Criminal justice outcomes after engagement in outpatient substance abuse treatment.
The relationship between engagement in outpatient treatment facilities in the public sector and subsequent arrest is examined for clients in Connecticut, New York, Oklahoma and Washington. Engagement is defined as receiving another treatment service within 14 days of beginning a new episode of specialty treatment and at least two additional services within the next 30 days. Data are from 2008 and survival analysis modeling is used. Survival analyses express the effects of model covariates in terms of "hazard ratios," which reflect a change in the likelihood of outcome because of the covariate. Engaged clients had a significantly lower hazard of any arrest than non-engaged in all four states. In NY and OK, engaged clients also had a lower hazard of arrest for substance-related crimes. In CT, NY, and OK engaged clients had a lower hazard of arrest for violent crime. Clients in facilities with higher engagement rates had a lower hazard of any arrest in NY and OK. Engaging clients in outpatient treatment is a promising approach to decrease their subsequent criminal justice involvement.
Institute for Behavioral Health, The Heller School for Social Policy and Management, Brandeis University. Electronic address: garnick@brandeis.edu.
Deborah W
DW
Garnick
Institute for Behavioral Health, The Heller School for Social Policy and Management, Brandeis University.
Constance M
CM
Horgan
Institute for Behavioral Health, The Heller School for Social Policy and Management, Brandeis University.
Andrea
A
Acevedo
Institute for Behavioral Health, The Heller School for Social Policy and Management, Brandeis University.
Margaret T
MT
Lee
Institute for Behavioral Health, The Heller School for Social Policy and Management, Brandeis University.
Lee
L
Panas
Institute for Behavioral Health, The Heller School for Social Policy and Management, Brandeis University.
Grant A
GA
Ritter
Institute for Behavioral Health, The Heller School for Social Policy and Management, Brandeis University.
Robert
R
Dunigan
Connecticut Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services.
Alfred
A
Bidorini
Washington State Department of Social and Health Services, The Division of Behavioral Health and Recovery.
Kevin
K
Campbell
Connecticut Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services.
Karin
K
Haberlin
Washington State Department of Social and Health Services, The Division of Behavioral Health and Recovery.
Alice
A
Huber
New York State Office of Alcoholism and Substance Abuse Services, Division of Outcome Management and System Investment.
Dawn
D
Lambert-Wacey
Oklahoma Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services.
Tracy
T
Leeper
Oklahoma Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services.
Mark
M
Reynolds
Oklahoma Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services.
David
D
Wright
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D003416:Criminal Law; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010045:Outpatients; D019966:Substance-Related Disorders / Q000628:therapy*; D016019:Survival Analysis
Arrest; Criminal justice; Engagement; Outcomes; Performance measure; Substance abuse