DWI Courts and DWI/Drug Courts:

Success of the Drug Court Model

Today there is irrefutable evidence that drug courts are achieving what they set out to do. In a series of critical reviews published from 1998 to 2001 of over 120 evaluations of drug courts located throughout the nation, the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University determined that “drug courts provide the most comprehensive and effective control of drug-using offenders’ criminality and drug usage while under the court’s supervision. Drug courts provide closer, more comprehensive supervision and much more frequent drug testing and monitoring during the program than other forms of community supervision. More importantly, drug use and criminal behavior are substantially reduced while offenders are participating in drug court” (Belenko, 1998; 2001). To put it bluntly, “we know that drug courts outperform virtually all other strategies that have been attempted for drug-involved offenders” (Marlowe, DeMatteo, & Festinger, 2003). Perhaps the most important finding is that offenders who become part of a drug court program are succeeding upon completion. Comparisons with other groups reveal much higher retention rates and lower recidivism and drug-use rates for drug court participants both during the life of a program and after the program ends (Belenko, 1998; 2001).

The most substantial and compelling national study to date was commissioned by the National Institute of Justice and released in 2002 whereby a sample of 2,020 graduates from 95 drug courts in 1999 and 2000 were tracked to establish a benchmark national aggregate recidivism rate. The study estimates that after graduation, only 16.4 percent of drug court graduates had been arrested and charged with a serious offense after one year and 27.5 percent at the two year mark. These estimates represent the expected outcomes for those who succeed in drug court: one year after graduation, only one out of six drug court graduates would be expected to be re-arrested and charged with a serious offense. (Roman, Townsend, & Bhati, 2002). Finally, a 2000 Vera Institute of Justice report concluded that “the body of literature on recidivism is now strong enough to conclude that completing a drug court program reduces the likelihood of future arrest.” (Fluellen & Trone, 2000).

DWI Courts and DWI/Drug Courts: Utilizing the Drug Court Model With Impaired Drivers

To date, it has been left to the traditional courts and criminal justice system to deal with DWI cases, and it has become clear that the traditional process is not working for repeat offenders. Punishment, unaccompanied by treatment and accountability, is an ineffective deterrent for the repeat DWI offender. The outcome for the offender is continued dependence on alcohol; for the community, continued peril. A new strategy exists to fight against repeat impaired driving. Generally called “DWI Courts” or “DWI/Drug Courts,” offenders are held at the highest level of accountability while receiving long-term, intensive treatment and compliance monitoring. There are currently 81 designated DWI Courts and 249 hybrid DWI/Drug Courts, which are drug courts that also take DWI offenders.