NDCI Study Confirms Benefits of Drug Treatment Courts

NDCI Study Confirms Benefits of Drug Treatment Courts
July 16, 2004

Research Summary

In May, the National Drug Court Institute released a report on the impact and effectiveness of drug courts, titled Painting the Current Picture: A National Report Card on Drug Courts and Other Problem Solving Court Programs in the United States.

The report summarizes research demonstrating the benefits of drug court programs, such as reduced criminal recidivism, savings for taxpayers, and increased retention in and affordability of treatment.

Drug Courts Decrease Criminal Recidivism

Only 16.4 percent of the nation's drug court graduates are rearrested and charged with a felony within one year of completing the program.
New York state drug court participants showed an average re-conviction rate 29 percent lower over three years than those who committed the same types of offenses but did not participate in drug court.
Rearrest rates for drug court graduates were 16.1 percent lower than a control group in Chester County, Pennsylvania; 15 percent lower in Dade County, Florida; and 33.1 percent lower in Dallas, Texas.

Drug Courts Save Money

In the state of Washington, the average drug court participant produces $6,779 in benefits from avoided costs to victims and the criminal justice system, creating $1.74 in benefits for every dollar spent on drug court.
New York drug courts saved $2.54 million in incarceration costs.
California's investment of $14 million in drug courts created $43.3 million in benefits from cost avoidance over two years.
The drug court model saves over $1.5 million per year to taxpayers in Multnomah County, Oregon.
For every tax dollar spent on drug court in Dallas, Texas, $9.43 is saved over 40 months.

Drug Courts Increase Retention in Treatment

The minimum effective duration of treatment, generally, is one year; over two thirds of drug court participants stay in treatment for a year or more.
Drug courts provide a six-fold increase in treatment retention.

Drug Courts Provide Affordable Treatment

The annual cost of treatment services per client ranges between $900 and $3,500 for 61 percent of drug court treatment providers.

"No other justice intervention brings to bear such an intensive response with such dramatic results; results that have been well-documented through the rigors of scientific analysis," the report states.

Also included in the report are explanations of other types of problem-solving courts expanded from the drug court model.

The report is available for download in PDF format at: www.ndci.org/publications/paintingcurrentpicture.pdf.