NCJ Number
188086
Date Published
May 2001
Length
20 pages
Annotation
This report presents the executive summary of the findings and the implications of a 1999 survey to determine substance abuse treatment services and other treatment services currently used by adult drug courts and to identify significant issues faced by adult drug courts in obtaining and delivering high-quality comprehensive treatment services.
Abstract
Questionnaires were distributed to 263 operating adult drug courts, and 212 courts responded (81 percent). The survey was conducted in October 1999. The survey findings showed that treatment services designed for and used by drug courts comported with scientifically established principles of treatment effectiveness. Overall, the structure of drug court treatment was consistent with the principles established by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (1999) and was delivered according to the Drug Court Key Components and related Performance Benchmarks. A broad continuum of primary treatment services is available to drug courts. An analysis of the findings concludes that drug courts can cooperate with treatment providers and administrators, TASC programs, and other offender management efforts to generate sufficient resources and support at the local, State, and national levels to incorporate drug court activities into a larger strategy for managing substance-involved justice populations. This movement will provide the foundation for an effective, community-based strategy to reduce the drug use and criminal activity of the significant number of substance-involved offenders that are burdening our systems and our society. Drug courts can be more successful and attain greater impact by continuing to improve operations and expand to larger and more significant populations. Six policy recommendations are offered for achieving this. 2 figures