Public Policy Solution #1
Treatment and Recovery Support Services Should Be Available to Individuals under Criminal Justice Supervision

While the criminal justice system is not the answer to preventing or treating addiction to drugs and alcohol—and people with alcohol and drug problems should not have to get arrested to obtain care—much research demonstrates that being arrested can be a catalyst for the delivery of effective addiction treatment and recovery support. All facets of the criminal justice system—judges, prosecutors and defense bar, corrections, and parole and probation—can be very effective in reducing drug and alcohol abuse and addiction and criminal activity, and can help promote successful community reentry.  To do so, they must implement effective, evidence-based approaches and collaborate well with each other and the treatment system.¹

“Because research has demonstrated that individuals who enter treatment under legal pressure have outcomes as favorable as those who enter treatment voluntarily the criminal justice system can play an invaluable role in getting people to participate in an addiction treatment program. The criminal justice system refers drug and alcohol offenders into treatment through a variety of mechanisms, such as diverting nonviolent offenders to treatment, stipulating treatment as a condition of probation or pretrial release, and convening specialized courts that handle cases for offenses involving drugs and alcohol.”²

Historically, in much of the criminal justice system addiction treatment has been an afterthought (when thought about at all) in the design of correctional programs, such as day reporting, jail, prison, etc. While the past several decades have witnessed an increased interest in providing substance abuse treatment services for criminal justice offenders, few offenders have access to adequate services. The recent NIDA-supported Criminal Justice-Drug Abuse Treatment Studies (CJ-DATS) survey of a variety of correctional settings found that the vast majority of adult offenders did not have access to treatment, with fewer services available in jails and community correctional facilities than in prisons³ It is estimated that only 5% of state corrections budgets are allocated to drug and alcohol treatment services.⁴ The failure to effectively integrate addiction treatment with criminal justice supervision reinforces the perception of treatment as a “luxury” instead of a core necessity.⁵ Once treatment becomes a primary goal for the addicted individual, whether in prison or under criminal justice supervision in the community, significant progress can be made in reducing crime and increasing the numbers of people who leave the criminal justice system, successfully reenter society, and lead healthy productive lives in safer and more stable communities.

Lack of knowledge about best practices and lack of cohesion among key stakeholders have been the most prevalent barriers in many jurisdictions. Fortunately, due in part to the work of NIDA and its CJ-DATS program, effective, research-based collaborations are now in place in many parts of the country, delivering life-saving treatment, recovery, and reentry services efficiently and cost-effectively.⁶ When criminal justice and treatment agencies that have not worked together before begin to do so, they discover that they share many of the same goals, including helping individuals take personal responsibility for their behavior that affects the public safety and health of the community.

“Because research has demonstrated that individuals who enter treatment under legal pressure have outcomes as favorable as those who enter treatment voluntarily the criminal justice system can play an invaluable role in getting people to participate in an addiction treatment program. The criminal justice system refers drug and alcohol offenders into treatment through a variety of mechanisms, such as diverting nonviolent offenders to treatment, stipulating treatment as a condition of probation or pretrial release, and convening specialized courts that handle cases for offenses involving drugs and alcohol.”²

Historically, in much of the criminal justice system addiction treatment has been an afterthought (when thought about at all) in the design of correctional programs, such as day reporting, jail, prison, etc. While the past several decades have witnessed an increased interest in providing substance abuse treatment services for criminal justice offenders, few offenders have access to adequate services. The recent NIDA-supported Criminal Justice-Drug Abuse Treatment Studies (CJ-DATS) survey of a variety of correctional settings found that the vast majority of adult offenders did not have access to treatment, with fewer services available in jails and community correctional facilities than in prisons³ It is estimated that only 5% of state corrections budgets are allocated to drug and alcohol treatment services.⁴ The failure to effectively integrate addiction treatment with criminal justice supervision reinforces the perception of treatment as a “luxury” instead of a core necessity.⁵ Once treatment becomes a primary goal for the addicted individual, whether in prison or under criminal justice supervision in the community, significant progress can be made in reducing crime and increasing the numbers of people who leave the criminal justice system, successfully reenter society, and lead healthy productive lives in safer and more stable communities.

Lack of knowledge about best practices and lack of cohesion among key stakeholders have been the most prevalent barriers in many jurisdictions. Fortunately, due in part to the work of NIDA and its CJ-DATS program, effective, research-based collaborations are now in place in many parts of the country, delivering life-saving treatment, recovery, and reentry services efficiently and cost-effectively.⁶ When criminal justice and treatment agencies that have not worked together before begin to do so, they discover that they share many of the same goals, including helping individuals take personal responsibility for their behavior that affects the public safety and health of the community.

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