The nonpartisan Urban Institute publishes studies, reports, and books on timely topics worthy of public consideration. The views expressed are those of the authors and should not be attributed to the Urban Institute, its trustees, or its funders.
This report is available in its entirety in the Portable Document Format (PDF), which many find convenient when printing.
Contents
Chapter I. Introduction
The BTC Vision
The BTC Evaluation
Organization of the Report
Chapter II. Evaluation of the BTC Implementation of the Drug Court Model
and Drug Treatment Services
The Drug Court Model as Implemented by BTC
Evaluating BTC Implementation: The National Drug Court Institute Guidelines
Evaluating BTC Implementation: NIDA Principles of Effective Drug Treatment
Summary
Chapter III. The Impact Evaluation Methodology
Overview
The Conceptual Framework
The Sample and Survey
Chapter IV. BTC Impact on Drug Use and Crime
Overview
Reductions in Drug Use
Reductions in Criminal Activity
Improvements in Employment, Social Adjustment, and Health
Chapter V. Summary of Implmentation and Impact Evaluation Findings
Overview
References
Glossary of Research Variables
Appendix A – Drug Testing Protocol
Appendix B – Consent Forms
Appendix C – Survey Instruments
Chapter 1. Introduction
The Brooklyn Treatment Court (BTC) began in 1996 as a pilot demonstration project at The King’s County Supreme Court. The goal was to test the feasibility and effectiveness of reducing drug use and crime by linking drug-addicted defendants in drug felony cases to drug treatment and support services, under the close supervision of the court. In BTC, the judge, the prosecutor, defense attorneys, and clinical staff collaboratively engage addicted offenders in a recovery program, under conditions intended to protect public safety. BTC services include: 1) pre-arraignment case review and needs assessment to identify non-violent defendants with substance abuse histories who may be eligible for services; 2) post-arraignment assessment and treatment planning; 3) case-management and offender monitoring; and 4) supervised placement in appropriate treatment programs.
The Center for Court Innovation (CCI) led the development of BTC, working closely with partner agencies. Funding for BTC was provided by a number of agencies, including the Drug Court Programs Office (DCPO) of the Office of Justice Programs, the Center for Substance Abuse Treatment (CSAT) of the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, the State Justice Institute, the Unified Court System of New York State, and the City of New York. This evaluation of the BTC network of services for women was conducted by the Urban Institute under a contract to CCI with funds provided by the Center for Substance Abuse Treatment.
Funds from the Center for Substance Abuse Treatment enabled BTC to develop an extensive network of services tailored to the special needs of female offenders in need of drug treatment. This evaluation of the services for female offenders presents data on court operations for women receiving BTC services, examines the outcomes for a sample of women, and then examines in depth the predictors of these outcomes for the sample.
The BTC Vision
BTC is designed to change the court response to drug-addicted offenders by providing a collaborative network of treatment and supervision that is focused on the goals of promoting the recovery, assisting offender reintegration into the community as productive citizens, and bringing the court into closer partnership with the community it serves. BTC goals were to:
- Promote a broad systemic commitment to addressing the multiple problems of substance-abusing offenders both within the criminal justice community and the community-based treatment network;
- Reduce substance abuse and criminal involvement and improve psychosocial functioning (residential and family stability, access to health care, employment, etc.) among offenders addicted to drugs.
To attain these goals, BTC planned to:
- Establish procedures for ensuring strict accountability and promoting immediate, appropriate responses to designated "trigger" behaviors;
- Educate substance-abusing offenders about the hazards of alcohol and substance abuse;
- Maximize access to jail-based treatment services for incarcerated network participants;
- Maximize access to services addressing the complex problems of substance-abusing offenders, and female offenders in particular, including domestic violence counseling, parenting skills training and child custody issues;
- Use the court setting to identify and treat the health problems of high-risk offenders and provide health education to reduce high-risk behaviors; and
- Motivate low-level offenders, not eligible for court-ordered long-term treatment, to seek further treatment voluntarily for alcohol and/or substance abuse problems, and refer them to appropriate treatment programs.
The BTC Evaluation
While this final report focuses solely on outcomes for female offenders, the court itself serves both male and female offenders, and our research on BTC has included a process evaluation of BTC program operations, for men and women, from November, 1996 through May, 1999. The process evaluation documented the key steps in organizing the treatment court, the decisions made by BTC, problems encountered, and lessons learned to assist other courts in developing similar programs. It also assessed the outcomes of court intervention and the success of the court in identifying, engaging and treating addicts, in efficient case handling, and in protecting the public safety by imposing sanctions and controls on defendants who are under court supervision (see Harrell and Sack, 1996; Sack and Harrell, 1997; Roman, Sack, and Harrell, 1998; Harrell and Roman, 1999).
This report summarizes the findings of the earlier process evaluation reports, for female offenders only, using two standards to judge BTC implementation of services to drug-involved female offenders. The first criteria come from the standards for drug courts set forth by the National Drug Court Institute. The second consists of the principles for effective drug treatment set forth by the National Institute on Drug Abuse in Principles of Drug Addiction Treatment (1999).
The impact evaluation is based on a comparison of women found eligible for BTC upon assessment to a comparison group of women eligible for BTC entry, but living in Brooklyn outside the prosecution zones targeted for service or not referred to the court. Data on sample members were collected from the BTC Management Information System, interviews, and official records of arrests during the first two years post entry.
Organization of the Report
Chapter 2 outlines the results from the process evaluation by describing BTC and evaluating the extent to which it met the broad parameters of a "model court" as defined by the National Association of Drug Court Professionals, and the general effectiveness of the delivery of treatment services to a drug-involved offender population, using the principles of effective drug treatment outlined by the National Institute on Drug Abuse. The methodology used in this evaluation is described in Chapter 3. The outcomes associated with BTC for a sample of female offenders are presented in Chapter 4. Chapter 5 briefly summarizes the key findings of the process and impact evaluations.
This report is available in its entirety in the Portable Document Format (PDF), which many find convenient when printing.
The nonpartisan Urban Institute publishes studies, reports, and books on timely topics worthy of public consideration. The views expressed are those of the authors and should not be attributed to the Urban Institute, its trustees, or its funders.
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