DOI: 10.3886/icpsr02806
title: Evaluating Recidivism Among Drug Offenders in Florida's Residential and Non-Residential Substance Abuse Treatment Programs, 1991-1997
title: Archival Version

description: This study was undertaken to investigate the relationship,
 if any, between drug treatment and success or failure of drug-involved
 offenders on probation/community supervision. Further, the researchers
 sought to evaluate the outcomes of drug-involved offenders admitted to
 (1) secure residential substance abuse treatment (RSAT) programs, (2)
 non-secure residential drug treatment programs, (3) non-residential
 drug treatment programs, and (4) no drug treatment programs. Data were
 collected from administrative records provided by the Florida
 Department of Corrections, specifically case history records of
 offenders admitted to supervision in the community from July 1, 1991,
 through June 30, 1997. Part 1 is comprised of all cases admitted to
 community supervision between July 1, 1991, and June 30, 1993 (fiscal
 years 1991 and 1992) and treated in a secure residential drug treatment
 program. Part 2 is comprised of all cases admitted to community
 supervision from July 1, 1991, through June 30, 1995, receiving
 treatment in a non-secure residential drug treatment program. Part 3
 contains data on offenders admitted to non-residential drug treatment
 programs, whose community supervision admissions were between July 1,
 1991, and June 30, 1993. Part 4 contains data on offenders admitted to
 non-residential drug treatment programs, whose community supervision
 admissions were between July 1, 1993, and June 30, 1995 (fiscal years
 1993 and 1994). Part 5 contains data on cases admitted to community
 supervision between July 1, 1991, and June 30, 1993, who did not
 receive drug treatment of any kind. Cases admitted to community
 supervision between July 1, 1993, and June 20, 1995, receiving no drug
 treatment are contained in Part 6. Each supervision admission record
 contains a history of subsequent court actions that were complete
 through December 31, 1997. Variables for all parts include population
 estimates, unemployment rates, population by age-specific categories,
 violent and nonviolent index offenses, per capita personal income,
 clearance rates, split sentence flag, primary offense disposition,
 primary offense felony level, current commitment years supervised,
 supervision type, whether current offense included a drug charge,
 number of prior supervision terms, number of prior commitments,
 reasons for failure, treatment facility code, number of drug
 sale/traffic offenses, outcome of supervision period, and reasons for
prison intake. Demographic variables include race and gender.
description: Between 1984 and 1989, felony drug arrests in
 Florida were on the rise. In the fiscal year beginning July 1, 1989,
 many prison admissions resulted from arrests and convictions in which
 the primary offense was a drug charge. At the same time, Florida's
 Control Release Authority, in its efforts to manage the size of the
 inmate population, was granting early release to drug offenders who
 were considered to be low risk. It was observed, however, that some of
 these releases were readmitted to prison three or four times in the
 course of a year. The Community Corrections Partnership Act of 1991
 was passed with the intention of revising and rationalizing the
 state's prison commitment policy, particularly in light of the crack
 cocaine epidemic. The act was aimed at providing funding for substance
 abuse programs both within the community and within the prison
 system. A court-imposed requirement of drug treatment was regarded as
 a cost-effective option whereby a substantial fraction of
 drug-involved but nonviolent offenders could be safely diverted from a
 prison sentence to one of supervision in the community. The focus of
 this study was to investigate the relationship, if any, between drug
 treatment and success or failure of drug-involved offenders on
 probation/community supervision. Moreover, the researchers sought to
 evaluate the outcomes of drug-involved offenders admitted to (1)
 secure residential drug treatment programs, (2) non-secure residential
 drug treatment programs, (3) non-residential drug treatment programs,
and (4) no drug treatment programs.
description: Data were collected from administrative records
 provided by the Florida Department of Corrections, specifically case
 history records of offenders admitted to supervision in the community
 from July 1, 1991, through June 30, 1995. The data contain information
 on offenders admitted to either a residential (secure or non-secure)
 or non-residential drug treatment program, as well as those offenders
 receiving no drug treatment. Residential programs involved a
 structured, live-in, non-hospital environment, focusing on all aspects
 of substance abuse rehabilitation, including ancillary services such
 as vocation and education programs. A secure residential drug
 treatment program was defined as a high-intensity residential
 treatment program that limited access of the offender in and out of
 the facility. This treatment program was 12 to 18 months in length,
 and was considered appropriate for extreme substance abuse cases.
 Part 1 is comprised of all cases admitted to community supervision
 between July 1, 1991, and June 30, 1993 (fiscal years 1991 and 1992)
 and treated in a secure residential drug treatment program. Non-secure
 residential drug treatment programs were defined as a six-month
 medium-intensity residential program, which consisted of a two-month
 intensive treatment component followed by a four-month employment
 reentry component. Part 2 is comprised of all cases admitted to
 community supervision from July 1, 1991, through June 30, 1995,
 receiving treatment in a non-secure residential drug treatment
 program. Throughout the state of Florida, there also existed a large
 number of non-residential treatment programs that were made available
 through contracts with local service providers. Non-residential
 treatment was regarded as an intervention in the comprehensive
 community-based substance abuse programs providing therapeutic
 activities on a variety of intensity levels statewide (i.e., drug
 education classes, outpatient treatment, intensive outpatient
 treatment, and day or night treatment). Part 3 contains data on
 offenders admitted to non-residential drug treatment programs, whose
 community supervision admissions were between July 1, 1991, and June
 30, 1993. Part 4 contains data on offenders admitted to
 non-residential drug treatment programs, whose community supervision
 admissions were between July 1, 1993, and June 30, 1995 (fiscal years
 1993 and 1994). If the facility type was recorded as 0 or missing, the
 case was assigned to a "no treatment" category. Within this category
 cases were defined as being drug-involved and, presumably, candidates
 for admission to drug treatment. Part 5 contains data on cases
 admitted to community supervision between July 1, 1991, and June 30,
 1993, who did not receive drug treatment of any kind. Cases admitted
 to community supervision between July 1, 1993, and June 20, 1995,
 receiving no drug treatment are contained in Part 6. Each supervision
 admission record contains a history of subsequent court actions that
 were complete through December 31, 1997. Failure on community
 supervision was defined in terms of the occurrence of at least one of
 the following events during a two-year observation period following
 admission to a specified drug treatment program: (1) revocation of the
 current probation sentence, (2) return to prison with or without
 sentence revocation, (3) an addition to the current probation sentence
 but without revocation, or (4) a new sentence to prison or probation
after successful completion of the current sentence.
description: Variables for all parts include population
 estimates, unemployment rates, population by age-specific categories,
 violent and nonviolent index offenses, per capita personal income,
 clearance rates, split sentence flag, primary offense disposition,
 primary offense felony level, current commitment years supervised,
 supervision type, whether current offense included a drug charge,
 number of prior supervision terms, number of prior commitments,
 reasons for failure, treatment facility code, number of drug
 sale/traffic offenses, outcome of supervision period, and reasons for
prison intake. Demographic variables include race and gender.
description: Response Rates: inap.
description: Presence of Common Scales: None
description: inap.
description: Datasets: 
DS0: Study-Level Files
DS1: Secure Residential Drug Treatment Data, Fiscal Years 1991 and 1992
DS2: Non-Secure Residential Drug Treatment Data, Fiscal Years 1991 Through 1994
DS3: Non-Residential Drug Treatment Data, Fiscal Years 1991 and 1992
DS4: Non-Residential Drug Treatment Data, Fiscal Years 1993 and 1994
DS5: No Drug Treatment Data, Fiscal Years 1991 and 1992
DS6: No Drug Treatment Data, Fiscal Years 1993 and 1994
description: Any drug-involved offender in the state of Florida
 admitted to community supervision between July 1, 1991, through June
 30, 1997, who was admitted to: (1) secure residential drug treatment
 programs, (2) non-secure residential drug treatment programs, (3)
 non-residential drug treatment programs, or (4) no drug treatment
programs during July 1, 1990, through June 30, 1994.
description: The user guide and codebook are provided by ICPSR as
 Portable Document Format (PDF) files. The PDF file format was
 developed by Adobe Systems Incorporated and can be accessed using PDF
 reader software, such as the Adobe Acrobat Reader. Information on how
 to obtain a copy of the Acrobat Reader is provided on the ICPSR Web
site.