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

Process, impact, and cost-benefit analysis of the D.C. Superior Court Drug Intervention Program, an ambitious experiment to test court-based interventions for drug-involved defendants.

Process, impact, and cost-benefit analysis of the D.C. Superior Court Drug Intervention Program, an ambitious experiment to test court-based interventions for drug-involved defendants.

This report presents the process evaluation for implementing the "breaking the cycle" (BTC) program in Birmingham, Alabama. Data for this report were collected from site visits, planning meetings, interviews with program staff and members of participating agencies, observation of procedures, review of reports, and analysis of data from the Birmingham jail and courts. This report is organized around critical stages in case processing under BTC. These include identification and assessment of eligible participants, case management and treatment, criminal justice reforms, organizational structure and information system, and a summary of BTC progress and implementation issues.

This report describes the Birmingham, Alabama, court and treatment network as it existed before the "breaking the cycle" initiative was implemented and identifies the challenges facing systemwide intervention. It also presents the specific objectives for attaining goals, describes the system changes targeted by the early planning process, and examines how the initiative's vision was translated into action during the planning phase and during the first 10 months of the demonstration project from October 1996 through July 1997. Also included are a site report for Jefferson County, Alabama, from the National Pretrial Reporting Program and summary data from the Drug Use Forecasting System.

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