Drug Courts
Summary
·	Facts & Figures
·	Legislation
·	Publications
·	Programs
·	Training & Technical Assistance
·	Grants & Funding
·	Related Resources

Drug Courts

A drug court can be defined as "a special court given the responsibility to handle cases involving substance-abusing offenders through comprehensive supervision, drug testing, treatment services and immediate sanctions and incentives" (Talking Points/Statistics on Drug Courts, National Association of Drug Court Professionals, 2004).

Summary

Drug court participants undergo long-term treatment and counseling, sanctions, incentives, and frequent court appearances. Successful completion of the treatment program results in dismissal of the charges, reduced or set aside sentences, lesser penalties, or a combination of these. Most importantly, graduating participants gain the necessary tools to rebuild their lives.

Because the problem of drugs and crime is much too broad for any single agency to tackle alone, drug courts rely upon the daily communication and cooperation of judges, court personnel, probation, and treatment providers (National Strategy for the Co-funding of Coordinated Drug Court Systems, National Association of Drug Court Professionals, 1994).

Drug courts vary somewhat from one jurisdiction to another in terms of structure, scope, and target populations, but they all share three primary goals: (1) to reduce recidivism, (2) to reduce substance abuse among participants, and (3) to rehabilitate participants.

Achieving these goals requires a special organizational structure. Specifically, the drug court model includes the following key components:

• Incorporating drug testing into case processing.
• Creating a non-adversarial relationship between the defendant and the court.
• Identifying defendants in need of treatment and referring them to treatment as soon as possible after arrest.
• Providing access to a continuum of treatment and rehabilitation services.
• Monitoring abstinence through frequent, mandatory drug testing.
• Establishing a coordinated strategy to govern drug court responses to participants' compliance.
• Maintaining judicial interaction with each drug court participant.
• Monitoring and evaluating program goals and gauging their effectiveness.
• Continuing interdisciplinary education to promote effective drug court planning, implementation, and operations.
• Forging partnerships among drug courts, public agencies, and community-based organizations to generate local support and enhance drug court effectiveness (Defining Drug Courts: The Key Components, Office of Justice Programs, 1997).

While analyses on the effectiveness of drug courts are ongoing, research indicates that drug courts can reduce recidivism and promote other positive outcomes. The magnitude of a court’s impact may depend upon how consistently court resources match the needs of the offenders in the drug court program. Drug court participants report that interactions with the judge are one of the most important influences on the experience they have while in the program.

Although the cost-effectiveness of drug courts has been difficult to determine, one definitive cost-benefit evaluation estimated the average investment per program participant was $5,928; the savings were $2,329 in avoided criminal justice system costs and $1,301 in avoided victimization costs over a 30 month period (Drug Courts: The Second Decade, National Institute of Justice, 2006).

The first drug court was implemented in 1989 in Miami, Florida when Judge Herbert M. Klein, troubled by the disabling effects that drug offenses were wreaking upon Dade County courts, became determined to "solve the problem of larger numbers of people on drugs" (Miami's Drug Court: A Different Approach, 1993). The court became a model program for the Nation.

As of August 2008, there were 1,938 drug courts operating in all 50 States, the District of Columbia, Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico, and Guam. Another 250 drug court programs were in the planning stages (Summary of Drug Court Activity by State and County, Bureau of Justice Assistance Drug Court Clearinghouse Project, 2008).

An important force behind the drug court movement was the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994 , which called for Federal support for planning, implementing, and enhancing drug courts for nonviolent drug offenders. Between 1995 and 1997, the U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, through its Drug Courts Program Office (DCPO), provided $56 million in funding to drug courts. Additionally, the fervent support of national leaders raised the status of drug courts. Their support, and the acknowledgement that (1) substance abuse is a major contributing factor to crime and social problems, and (2) traditional criminal justice system policies were having little impact on substance abuse, suggest that "drug courts will play an increasingly visible role in the nation's response to drug-related crime" (Research on Drug Courts: A Critical Review, The National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University, 1998).

The drug court model has paved the way for the latest criminal justice innovation-therapeutic jurisprudence. A number of jurisdictions are developing special dockets, modeled after the drug court format. Courts and judges have become more receptive to new approaches, resulting in a proliferation of problem-solving courts, including DUI courts, domestic violence courts, and mental health courts.

The Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA) Drug Court Discretionary Grant Program supports adult drug court implementation and enhancement as well as statewide drug court enhancement. In conjunction with the National Institute of Justice, BJA also conducts comparative evaluations of drug court programs to identify the most effective program elements and designs to combat drug abuse and crime.

The Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) drug court grant program supports the implementation and enhancement of juvenile and family drug courts.

This topical resource on Drug Courts contains the following information:

Facts and Figures – Includes the latest information and statistics.
Legislation – A sample of links to online Federal and State legislation and testimony.
Publications – A sample of available resources.
Programs – Examples of State and local programs and initiatives available online.
Training and Technical Assistance – A sample of training and technical assistance opportunities available through nationally recognized agencies and associations.
Grants and Funding – Links to Federal funding opportunities.
Related Resources – Examples of nationally recognized agencies and organizations that provide services or information.

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