Date Published
2001
Length
30 pages
Annotation
This evaluation of the Chester County Drug Court Program (Pennsylvania) compared the 184 Drug Court participants to 51 comparable offenders who were placed on probation at some point between December 1996 and September 1997.
Abstract
These comparison subjects were selected based on the Drug Court program eligibility criteria (i.e., offenders charged with non-mandatory drug offenses, offenders not under probation or parole supervision when charged with drug offenses, and no prior record for violent offenses). Drug Court and comparison samples were compared in terms of current status, new arrests, revocation/removal from the program, and drug-testing results. Findings showed a lower rate of positive results for drug tests taken by the Drug Court participants compared to the comparison group. Similarly, there was a lower rate of rearrest during the program among the Drug Court sample than among the comparison sample. On the other hand, Drug Court participants were more likely than the comparison group to be removed from their programs due to unacceptable performance. Survival analysis revealed that the differences in the survival patterns of the Drug Court and comparison samples approached statistical significance. Additionally, African-American Drug Court participants apparently did significantly poorer than Caucasian Drug Court participants. Those Drug Court graduates for whom follow-up data (n=15) were available apparently were successful in leading productive and drug-free lives. 14 tables, 5 figures, 6 notes, and 30 references