Community Services Board

Drug Courts: A National Phenomenon

Drug courts represent the coordinated efforts of the judiciary, prosecution, defense bar, probation, law enforcement, mental health, social service, and treatment communities to actively and forcefully intervene and break the cycle of substance abuse, addiction, and crime. As an alternative to less effective interventions, drug courts quickly identify substance abusing offenders and place them under strict court monitoring and community supervision, coupled with effective, long-term treatment services.

In this blending of systems, the drug court participant undergoes an intense regimen of substance abuse and mental health treatment, case management, drug testing, and probation supervision while reporting to regularly scheduled status hearings before a judge with specialized expertise in the drug court model (Fox & Huddleston, 2003). In addition, drug courts may provide job skill training, family/group counseling, and many other life-skill enhancement services.

No other justice intervention brings to bear such an intensive response with such dramatic results; results that have been well-documented through the rigors of scientific analysis. From the earliest evaluations, researchers have determined that drug courts provide “closer, more comprehensive supervision and much more frequent drug testing and monitoring during the program than other forms of community supervision. More importantly, drug use and criminal behavior are substantially reduced while offenders are participating in drug court” (Belenko, 1998; 2001). To put it bluntly, “we know that drug courts outperform virtually all other strategies that have been attempted for drug-involved offenders” (Marlowe, DeMatteo, & Festinger, 2003).

With 1,183 drug courts currently in operation (Table I), 414 actively involved in the planning process in 2003 (American University, 2003), and another 184 jurisdictions accepted into the Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA), U.S. Department of Justice formal drug court planning training series for 2004 (Mankin, 2004), drug courts are the future, having transformed from a grass roots movement of “specialized courts” to an institutionalized way of doing business in the courts.

Benefits of Drug Court   

NDCI is sponsored by the Office of National Drug Control Policy, Executive Office of the President, Bureau of Justice Assistance, Office of Juvenile Justice & Delinquency, National Institute of Justice & the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, U.S. Department of Transportation & U.S. Department of Justice.