NCJ Number
212205
Date Published
2004
Length
57 pages
Annotation
This report presents an overview of the local evaluations of 32 alcohol and drug projects for young offenders in England and Wales.
Abstract
Five of the 32 projects never started or closed early; and of the remaining 27 projects, 24 submitted final reports by March 25, 2002. Twenty-four of the projects offered an "industry standard" of individual counseling, along with mentoring and advocacy, referral to leisure or educational programs, alternative health therapies, and referral to other agencies for treatment. Drug education was offered by four projects, and four projects provided formal training for professionals. Family support was offered by at least one project. Evaluation was impeded by failure to integrate it into program design, lack of data collection relevant to the services offered, and insufficient funding. Projects were hastily designed without reference to local needs or an evidence base for program components. Only six projects reported outcome data, which was uniformly weak, being either self-reported or a staff assessment. There was no evidence that substance abuse treatment reduced reoffending, perhaps because most of the young offenders referred to the projects tended to be repeat offenders with multiple problems in addition to drug abuse. For such youth, a total absence of reoffending is probably an unrealistic outcome for treatment; reductions in the frequency and severity of offending would be a better outcome measure. Still, most projects that produced usable evaluation reports received broadly positive evaluations in terms of client and staff satisfaction. 9 tables, 4 figures, and appended charts of program features and details of outcomes as identified by individual local evaluations