Cowlitz County Adult Drug Treatment Court: Evaluation. Agenda

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1 Cowlitz County Adult Drug Treatment Court: Evaluation Nick McRee, Ph.D. Associate Professor and Chair Department of Sociology & Social Work The University of Portland February 2015 Agenda Drug Courts in America: Origins, Philosophy, Objectives, Successes Cowlitz County Adult Drug Treatment Court Essential Features and Processes 2014 CCADTC Evaluation Process Evaluation: Comparison to National Best Practices Outcome Evaluation: Comparison to 2004 Evaluation and Similar Drug Court Programs Next Steps & Recommendations 1

2 Drug Courts in America Currently over 1600 drug courts in operation or in planning stages A growing amount of research has demonstrated the effectiveness of drug courts, relative to traditional criminal justice approaches Treatment completion Criminal recidivism Cost-effectiveness Cowlitz County Adult Drug Treatment Court (CCADTC) Established in 1999 Mission: provide judicially-supervised assessment, education, and treatment to drug and alcoholaddicted criminal offenders in a coordinated effort to reduce crime and improve the quality of life in the community A three-phase treatment protocol lasting at least 12 months. Successful completion can lead to dismissal of criminal charges. 2

3 2014 Evaluation Plan In 2010 CCADTC secures program grants from BJA and SAMHSA. Cowlitz County contracts with Nick McRee, Ph.D. to conduct a program evaluation. Process and outcome evaluation for the period covered by the grants (9/2010 9/2013) CCADTC Process Evaluation Standards for evaluation: NADCP s 10 Key Components of Drug Courts Emerging research on Drug Court best practices Conclusion: CCADTC is structured and operates in a manner largely consistent with NADCP recommendations and best-practices research 3

4 CCADTC Outcome Evaluation Measures: Client profile Client Graduation Rate Sanction & Incentive Patterns Criminal Recidivism Standards for evaluation: Comparison to 2004 CCADTC evaluation results Comparison with WA state and national statistics CCADTC Outcome Evaluation: Profile Compared to the 2004 study cohort, the current client profile at time of program entry is: Slightly older and better-educated, but more likely to be single and unemployed at program entry More likely to report opioids (e.g., heroin and benzodiazepines) and less likely to identify alcohol, marijuana, and cocaine, as a primary drug of choice. More likely to have a felony and/or misdemeanor criminal history 4

5 CCADTC Outcome Evaluation: Program Completion Graduation rate: 56% This is 12% higher than the 2004 CCADTC study cohort WA state drug court graduation rates vary between 26%-58% CCADTC Outcome Evaluation: Judicial sanctions and incentives Clients received fewer judicial sanctions on average, compared to the 2004 cohort. Jail was less-frequently employed as a sanction. The Court emphasizes behavior modification through positive reinforcement 5

6 CCADTC Outcome Evaluation: Recidivism New felony arrest followed by conviction, up to 3 years after program exit Graduates 13.9% recidivism (of these, 63.6% were drug-related ) The 2004 CCADTC cohort recidivism rate was 14.5% National drug court felony recidivism rates 8%-26% Non-graduates 36.6% (versus 38% among 2004 cohort) Summary The CCADTC is a well-designed program that follows national best-practices for drug courts. The program compares very favorably with WA state and national drug court programs. The CCADTC has significantly improved over time in its efforts to reduce crime and improve quality of life in the local community. 6

7 Next Steps The Cowlitz County Superior Court will continue to evaluate and improve the performance of its drug court programs: Adult Drug Treatment Court SAFE Juvenile Drug Treatment Court HOPE Court for parents in dependency proceedings. 7