and Criminal Justice Supervision."
SIDEBAR -
Elements of Successful Programs
Effective programs such as drug courts and work-release therapeutic communities have the following elements in common:
Treatment in the community.
For treatment gains to generalize and be sustained, clients require opportunities to practice new skills in the community environment. In contrast, incarceration removes individuals from family and social supports, interferes with employment or education, and exposes them to antisocial peer influences.
Opportunity to avoid a criminal record or incarceration.
Treatment completion and drug abstinence are reinforced by removal of criminal justice sanctions, and clients can avoid the debilitating stigma of a criminal record.
Close supervision.
The programs include random weekly urinalyses, status hearings with criminal justice authorities, and monitoring of official rearrest records. Clinicians provide regular progress reports to supervising authorities and may provide testimony at status hearings. As a result, clients are less apt to drop out of the system through inattention and cannot exploit gaps in communication.
Certain and immediate consequences.
Clients agree to specified sanctions and rewards that can be readily applied without having to hold new formal hearings with the full range of due process protections. Termination for noncompliance or new infractions automatically results in a criminal conviction and criminal disposition.