The Problems (and possible solutions) of assessing risk, race and recidivism in long operating drug treatment courts.

Formal criminogenic risk tools can be an important control in assessing racial inequities in access to treatment courts and in evaluating both proximal and distal outcomes from those programs. To achieve this potential, however, it is important that risk tools themselves operate in a racially neutral fashion and that they operate consistently over the period assessed. Tools that are not properly calibrated by race and changes in the tools used over the life of a program are therefore significant evaluation concerns.

Extending Recidivism Monitoring for Drug Courts: Methods Issues and Policy Implications.

A wealth of research has been amassed documenting the effectiveness of drug treatment courts in addressing the needs of substance-abusing individuals involved with the criminal justice system. However, there is a relative dearth of research that examines the long-term impact of these programs on recidivism rates for both drug treatment court graduates and those unsuccessfully discharged from the program. In this study, we examine which demographic and programmatic/legal factors influence program disposition and recidivism rates of participants (both graduates and those unsuccessfully discharged) across the 5 years following their discharge from a drug treatment court program located in a suburban city in the Midwest.

Successful completion: an examination of factors influencing drug court completion for white and non-white male participants.

This research examines the influence of demographic and legal factors on the successful completion of the Seahawk Drug Treatment Court Program for White and Non-White male participants. Located in a medium-size city, the program targets male felony offenders and has been in operation for more than 10 years. The research sample is comprised of 526 participants with a program disposition between January 1, 2005 and September 30, 2010.