High-risk offenders participating in court-supervised substance abuse treatment: characteristics, treatment received, and factors associated with recidivism

Abstract

High-risk offenders treated by California's Proposition 36 court-supervised drug treatment initiative account for a disproportionate number of re-arrests (Hawken 2008) undermining the many successes of the program, yet little is known about their characteristics, treatment experiences, or factors that influence re-arrest. To better understand this group, self-reported and administrative data were analyzed on 78 high-risk (five or more convictions in the previous 5 years) and 1,009 low-risk offenders enrolled during 2004. At intake, high-risk offenders were younger, more were male, and more had prior contact with psychiatric and criminal justice systems. Treatment received and the proportion recidivated during the 30-months after treatment assessment were similar across groups, but high-risk offenders had a greater number of re-arrests. The number of re-arrests was increased by high-risk classification, but decreased by receipt of more treatment services and longer treatment length. Moreover, the number of re-arrests was highest among high-risk offenders with shorter treatment lengths, whereas it was similar to that among low-risk offenders if treatment length was longer. To reduce recidivism among high-risk offenders in court-supervised drug treatment, consideration of psychiatric problems and criminal history is needed, as is receipt of sufficient treatment.

Figure 1

Interaction effect between risk level and treatment retention on re-arrests over 12 months after assessment for treatment on several characteristics at assessment for treatment including younger age, male gender, prior contact with the mental health services system, and more frequent contact with the criminal justice system. Treatment received and the proportion of offenders who recidivated were mostly similar across groups, but fewer high-risk offenders were urine tested during treatment and high-risk

Figure 2

Interaction effect between risk level and treatment retention on re-arrests over 30 months after assessment for treatment offenders had more re-arrests over 12 and 30 months following intake assessment. Consistent with prior research, multiple regression analysis showed that high-risk classification was a significant predictor of more re-arrests over 30 months after intake (results for the association between high-risk classification and re-arrests over 12 months pointed in the same direction, but did not reach statistical significance). Significant predictors associated with fewer re-arrests over 12 months after intake included White race/ethnicity and employment at intake. Regardless of the length of the outcome observation time period, the number of re-arrests was smaller with older age, being female, residing in a particular county, receipt of more services during treatment, and receipt of a longer length of treatment. Moreover, congruent with expectations, the interaction between risk classification and treatment length had a significant effect on the mean number of re-arrests. The number of re-arrests was greater with shorter treatment retention lengths for high-risk offenders and was smaller with longer treatment retention lengths for both low-risk and high-risk offenders.