NCJ Number
239527
Date Published
2010
Length
16 pages
Annotation
This document contains a slide presentation on the net benefits of drug courts that was presented at the November 2010 American Society of Criminology Annual Meeting.
Abstract
This slide presentation presents the net benefits of establishing a drug court. The presentation examines the reasons for conducting a cost-benefit analysis (CBA) of drug courts and how the outcomes of a CBA can inform policymakers. CBAs are beneficial for policymakers because they are about social benefits, they define the population of interest, and they consider the use of resources for different purposes. The presentation what does and does not result from the implementation of a CBA. Additional information on conducting a CBA includes steps for identifying the different parts of a CBA, how to define the impacts of the program under analysis, and what impacts should be considered especially as they relate to drug courts. These impacts include social productivity, the criminal justice system, crime and victimization, service use, and financial support use. The presentation also identifies how to find the data needed to conduct a CBA, and how to value the impacts of drug courts at both the site-specific and national level. The final slides in the presentation examine the results of a CBA of drug courts: processing costs, criminal justice outcomes, other outcomes, and final impacts.