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Results for drug courts (kentucky)

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Author: Hiller, Matthew L.

Title: Kentucky Reentry Courts: Evaluation of the Pilot Programs

Summary: As record numbers of offenders return from prison to the community each year, many policy makers and stakeholders are beginning to realize that “they all come back.” Not only do they come back, but many of them also return to the community having had little or no help for their drug and psychological problems while they were behind bars, and they are unlikely to get treatment services after they return to the community. Without treatment many of these individuals likely will return to prison. Reentry Courts represents an important step toward developing innovative programming for drug-involved offenders. In Kentucky, the Reentry Court model program that was developed combined 6-months of in-prison treatment with at least 1 year of treatment in an established Drug Court upon return to the community. A growing body of literature strongly suggests that these programs are effective independently, and that combining them might increase the effectiveness of each. Initial findings concerning the during-program performance of 6 clients admitted to the Kentucky Reentry Court pilot program were encouraging. As of November 21, 2001, 5 of the 6 clients were still active in treatment (1 had absconded). These individuals showed high levels of behavioral compliance with treatment expectations. Several were promoted to either phase 2 or phase 3 of the Drug Court, none had tested positive for and illicit drug on urine tests, none had received a new criminal charge, and most were employed; whereas, the majority were unemployed prior to entering Drug Court. Nevertheless, the Kentucky Reentry Court program was discontinued due to funding concerns, namely federal funding was not readily available to continue these efforts. For program like this to impact a large number of lives, federal funds need to be made available to expand the capacity of both corrections-based programming and Drug Courts. By doing so, it might be possible to begin to slow the revolving door that many drug-involved offenders to repeatedly recycle through the courts and corrections. In addition, to examining the preliminary outcomes of those who were admitted to the Kentucky Reentry Court program model, a substudy also was conducted for developing a Treatment Screening Questionnaire. This questionnaire was designed to facilitate criminal justice decision making regarding referrals to programs like Reentry Courts. The screener emphasized a number of offender attributes (like drug use severity, mental health history, motivation for treatment, criminal history, and treatment history), highlighted by Peters and Peyton (1998) as important characteristics for Drug Courts to consider when making decisions for placing individuals in rehabilitative programming. A standardized set of instruments were included in the Treatment Screening Questionnaire, including the Simple Screening Instrument, Texas Christian University Drug Screen II, Salient Factor Score, and the Desire for Help Scale from the Texas Christian University Treatment Motivation Assessment. Initial finding from pilot data collected from 39 residents of a corrections-based therapeutic community (a program that was used by some of the Reentry Court clients in this evaluation) were encouraging. Overall, residents were willing to provide detailed information on their drug use and drug use problems, mental health problems, criminal history, and treatment motivation. Their responses on the questionnaire were internally consistent, indicating high levels of reliability. Self-reported information also demonstrated a high level of agreement with information abstracted from official records, suggesting good validity. Therefore, it appears that the Treatment Screening Questionnaire may be a useful tool for helping correctional and Drug Court managers to determine who might warrant further assessment and entry into a treatment program. In conclusion, the Kentucky Reentry Court Pilot program was grounded in the literature that shows residential treatment and Drug Courts are effective for reducing recidivism and relapse among drug-involved offenders. Initial findings from analysis of during-program performance indicators showed that most of the clients admitted to the Reentry Court program were doing well in it. Therefore, additional federal monies should be made available to more thoroughly test innovative programs for helping offenders reenter and reintegrate into the community, like the one described in the current report.

Details: Lexington, KY: University of Kentucky, Center on Drug and Alcohol Research, 2002. 56p.

Source: Internet Resource: Accessed July 18, 2011 at: http://courts.ky.gov/NR/rdonlyres/D5F5A4FD-DA42-4E38-B204-B15593E2EA99/)/KentuckyReentryCourtEvaluationofthePilotProgramsJuly2002.pdf

Year: 2002

Country: United States

URL: http://courts.ky.gov/NR/rdonlyres/D5F5A4FD-DA42-4E38-B204-B15593E2EA99/)/KentuckyReentryCourtEvaluationofthePilotProgramsJuly2002.pdf

Shelf Number: 122097

Keywords:
Drug Courts (Kentucky)
Drug Offender Treatment
Drug Offenders
Prisoner Reentry
Recidivism
Rehabilitation

Author: Hiller, Matthew

Title: Fayette County Juvenile Drug Court Implementation Evaluation

Summary: The current evaluation describes the implementation of the Fayette County Juvenile Drug, which was planned beginning in 1999 and established initially as a pilot program in January 2001. It received funds to become fully implemented in September 2001. During this evaluation, data were collected on drug court operations and drug court participants in order to The 16 strategies pertain to collaborative planning, teamwork, clearly defining a target population and eligibility criteria, judicial involvement and supervision, monitoring and evaluation, community partnerships, comprehensive treatment planning, developmentally appropriate services, gender-appropriate services, cultural competence, a focus on strengths, family engagement, educational linkages, drug testing, goal-oriented incentives and sanctions, and confidentiality. The process evaluation concluded that the Fayette County Juvenile Drug Court had successfully incorporated these strategies in its implementation. The program staff attempts to meet the need of each participant, and the opinions and suggestions of team members are considered by the judge before making final decisions about participants. The cohesiveness of the drug court team provides a supportive and therapeutic environment that facilitates the recovery of participants. The evaluation recommends building stronger relationships with local treatment programs, increasing the involvement of participants' families, enrolling 30 percent of eligible youth each year, and developing a plan for funding the court beyond grant monies. Evaluation methods included interviews with court team members, participant observation, a focus group, and a review of program documentation. 8 figures and appended participant observation coding sheet, the participant record coding sheet, and the consent and script for the focus group.

Details: Lexington, KY: Center on Drug and Alcohol Research, University of Kentucky, 2003. 71p.

Source: Internet Resource: Accessed on January 22, 2012 at http://courts.ky.gov/NR/rdonlyres/5032E79A-6565-4E19-AB8D-C6D6AC555ADE/0/FayetteCountyJuvenileDrugCourtImplementationEvaluation2003.pdf

Year: 2003

Country: United States

URL: http://courts.ky.gov/NR/rdonlyres/5032E79A-6565-4E19-AB8D-C6D6AC555ADE/0/FayetteCountyJuvenileDrugCourtImplementationEvaluation2003.pdf

Shelf Number: 123724

Keywords:
Drug Courts (Kentucky)
Drug Treatment Programs
Juvenile Offenders
Process Evaluation
Substance Abuse