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Date: April 30, 2024 Tue
Time: 1:25 am
Time: 1:25 am
Results for drug offenders (u.s.)
5 results foundAuthor: Drake, Elizabeth Title: Chemical Dependency Treatment for Offenders: A Review of the Evidence and Benefit-Cost Findings Summary: The Washington State Institute for Public Policy was directed by the 2012 Legislature to review whether chemical dependency treatment in the adult and juvenile justice systems reduces crime and substance abuse. The Institute was also asked to estimate the monetary benefits and costs of these programs. We conducted a systematic review of research studies to determine if, on average, these programs have been shown to reduce crime. To narrow our review of this vast literature, we focused on the type of chemical dependency programs funded by Washington taxpayers. We located 55 unique studies with sufficient research rigor to include in our review. Programs for adult offenders have been evaluated more frequently than for juveniles. Of the 55 studies, 45 evaluated treatments delivered to adults while only 10 were for juveniles. Our findings indicate a variety of chemical dependency treatments are effective at reducing crime. Recidivism is reduced by 4-9%. Some programs also have benefits that substantially exceed costs. We found that community case management for adult substance abusers has a larger effect when coupled with “swift and certain.” This finding is consistent with an emerging trend in the criminal justice literature—that swiftness and certainty of punishment has a larger deterrent effect than the severity of punishment. Details: Olympia, WA: Washignton State Institute for Public Policy, 2012. 56p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed March 5, 2013 at: http://www.wsipp.wa.gov/rptfiles/12-12-1201.pdf Year: 2012 Country: United States URL: http://www.wsipp.wa.gov/rptfiles/12-12-1201.pdf Shelf Number: 127838 Keywords: Cost-Benefit AnalysisDrub Abuse and AddictionDrug Abuse and CrimeDrug Abuse TreatmentDrug Offenders (U.S.) |
Author: Mauer, Marc Title: A Lifetime of Punishment: The Impact of the Felony Drug Ban on Welfare Benefits Summary: In his first State of the Union address, President Bill Clinton promised to "end welfare as we know it." Nearly four years later, on August 22, 1996, President Clinton signed legislation to do exactly that: the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act (PRWORA). PRWORA's reforms were expansive and controversial for several reasons, including its implementation of a revised cash assistance program- Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF)- which limited the length of time eligible families could receive benefits and established work requirements for recipients. In addition, PRWORA made substantial changes to the operation of the federal food stamp program, which has since been renamed the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). Perhaps because of the general debate surrounding PRWORA's changes to cash assistance and food stamp programs, one significant provision of the law initially received little attention: along with other federal legislation related to the "war on drugs," PRWORA imposed a denial of federal benefits to people convicted in state or federal courts of felony drug offenses. The ban is imposed for no other offenses but drug crimes. Its provisions that subject individuals who are otherwise eligible for receipt of SNAP or TANF benefits to a lifetime disqualification applies to all states unless they act to opt out of the ban. Despite the magnitude of this change, the provision received only two minutes of debate after it was introduced on the Senate floor-one minute for Republicans and one minute for Democrats. It was then unanimously adopted by a voice vote. The brevity of Congressional discussion on the felony drug conviction ban makes it difficult to know the intent of Congress in adopting this policy, but the record that does exist suggests the provision was intended to be punitive and "tough on crime." As Senator Phil Gramm (R-TX), the sponsor of the amendment, argued, "if we are serious about our drug laws, we ought not to give people welfare benefits who are violating the Nation's drug laws." Conspicuously absent from the brief debate over this provision was any discussion of whether the lifetime ban for individuals with felony drug offenses would advance the general objectives of welfare reform. In an effort to assess the impact of this policy, this report provides an analysis of the ban on receipt of TANF benefits for individuals with felony drug convictions. First, we survey the current status of the ban at the state level, including actions by legislatures to opt out of the ban in full or in part. Next, we produce estimates of the number of women potentially affected by the ban in those states that apply it in full. We then assess the rationale for the ban and conclude that, for a multiplicity of reasons, the ban not only fails to accomplish its putative goals, but also is likely to negatively impact public health and safety. Finally,we offer policy recommendations for future treatment of the ban on receipt of food stamps and cash assistance for individuals convicted of felony drug crimes. Details: Washington, DC: The Sentencing Project, 2013. 12p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed November 26, 2013 at: http://www.sentencingproject.org/doc/publications/cc_A%20Lifetime%20of%20Punishment.pdf Year: 2013 Country: United States URL: http://www.sentencingproject.org/doc/publications/cc_A%20Lifetime%20of%20Punishment.pdf Shelf Number: 131707 Keywords: Drug Offenders (U.S.)Ex-Offenders RightsFelony OffendersWelfare BenefitsWelfare Reform |
Author: Hawken, Angela Title: Managing Drug-Involved Offenders Summary: Effectively managing drug-involved offenders is an essential step to reduce crime and drug abuse. Many of the most active criminals and heaviest-using drug abusers are supervised by the criminal justice system; conversely, drug-using parolees and probationers are disproportionately responsible for both crime and drug abuse in America. Finally, since crime and drugs are at least somewhat synergistic - criminal behavior can lead to drug abuse, and visa versa - resolving the drug habits of the most chronic criminal offenders and the criminal habits of the most habitual drug abusers may be an integral element of a successful approach to either problem. Fortunately, many of these individuals are already supervised by probation or parole programs, subjecting them to additional monitoring and discipline. Yet for decades, probation and parole programs have largely failed to wean participants off of either crime or drugs. In a nutshell, current programs have attempted to stretch insufficient resources across overwhelming numbers of parolees and probationers. Since identifying and punishing violations is a heavy drain on program resources, most supervision programs have eventually mutated into relatively lax and ineffective systems of control. Petersilia and Turner's (1991) classic experiment of Intensive Supervision Probation (ISP) revealed that in Los Angeles County, for example, probationers in the ISP condition were tested on average only once every two months (not necessarily randomly), with sanctions for positive tests being administered inconsistently. The result catalyzes a vicious cycle. Programs are unable to discipline minor violations. Offenders perceive that they can commit minor violations without consequence, and in turn stop trying to avoid them. The resulting uptick in minor violations further inundates the resources of the supervisory program, compounding the original problem. This general pattern can consume entire supervisory systems, such that only the most egregious violations or chronic offenders merit increasingly precious enforcement resources. Moreover, court and prison resources are so over-committed that the little punishment that these programs manage to dole out comes only after such a long delay that they have lost their maximum corrective effect on the violator. However, innovations based on the Swift and Certain testing-and-discipline paradigm (SAC) as successfully implemented in Hawaii's HOPE project can break this pattern (Hawken and Kleiman, 2009). A phenomenon called "behavioral triage" allows program resources to be allocated to the offenders whose poor behavior most requires them (Hawken 2010). The quick and efficient identification of egregious offenders - rather than the slow and conventional process of waiting until they compile an extensive list of violations - is combined with swift and consistent punishments. When punishments follow within days of the violation, they have much greater correctional effect on the offender. There is some evidence that these programs introduce predictable consequences into the lives of offenders and increase their capacities for self-control (Hawken and Kleiman, 2009). The promise of these programs creates optimism that drug use and incarceration, among even heavily-drug involved offenders, can be reduced. Mainland replications of the SAC model will show the local conditions that are required to successfully implement the model. These studies will also help to identify the characteristics of offenders who respond to the threat of credible sanctions alone, and those who do not. The latter night need more-intensive resources (such as the ancillary services offered by drug courts or long-term residential treatment), or may not be amenable to supervision in the community. The implementation challenges of SAC are non-trivial, but the promise is enormous. If enough departments are able to reconfigure their operations to deliver sanctions swiftly and with certainty, the effort could yield dramatic reductions in drug use and criminal activity. Details: Final Report to the U.S. Department of Justice, 2014. 60p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed September 17, 2014 at: https://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/nij/grants/247315.pdf Year: 2014 Country: United States URL: https://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/nij/grants/247315.pdf Shelf Number: 133370 Keywords: Drug Abuse and CrimeDrug Offenders (U.S.)Drug Treatment Programs |
Author: Lattimore, Pamela Title: Arrestee Substance Use: Comparison of Estimates from the National Survey on Drug Use and Health and the Arrestee Drug Abuse Monitoring Program Summary: The National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH) and the Arrestee Drug Abuse Monitoring (ADAM) Program provide information on alcohol and drug use by individuals who have recently been arrested. The studies differ in their target populations (civilian, non-institutionalized individuals vs. arrestees in 39 sites recently booked into jails) and data collection methods. This study uses 2003 ADAM and 2002-2008 NSDUH data for adult males living in the 39 ADAM sites who reported a past year arrest and 2002-2008 Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) data to examine how well NSDUH covers the arrestee population and to compare estimates of drug and alcohol use and substance abuse or dependence. In general, ADAM estimates of rates of self-reported drug use were higher. The magnitude of these differences cannot be accounted for by under-coverage in NSDUH. Other possible reasons for these differences and their implications for interpreting NSDUH and ADAM data are discussed. Details: Rockville, MD: Center for Behavioral Health Statistics and Quality, SAMHSA, 2014. 15p. Source: Internet Resource: CBHSQ Data Review: Accessed October 2, 2014 at: http://www.samhsa.gov/data/2K14/NSDUHDRADAM/NSDUH-DR-ADAM-2014.pdf Year: 2014 Country: United States URL: http://www.samhsa.gov/data/2K14/NSDUHDRADAM/NSDUH-DR-ADAM-2014.pdf Shelf Number: 133555 Keywords: AlcoholismDrug Abuse and AddictionDrug Abuse and CrimeDrug Offenders (U.S.)Substance Abuse |
Author: Wen, Hefei Title: The Effect of Substance Use Disorder Treatment Use on Crime: Evidence from Public Insurance Expansions and Health Insurance Parity Mandates Summary: We examine the effect of increasing the substance use disorder (SUD) treatment rate on reducing violent and property crime rates, based on county-level panels of SUD treatment and crime data between 2001 and 2008 across the United States. To address the potential endogeneity of the SUD treatment rate with respect to crime rate, we exploit the exogenous variation in the SUD treatment rate induced by two state-level policies, namely insurance expansions under the Health Insurance Flexibility and Accountability (HIFA) waivers and parity mandates for SUD treatment. Once we address the endogeneity issue, we are able to demonstrate an economically meaningful reduction in the rates of robbery, aggravated assault and larceny theft attributable to an increased SUD treatment rate. A back-of-the-envelope calculation shows that a 10 percent relative increase in the SUD treatment rate at an average cost of $1.6 billion yields a crime reduction benefit of $2.5 billion to $4.8 billion. Our findings suggest that expanding insurance coverage and benefits for SUD treatment is an effective policy lever to improve treatment use, and the improved SUD treatment use can effectively and cost-effectively promote public safety through crime reduction. Details: Cambridge, MA: National Bureau of Economic Research, 2014. 40p. Source: Internet Resource: NBER Working Paper Series: Working Paper 20537: Accessed October 6, 2014 at: http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2505843 Year: 2014 Country: United States URL: http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2505843 Shelf Number: 134228 Keywords: Drug Abuse and AdditionDrug Abuse and CrimeDrug Abuse TreatmentDrug Offenders (U.S.)Property CrimesRecidivismSubstance Abuse TreatmentViolent Crimes |