Evaluation of the Washington, DC, Superior Court Drug Intervention Program, 1994-1998

This study was undertaken to measure the impact of the
 standard, treatment, and sanction dockets, which comprise the Superior
 Court Drug Intervention Program (SCDIP), on drug-involved defendants
 in Washington, DC, while examining defendants' continued drug use and
 substance abuse, criminal activity, and social and economic
 functioning. Features common to all three dockets of the SCDIP program
 included early intervention, frequent drug testing, and judicial
 involvement in monitoring drug test results, as well as the monitoring
 of each defendant's progress. Data for this study were collected from
 four sources for defendants arrested on drug felony charges between
 September 1, 1994, and January 31, 1996, who had been randomly
 assigned to one of three drug dockets (sanction, treatment, or
 standard) as part of the SCDIP program. First, data were collected
 from the Pretrial Services Agency, which provided monthly updated drug
 testing records, case records, and various other administrative
 records for all defendants assigned to any of the three
 dockets. Second, data regarding prior convictions and sentencing
 information were collected from computer files maintained by the
 Washington, DC, Superior Court. Third, arrest data were taken from the
 Uniform Crime Reporting Program. Lastly, data on self-reported drug
 use, criminal and personal activities, and opinions about the program
 were collected from interviews conducted with defendants one year
 after their sentencing. Variables collected from administrative
 records included drug test results, eligibility date for the
 defendant, date the defendant started treatment, number of compliance
 hearings, prior conviction, arrest, and sentencing information, and
 program entry date. Survey questions asked of each respondent fell
 into one of seven categories: (1) Individual characteristics, such as
 gender, age, and marital status. (2) Current offenses, including
 whether the respondent was sentenced to probation, prison, jail, or
 another correctional facility for any offense and the length of
 sentencing, special conditions or restrictions of that sentence (e.g.,
 electronic monitoring, mandatory drug testing, educational programs,
 or psychological counseling), whether any of the sentence was reduced
 by credit, and whether the respondent was released on bail bond or to
 the custody of another person. (3) Current supervision, specifically,
 whether the respondent was currently on probation, the number and type
 of contacts made with probation officers, issues discussed during the
 meeting, any new offenses or convictions since being on probation,
 outcome of any hearings, and reasons for returning back to prison,
 jail, or another correctional facility. (4) Criminal history, such as
 the number of previous arrests, age at first arrest, sentencing type,
 whether the respondent was a juvenile, a youthful offender, or an
 adult when the crime was committed, and whether any time was served
 for each of the following crimes: drug trafficking, drug possession,
 driving while intoxicated, weapons violations, robbery, sexual
 assault/rape, murder, other violent offenses, burglary, larceny/auto
 theft, fraud, property offenses, public order offenses, and
 probation/parole violations. (5) Socioeconomic characteristics, such
 as whether the respondent had a job or business, worked part- or
 full-time, type of job or business, yearly income, whether the
 respondent was looking for work, the reasons why the respondent was
 not looking for work, whether the respondent was living in a house,
 apartment, trailer, hotel, shelter, or other type of housing, whether
 the respondent contributed money toward rent or mortgage, number of
 times moved, if anyone was living with the respondent, the number and
 ages of any children (including step or adopted), whether child
 support was being paid by the respondent, who the respondent lived
 with when growing up, the number of siblings the respondent had,
 whether any of the respondent's parents spent any time in jail or
 prison, and whether the respondent was ever physically or sexually
 abused. (6) Alcohol and drug use and treatment, specifically, the type
 of drug used (marijuana, crack cocaine, other cocaine, heroin, PCP,
 and LSD), whether alcohol was consumed, the amount of each that was
 typically used/consumed, and whether any rehabilitation programs were
 attended. (7) Other services, programs, and probation conditions, such
 as whether any services were received for emotional or mental health
 problems, if any medications were prescribed, and whether the
 respondent was required to participate in a mental health services
 program, vocational training program, educational program, or
community service program.

Tags: criminal-histories, drug-abuse, drug-offenders, drug-testing, drug-treatment, intervention, pretrial-procedures, treatment-outcomes, treatment-programs
Organization: Department of Justice