Maine’s Adult Drug Treatment Courts significantly reduce recidivism rates and save the state money, but improvements could further support recovery from drug and alcohol abuse and enhance public safety, according to an annual report on the courts.

“During their (14 years) of continuous operations, Maine’s Adult Drug Treatment Courts have continued to offer a successful evidence-based approach to the challenge of substance abuse and crime in the State of Maine,” the report says. “Improvements continue to be made in these dockets in order to support recovery from drug and alcohol abuse, reduce criminal conduct and enhance public safety.”

In 2015, there were 223 active participants in the drug treatment courts. By the end of December, there were 134 active participants statewide due to graduations and expulsions. Forty-nine people graduated and 40 others were expelled for noncompliance with requirements and were ordered to serve a previously agreed-upon jail sentence.

A vital measure of the drug courts’ operations is the recidivism of participants compared to defendants whose cases are adjudicated traditionally, according to the report.

In the most recent evaluation of the program, the recidivism rate – determined by whether someone has a new criminal conviction 18 months post-admission – of drug court graduates was 16 percent. By comparison, the recidivism rate was 32 percent for people who applied to drug court and were not admitted and 49 percent for people who were admitted but were later expelled from the program.

The most recent study by the Maine Department of Corrections showed a recidivism rate of 39.6 percent to 47.1 percent for people on probation for drug offenses, according to the report. The recidivism rate in that study was defined as a new arrest within 12 months.

The drug courts will add judges and staff this year, after the Legislature and Gov. Paul Le-Page recognized the need for additional money in response to the state’s opiate epidemic, according to the annual report.

The report is given to the Legislature’s Judiciary Committee. Sen. David Burns, R-Whiting, and Rep. Barry Hobbins, D-Saco, chairmen of the committee, could not be reached for comment Friday.

The drug treatment courts, established in 2000 and operating since 2001, are in York, Cumberland, Androscoggin, Washington and Hancock counties. Hancock County currently accepts clients from Penobscot County and a joint Co-Occurring Disorders and Veterans Court operates in Kennebec County.

Drug court is open to defendants who have either pleaded guilty or been found guilty of serious offenses that were drug- or alcohol-related.

Once admitted to the court, participants are required to meet with the presiding judicial officer every week and maintain regular contact with their case managers and probation officers. They must also maintain a job, attend school or perform community service, maintain stable and sober housing, undergo frequent and random drug and alcohol tests and participate in treatment or self-help groups.

Five of the six dockets – York, Androscoggin, Cumberland, Hancock and the veterans court – are operating at or near full capacity, according to the annual report. There is a long waiting list of people waiting to be admitted to the Androscoggin court and Washington County has increased its enrollment from a low of three people to nine participants. Each court has a maximum capacity of 30 people.

The drug treatment courts “generate measurable cost avoidance to the criminal justice system through reduced recidivism and incarceration,” according to the report.

The program also results in reduced health care costs through participant recovery from addiction.

Using a conservative estimate, for every $1 spent on the drug courts, approximately $1.87 in savings to the state’s criminal justice system has been generated.

National research indicates that if all costs are compiled, including those to potential victims, the average cost savings per drug court participant is $12,218, according to the National Institute of Justice.

Drug treatment courts are labor- and time-intensive, with judicial officers allocating 15 to 20 percent of their time to the program each week the court meets. For fiscal year 2016, two more judges have been funded.

“It is anticipated that a substantial portion of this new judge-time will be allocated to the criminal docket and to drug courts,” the report says.

 

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