Drug Court Evaluation Paper

The Larimer County 8th Judicial District Adult Drug Court program is a governmental agency that provides helps to individuals within the judicial system with drug abuse related offenses gain the tools for success to become a positive member of the community. The clients in this program have voluntarily chosen to be in this program and follow the terms and conditions of their probation as signed by a drug court contract that follows there terms and conditions set by the court. This may seem like a forced step or little step to some, but in reality, this is the first biggest step for drug abuse individuals because it means they are admitting they have a problem with drug abuse. Now it’s the Adult Drug Court team’s opportunity to provide the

Terry, VanderWaal, McBride, and Holly, discussed the impact of substance abuse within the juvenile justice system. They discussed treatment programs and services that are currently available. Improved substance abuse interventions have the potential to reduce recidivism amongst juveniles. Funding is needed to improve substance abuse treatment centers. Funding for program development requiring collaborative applications may provide valuable incentives for the development of successful juvenile justice collaborations. (Terry, VanderWaal, McBride, & Holly, 2000). Tsui discusses the shortcomings of utilizing detention as the primary method of dealing with the juvenile justice system. Tsui focused on the city of Chicago, and examined the present state of the juvenile justice system by identifying possible barriers and solutions to integrating restorative justice practices in a system primarily focused on detention. (Tsui, 2014).

Currently, I work for the Alameda County Office of Collaborative Courts. For the last year and a half I have worked as a recovery consultant in the Family Drug Court. In my position I work directly with county Child Welfare Workers to help ensure parents are referred to the appropriate modality of chemical dependency treatment based on an evidence based assessment tool. After assessment, I refer parents to the appropriate perinatal treatment program and provide support to the parent entering treatment and throughout their stay in treatment. I provide Child Welfare Workers a biweekly court report on the treatment status of their clients; I also participate in team decision meetings regarding the parents on my case load and update and collaborate

The regular way they deal with the drug problem and people getting caught with the drugs isn't working. All they do is charge them and send them to jail. That isn't teaching them anything. For one they aren't getting major consequences for it. Second they aren't getting any help from stopping the drugs. They basically just pay money and sit in a cell nothing getting taught to them how to stop or not getting punished for it. These people need help stopping so they can stop letting their families down and ruining their lives. The drug court is there for this purpose. It is there to help people that want to recover and get their lives together. This teaches people that what they have been doing is wrong and gets them on the right track. When people learn and go through this program it will decrease the number of crimes. This court is not a waste of money, this is a program that will gradually give people their lives and family back. I would say numbers of people would give their money to get their love ones back and out of drugs. With most people money is nothing when it comes to

Drug courts, which combine judicial supervision with substance abuse treatment, are rapidly gaining popularity as a tool to combat crime and drug use. Based on a five-year study, we found that people who took part in drug courts had lower relapse rates and committed fewer additional crimes, such as selling drugs and driving while intoxicated. Forty-nine percent of drug court participants reported committing new crimes, compared with 64 percent of

Drug addiction has increased drastically across America in the last fifty years. Non-violent drug offenders fill our jails and prisons. Taxpayer dollars are put into a prison system that is proving to be counter-productive. Recidivism rates are high. Drug Court is an alternative to incarceration that offers rehabilitation to criminal offenders. In drug court, the traditional functions of the U.S. justice system are profoundly altered. The judge is the leader of a treatment team. The judge makes all final decisions and holds a range of discretion unprecedented in the courtroom, including the type of treatment mandated and how to address

Drug Courts are a disclaimer, they allow continuous and repeat drug offenders to waste the taxes payers money and the states time. While there are other matters that their time could be better spent on. Yet, drug courts continue to grow, with almost seventy-five up are up and running in almost ever state. The average amount enrolled in this failing course is ninety-thousand individuals! An in additional to an average of fifty to sixty new cases daily. Each case roughly costing around three thousand to thirteen thousand per client, which funds are relied on by tax payers. So, the question remains, do you support Drug Courts?

The United States’ prison population is currently number one in the world. As a nation that proclaims freedom for citizens, the United States houses more than one million more persons than Russian and almost one million more persons than China. Currently, the United States makes up five percent of the world’s population and imprisons twenty-five percent of the world’s inmate population. Drug offenders who committed no act of violence make up a large portion of the inmates in the United States. County, State, and Federal prisons are so over populated that the private sector has opened up corporate facilities to house convicted persons. The cost each year to hold a person rises, placing larger financial demands on the judicial system. The Judicial System of the United States should reevaluate the sentencing guidelines for non-violent drug offenders to alleviate the high number of people in the prison system.

Recent studies of drug court programs show that drug court is effective at reducing recidivism and lowering cost by offering drug court and treatment as compared to the cost of jail or prison for offenders. According to the Office of justice Programs (2017), The National Institute of Justice’s Multisite Adult Drug Court Evaluation (MADCE) completed in 2014 found that: 76 % of Drug court participants reported less drug as compared to 56 percent of probationers and 46% of drug court participants were less likely to test positive for drugs as compared to 29% of probationers. Criminal activity was also lower with drug court participants 53 % than with probationers 40% and there were fewer re arrests of drug court participants 52 % as compared to probationers at 62 %. Regarding cost effectiveness, the NADCP (2017) reports that "for every $1.00 invested in Drug Court, taxpayers save as much as $3.36 in avoided criminal justice costs alone". In terms of money savings for "victimization", it is reported that for every $1 spent, $27 are saved. Drug court has major advantages compared to the traditional way of punishing offenders in the legal system. Individuals cannot learn to make changes in jail or prison, the environment is simply not conducive to change. Drug court offers an opportunity for individuals to still be held accountable for their offenses while receiving treatment to reduce the likelihood of re offending.

This report was done at Columbia University’s National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse (CASA) and talks about the drug court model. This report explains that some drug courts evolved from other existing programs that focused on reducing drug use for offenders. Although the drug court is different than other programs that are meant to reduce drug use. In the drug court model, criminal justice components and substance abuse treatments work together to promote abstinence and prosocial behavior. Drug courts also result in closer and more intensive supervision and drug tests, court appearances, and treatment contacts are much more frequent than any other forms of probation. The key goals of most drug courts are to reduce drug use by engaging

With the seemingly rising numbers in juveniles with drug problems there is a need more than ever to specialize programs to help our nations youth. They are needed to help these children overcome their addiction and clean up their act and move on to bigger and better things. Mostly, first time drug offenders are sent to these courts to help before it is too late.

Since the declaration of “the war on drugs”, society’s perspective relating to punishment of drug-involved offenders has been much too vindictive. Now, an offender is not allowed to be sent to treatment by a judge, he must go to jail. This is due to mandatory sentencing. Upcoming diversion programs are an excellent alternative to “hard time” for qualifying drug offenders. These programs are becoming very popular and evidence shows that they are greatly beneficial, not only to the accused, but to society as a whole. Diversion programs benefit many regarding the increase in community involvement and safer city streets, rehabilitation of offenders, and financial means. The criminal justice system is currently at a stand still in regards to convicted

The article that I am reviewing was pulled from The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science and was written in May of 2013. Eric L. Sevigny, Harold A. Pollack, and Peter Reuter collaborated for their article, “Can Drug Courts Help to Reduce Prison and Jail Populations?”

Human Rights Watch reported in 2000 that, in seven States, African Americans constitute 80 to 90 percent of all medication wrongdoers sent to jail. In no less than fifteen states, blacks are admitted to jail on medication charges at a rate from twenty to fifty-seven times more noteworthy than that of white men. The quantity of 2000 medication confirmations was twenty two times the number conceded in 1983. Whites have been conceded for medication offenses in 2000 was eight times the number conceded in 1983, however their relative number is little contrasted with blacks and Latinos. Despite the fact that the larger part of medication clients and street pharmacists are white, three fourth of individuals detained for medication offenses have been

Establishing a drug testing program and paying for the screenings may seem like an unnecessary cost for your company. While it’s true that a drug testing program costs money, have you considered the cost of no implementing a program? It may be higher than you think! A correctly implemented drug screening program can actually help save you money in the long run.