| Abstrakt: |
This study evaluates the impact of enhanced drug court services in a large county in Southern California. These enhanced services, including specialty counseling groups, educational/employment resources, and increased Residential Treatment (RT) beds, were designed to increase program retention and successful completion (graduation) of drug court. This study examines outcomes for 477 male and 273 female drug court participants between January 2004 and March 2005 in Orange County, California. Data were gathered from various sources including the Drug Court management information system (MIS) and probation records. The results suggest that several enhancements individually increase participation retention (as opposed to termination) in drug court, particularly education, employment, RT, and two specialty counseling groups (Alcohol Recovery and Mask of Addiction). Similarly, participant graduation rates were improved with the individual effects of education, employment, and the same two specialty counseling groups. The combination of RT, specialty counseling groups, and employment achievement increased graduation rates for drug court participants. This research suggests further examination of these variables in alternate settings to determine the extent to which these strong but preliminary results are generalizable. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] |
