jdswifey02
04-22-2002, 07:22 PM
Study: Repeat Offender Data Lacking
By JEFFREY McMURRAY
.c The Associated Press
WASHINGTON (AP) - The Justice Department cannot gauge the success of drug courts because it no longer collects data on repeat offenders, a study concludes.
The report released Monday by the General Accounting Office, the investigative arm of Congress, reveals a steep decline in oversight, despite a huge increase in the number of drug courts since the first two were established as a pilot program in 1989.
``DOJ continues to lack vital information on the overall impact of federally funded drug court programs,'' the report concludes.
The courts, in a program run by local dollars and federal grants, are considered a creative alternative to prison for drug addicts, particularly first-time offenders. In most cases, the accused plead guilty in exchange for probation and substance abuse counseling, and many must report weekly to the same sentencing judge.
According to GAO, 791 drug courts were operating in 2001, 539 of them established in the past five years. Another 452 courts were in the planning stages last year.
The GAO found the Drug Courts Program Office, which distributes the grants, stopped asking local courts in 2000 to collect information on the number of participants rearrested for drug use after leaving the program.
The program director, who answers to the Department of Justice, explained to GAO investigators that many drug courts lack sufficient resources to collect the data. However, the GAO questioned whether that was true, referring to a 1997 study that found, at the time, 53 percent of the courts maintained follow-up data on rearrest and conviction rates.
``Drug courts are tailor-made to communities,'' said Susan Dryden, a department spokeswoman. ``As a result, national evaluation standards have proven difficult.''
District Judge Michael McMaken, a former director and current judge at a drug court in Mobile, Ala., acknowledged the courts don't do a very good job monitoring recidivism. Once program participants graduate, they're not obligated to provide future arrest information, he said.
``These are people coerced into treatment in the first place,'' McMaken said. ``Most of them are glad to be out from under my thumb, and I don't blame them for that.''
Since 1995, Congress has spent almost $267 million on drug courts, and the local programs have received about $175 million in grant money.
The GAO offered several suggestions for more effective administration of the drug court program. They included consolidating data, managing information better and penalizing grant recipients who inadequately report their courts' operations.
Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala., requested the most recent GAO report. Sessions, former U.S. attorney in Mobile, said he doesn't believe the Justice Department is properly monitoring the program.
``When you're spending over $200 million on a program you're asking cities and counties to invest substantially in, then we need to be sure we have good analysis of what works and what does not work,'' Sessions said.
On the Net: General Accounting Office: http://www.gao.gov/
Drug Courts Program Office: http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/dcpo/
By JEFFREY McMURRAY
.c The Associated Press
WASHINGTON (AP) - The Justice Department cannot gauge the success of drug courts because it no longer collects data on repeat offenders, a study concludes.
The report released Monday by the General Accounting Office, the investigative arm of Congress, reveals a steep decline in oversight, despite a huge increase in the number of drug courts since the first two were established as a pilot program in 1989.
``DOJ continues to lack vital information on the overall impact of federally funded drug court programs,'' the report concludes.
The courts, in a program run by local dollars and federal grants, are considered a creative alternative to prison for drug addicts, particularly first-time offenders. In most cases, the accused plead guilty in exchange for probation and substance abuse counseling, and many must report weekly to the same sentencing judge.
According to GAO, 791 drug courts were operating in 2001, 539 of them established in the past five years. Another 452 courts were in the planning stages last year.
The GAO found the Drug Courts Program Office, which distributes the grants, stopped asking local courts in 2000 to collect information on the number of participants rearrested for drug use after leaving the program.
The program director, who answers to the Department of Justice, explained to GAO investigators that many drug courts lack sufficient resources to collect the data. However, the GAO questioned whether that was true, referring to a 1997 study that found, at the time, 53 percent of the courts maintained follow-up data on rearrest and conviction rates.
``Drug courts are tailor-made to communities,'' said Susan Dryden, a department spokeswoman. ``As a result, national evaluation standards have proven difficult.''
District Judge Michael McMaken, a former director and current judge at a drug court in Mobile, Ala., acknowledged the courts don't do a very good job monitoring recidivism. Once program participants graduate, they're not obligated to provide future arrest information, he said.
``These are people coerced into treatment in the first place,'' McMaken said. ``Most of them are glad to be out from under my thumb, and I don't blame them for that.''
Since 1995, Congress has spent almost $267 million on drug courts, and the local programs have received about $175 million in grant money.
The GAO offered several suggestions for more effective administration of the drug court program. They included consolidating data, managing information better and penalizing grant recipients who inadequately report their courts' operations.
Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala., requested the most recent GAO report. Sessions, former U.S. attorney in Mobile, said he doesn't believe the Justice Department is properly monitoring the program.
``When you're spending over $200 million on a program you're asking cities and counties to invest substantially in, then we need to be sure we have good analysis of what works and what does not work,'' Sessions said.
On the Net: General Accounting Office: http://www.gao.gov/
Drug Courts Program Office: http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/dcpo/