Teresa Substance Abuse Case

Brenda Combs is a strong, determined women who has experienced the roughest parts of life and who has made a positive impact on people around her. When Combs developed a partying habit, she also got into the dangerous habit of taking drugs. Combs eventually became a cocaine addicted who would fall in and out of bad relationships. Then, one day when she got her shoes stolen from her, Combs decided to turn her life around and gain her dignity back. The first challenge she faced while changing her life around was to try and stay strong in rehab as it was “the hardest she had ever known” (paragraph 18). Combs determination eventually led her to a bachelor’s degree from the University of Phoenix and a job at the StarShine charter school.

In the past, drug addicts who were convicted of drug related crimes were most commonly either sent to treatment or incarcerated. I have experienced both and did not benefit much from either one. In 2001 I was in a fairly new program called Drug Court. Drug Court is a unique and extraordinary program that gives addicts the tools they need to endure life without using drugs.

Very little work has focused on studying recidivism by offenders after punishment and how prevention measures may improve recidivism rates and affect cooperation. “National recidivism rates are at an estimated amount of 73% and of the whole jail population 42.5% are women” (Berenji, 2014, p.131). As you can see about half of the inhabitants of the jails are women; so recidivism is an ongoing issue that needs to be solved. Recidivism is a growing distress in the U.S today, not only with men but women as well. Not many studies have been steered towards women reverting back to crime as there are men, but it is a concern. It is impossible to make this issue disappear fully, but with fundamental changes the

The primary interest within the independent variable is to determine whether participation in drug courts decreases the probability of recidivism. To evaluate this concern, the current study will analyze whether receiving treatment in a drug court versus the comparison group of probationers will affect various outcomes. Finally, gender, race, age, and education will also be included in the analysis as control variables.

Probation serves as the most frequently used sentence for those convicted. This is evident when you consider that the United States justice system oversees nearly 7 million people. Over half of those, a staggering 3.7 million people, are on probation with another 840,000 on parole (Rabuy, 2017). With those individuals representing the largest percentage of the American corrections system, it is important that we learn as much as possible about probation in order to improve the success of these programs. Probation involves a set of conditions that the probationer agrees to adhere to in exchange for remaining in the community. Typical conditions include a waiver of the offenders fourth amendment rights, maintaining employment or school

The majority of the crimes being sentenced that day were drug crimes. A multitude of those being sentenced had attended drug rehabs or was scheduled to enter a drug rehab as a condition of probation on the sentence for the offense they had committed.

Many criminals are sent to jail on a day to day basis. Once they have completed their sentence they are faced with many problems once they are “free”. These problems can be but are not limited to housing, employment, and substance abuse. The prisoner, once they are released, has a tendency to go back to their old ways and to continue the life of crime they were a part of prior to prison. To avoid this, while a prisoner is in prison, the staff creates a reentry program for the prisoner. The reentry program takes affect once the prisoner leaves prison. These programs are created within the community to help the offender from committing new crimes and to integrate them back into society. These programs are also created to help with

Drug courts provide closer supervision than probation, the other notable community based treatment. 17 Drug courts are six times more likely than probation to graduate participants from treatment. In a study of 2,000 graduates nationally it was found that drug courts have lower rates of re-arrest than probation. The re-arrest rate after graduation from of drug courts was sixteen percent after one year and twenty-seven percent after the second year.

I think that probation is an effective form of community corrections as it can be. There is never a 100% effective way of stopping people from committing crime. If someone commits a crime even knowing the consequences, chances are they will do it again with or without probation. I think the government needs to focus on why people are committing crime and try to prevent crime before it happens. I also think that maybe there needs to be longer probation periods and harsher ones for repeat offenders. I also think that probation should be for less serious crimes and maybe for misdemeanors and not felonies.

Case Study: Sheila's Substance Use and Crisis Treatment Plans Sheila is a single 35 years old mother who lost two sons to child welfare authorities and currently lives in a shelter (Confederation College, 2018). She has been dependent on alcohol for about 20 years (Confederation College, 2018). She has a track record of offenses, such as shoplifting and selling illegal drugs (Confederation College, 2018). At this present time, she has a court case coming up for stealing and assaulting a police officer while under the influence of alcohol (Confederation College, 2018). In the past, she was taken advantage of sexually by her father, who physically abused her brother and her mother (Confederation College, 2018).

Both jail and prison offer some type of early released programs, in this case probation and parole will briefly be discussed. Probation is a prison sentence that is suspended on the condition that the offender follow certain prescribed rules and commit no further crime (Seiter, 2008). Parole is similar to probation except that it is after a period of incarceration, which involved determinate and indeterminate sentencing (Seiter, 2008). The other types of prison sentencing include mandatory minimums, three-strike laws, and truth-in-sentencing (Wilson, 2001). The only difference is that a parole board allows convicts to serve the remainder of their term in society under supervision and strict limitations (Wilson, 2001). In summary both jails and prisons should strive to provide as much educational, health, and counseling opportunities as possible to reduce the likelihood of recidivism. Second, funding for the jail and prison systems will be briefly discussed.

One difference between probation as usual and Swift and Certain and Fair programs is how the supervising agencies give sanctions to the parolees. According to the report “Managing Drug-Involved Offenders,” the probation and court systems are overwhelmed, so they only have the time and resources to punish the most high-risk offenders. In fact, judges don’t typically give out harsh punishments, such as month long sentences behind bars, for relatively minor infractions. Even though judges tend to sanction high-risk offenders, the sluggish sentencing process often cause little to no impressionability, which puts them at risk to once again commit a violation. On the contrary, Swift Certain and Fair sanctions are put into place immediately after the violation, no matter if it were minor or major. In concordance with the report “Managing Drug-Involved Offenders,” with Swift Certain and Fair Programs, such as Hope program, the participants were given a clear warning: you might have not received punishment for prior violations your probation, but now that you’re a part of a Swift Certain and Fair program, you are one violation away from jail time. A sanction is swiftly given even for the smallest of violations because no punishment is too small and such action shave proven effective in lowering violation rates.

In the United States of America, federal and state government have implemented new guidance in an attempt to reduce crime, correctional overcrowding, and achieve a greater fairness for adults criminal sentencing. Intermediate sanctions in corrections are forced by the criminal justice system. It is used as an alternate punishments, however, the offender are less likely to serve in prison or jail due to the overcrowding as well as the different crimes committed. For example, Lindsay Lohan was charged for driving under the influence in 2007, she was given remedial counseling and an electronic bracelet to monitor her activities, however, the child celebrity chose to violate her probation with an alcohol level of 0.03 percent, which led her serving a 90 days jail sentence (Duke, 2010).

Due to the growing number of drug arrests during the late 1980, a program called the Drug Treatment Alternative to Prison (DTAP) was developed by Brooklyn District Attorney Charles J. Hines. ****This program uses a deferred-sentencing model. Defendants that are accepted into the program plead guilty to a felony but the prison sentence is deferred while participants enter intensive residential drug treatment. Those participants who successfully completed DTAP treatment are permitted to withdraw their guilty plea and have the case

Probation is one of the least restrictive penalties among the alternatives confronting a sentencing judge. Probation is the conditional release of an individual by the court after he has been found guilty of the crime charged. In the case of probation then, the individual has not been sentenced to prison, although he may, in fact, have