Initial Process and Outcome Evaluation of Drug Courts in Texas

• NCJ Number: 200306
• Author(s): Alma I. Martinez; Michael Eisenberg
• Date Published: January 2003
• Length: 33 pages
• Corporate Author: Texas Criminal Justice Policy Council
• Sale Source: NCJRS Photocopy Services; Texas Criminal Justice Policy Council
• Publication Format: Document (Online)
• Publication Type: Program/Project Description
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America
• Note: Downloaded May 12, 2003.

Annotation

This report presents the evaluations of three drug courts in Texas by the Criminal Justice Policy Council during 2002.

Abstract

The Criminal Justice Policy Program, pursuant to House Bill 1287, conducted process and outcome evaluations for the Dallas DIVERT Court; the Jefferson County Drug Intervention Court; and Travis County’s SHORT Drug Court in order to examine their implementation and operation and to study the recidivism rate of drug court participants. The process evaluations involved the examination of offender characteristics, offender completion rates, and the cost and funding of the drug courts. The outcome evaluations involved the comparison of recidivism rates among drug court participants versus control groups of matched offenders. Criteria used to select the evaluation sites were size of the program, years in operation, and availability of computerized data. Drug courts involve a combination of increased judicial monitoring and supervised treatment. Results of the process evaluations revealed program completion rates of 56 percent, 40 percent, and 51 percent during 2002 in the three drug courts under examination. It was found that completion rates varied by client characteristics, with Anglo or Hispanic clients tending to complete the programs at higher rates than other races. Recommendations for process issues are offered. Results of the outcome evaluations revealed that approximately 39 percent of the drug court participants had been re-arrested within the 2-year follow-up period, as opposed to 59 percent of the comparison group. Drug court participants who did not complete the program had recidivism rates similar to the comparison group. The main conclusions of the evaluations are that drug court participants have significantly lower arrest and incarceration rates than comparison groups and some drug court participants show lower recidivism rates than comparison groups. Recommendations include expanding the drug court model to more Texas jurisdictions.