Research on Drug Courts : A Critical Review 1 R ESEARCH ON D RUG C OURTS

This is a critical review of 37 published and unpublished evaluations of drug courts (including seven juvenile drug courts, one DUI court, and one family drug court) produced between 1999 and April 2001. The conclusions drawn from this research are generally consistent with those of previous reviews published by the author in June 1998 and December 1999. Drug courts have achieved considerable local support and have provided intensive, long-term treatment services to offenders with long histories of drug use and criminal justice contacts, previous treatment failures, and high rates of health and social problems. Program completion rates are generally consistent with previous findings, with an average of 47% of participants graduating. Drug use and criminal activity are relatively reduced while participants are in the program. Less clear are the long-term post-program impacts of drug courts on recidivism and other outcomes. In this critical review of drug court research, four of the six studies that examined one-year post-program recidivism found a reduction, but the size of the reduction varied across courts. None of the studies reported post-program drug use, employment, or other outcomes for all drug court participants, so these impacts remain largely unknown. Three studies used random assignment to drug court or control conditions and all 2001 Update 2 found a reduction in recidivism for the drug court participants; however, none of these studies distinguished between in-program and post-program rearrests, and sample sizes were small in two of the studies. Several studies that examined program costs found that average per-client drug court costs are lower than standard processing, primarily due to reduced incarceration. However, straight diversion may be less expensive and intrusive for low-risk offenders and achieve similar outcomes as drug courts. This review suggests a continuing need for better precision in describing data sources, measures, and time frames for data collection. Data quality and information systems problems continue to affect the quality and utility of drug court evaluations. Despite the importance of looking inside the " black box " of drug court treatment, relatively few evaluations included data on program services, either because of lack of data or because service delivery was not included in the evaluation design. Findings from several evaluations suggest that drug court impacts may fluctuate over time, indicating the importance of multi-year or replication studies to gauge the long-term impacts of drug courts. Finally, research on juvenile and family drug courts is still in its …