NCJ Number
115941
Date Published
1988
Length
24 pages
Annotation
This paper summarizes the findings from the Treatment Outcome Prospective Study (TOPS), a large-scale study of clients who entered publicly funded residential and outpatient drug treatment programs, to determine whether or not referral to drug abuse treatment through the criminal justice system benefits the client and society.
Abstract
The analysis focused on clients in the five cities with Treatment Alternatives to Street Crime (TASC) Programs. The clients were involved in outpatient methadone, residential programs, or outpatient drug-free programs from 1979 to 1981. The study compared 502 clients referred to treatment through TASC programs with 802 clients with other involvement with the criminal justice system and 1,078 clients with no current involvement with either TASC or the criminal justice system. Results supported the view that criminal justice clients do as well or better than other clients in drug abuse treatment. TASC programs and other formal or informal criminal justice mechanisms appear to refer individuals who were not previously treated and thus provide early interruption of both criminal and drug-use careers. Tables and 16 references.