V. Concluding Observations

Focus group members felt strongly that the experience gained in developing well-functioning drug courts can be the foundation for leveraging far broader cooperation and change in the justice system of a jurisdiction. In this connection, the monitoring, evaluation, and MIS development work done as part of drug court implementation -- because it brings together program leaders and MIS experts from a number of different agencies and institutions -- can be enormously valuable in catalyzing needed cooperation and change in and across the criminal justice and treatment/public health systems in States and localities. Indeed, effective drug court management information systems can be the first of a new generation of court management information systems that provide judges and other key decisionmakers with essential information in a timely and reliable fashion. Focus group members clearly felt that there is an appropriate Federal role in nurturing these developments and providing opportunities for jurisdictions to learn from each other.