Citation URL: http://www.urban.org/DouglasMarlowe

The BTC demonstrations tested the feasibility and impact of system-wide intervention to reduce drug use among offenders by requiring felony defendants to undergo screening and participate in drug testing and screening as a condition of pretrial release. The core elements of the BTC model were early intervention, judicial oversight, graduated sanctions and incentives, and collaboration among justice and treatment agencies. The quasi-experimental evaluation of the three BTC sites found significant reductions in drug use, criminal offending, and family problems. The ratio of the costs averted for each dollar invested ranged from 3.2 to 7.7 across the sites. The report includes lessons from the process evaluation on how to implement BTC strategies.

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