IDAHO ADULT DRUG COURT
GUIDELINES FOR
EFFECTIVENESS
AND EVALUATION
Developed with assistance from the
National
Institute of Correction
Adopted
by the Drug Court Coordinating Committee on September 26, 2003
Introduction
Idaho, like many other states throughout the nation, has come to view drug courts as an effective means of reducing substance abuse and related crime. Drug courts utilize many common and established practices such as drug testing, close supervision of offenders, substance abuse treatment, and judicial monitoring but combine them in a unique way to better address the needs of the offender, the justice system, and the community. The specifics of just how these practices are carried out may vary by drug court, particularly as practitioners continue to experiment with techniques that further drug court development and as local jurisdictions tailor them to the types of offenders, crimes, and resources within a given community. However, all drug courts are based upon key, underlying principles that define them as drug courts and ultimately account for their success.
Drug
Courts in Idaho
The Idaho Legislature
established the following goals for drug courts:
The Drug Court Act provides that the district court
in each county may establish a drug court which shall include graduated sanctions and rewards, substance
abuse treatment, close court monitoring
and supervision of progress, and educational
or vocational counseling as appropriate as well as other requirements
established by the district court, in accordance with standards developed by
the drug court coordinating committee.
The Drug Court Act requires the Idaho Supreme Court to establish a Drug Court Coordinating Committee to develop guidelines for drug courts addressing eligibility, identification and screening, assessment, treatment and treatment providers, case management and supervision and evaluation.
Guidelines
Description
The purpose of this document is to set forth guidelines
to provide a sound and consistent foundation for the operation and evaluation
of Idaho’s drug courts. These guidelines articulate research-based best
practices and identify elements that are correlated with desired results and
outcomes.
These guidelines are not rules of procedure and have no
effect of law. They are not the basis
of appeal by any drug court participant and lack of adherence to any guideline
is not the basis for withholding any sanction or readmitting a participant who
is terminated for any cause.
The Guidelines provide a basis for each drug court to
establish its own procedures that reflect standards of operations, the needs of
participants, and the resources available in the community.
The
Guidelines are based on principles gleaned from current
research and credible, published resources in the areas of criminal justice and
addiction treatment, with specific focus on drug courts. A list of these resources is provided at the
end of the document. The Guidelines were developed and refined through
input from Idaho drug court professionals and stakeholders and represent a
consensus about appropriate practice guidance.
The
Idaho Drug Court Act states: “The [Drug Court Coordinating] committee shall
also develop guidelines for drug courts addressing eligibility, identification and screening, assessment, treatment and
treatment providers, case management and supervision, and evaluation”. The
guidelines are organized under these headings. In addition, Coordination of Services has been added to encompass
guidelines related to the partnerships, also envisioned in the statute, that
are so vital to effective drug courts.
ADULT DRUG COURT GUIDELINES
FOR
EFFECTIVENESS AND EVALUATION
Each district court should establish written policies
and procedures that describe how the drug court(s) will implement these
statewide guidelines as well as any additional guidelines, policies, and
procedures necessary to govern its operations.
1.0 ELIGIBILITY
1.1
No person has a right to be admitted into drug court.
[I.C.
19-5604]
1.2 No person shall be eligible to participate in drug court
if:
(A) the person is currently
charged with, has pled or has been adjudicated or found guilty of, a felony
crime of violence or a felony crime in which the person used either a firearm
or a deadly weapon or instrument.
[I.C.19.5604.b.1]
(B) the person is currently
charged with, or has pled or been found guilty of, a felony in which the person
committed or attempted to commit, conspired to commit, or intended to commit a
sex offense [I.C. 19.5604.b.2]
1.3 Each drug court will define its
target population, identify the characteristics of that target population,
including criminogenic risk and needs, and establish written criteria for drug
court acceptance and exclusion.
1.4 Each drug court will establish a
written procedure for deciding how individuals will be considered for
acceptance into drug court, including who will have input into that decision
and giving final control to the drug court judge.
1.5 Each drug court should identify
eligible individuals quickly, screen them as soon as possible, advise them
about the program and the merits of participating, and place them promptly in
the drug court in order to capitalize on a triggering event, such as an arrest
or probation violation, which can persuade or compel participants to enter and
remain in treatment.
1.6 Coerced treatment is as effective or
more effective than voluntary treatment.
Participants should not be excluded from admission solely because of
prior treatment failures or a current lack of motivation for treatment. Drug
courts should implement motivational enhancement strategies to engage
participants and keep them in treatment.
1.7
Payment of fees, fines, and/or restitution
is an important part of a
participant’s treatment, but
no one, who is otherwise eligible, should be denied participation solely
because of inability to pay, although graduation may be delayed until balances
are paid.
1.8 Cooperation among drug courts is
encouraged, within the constraints of available resources, to facilitate
transfer of eligible applicants or current participants to the drug court that
is most accessible to them.
1.9 Participants
with a mental illness should be accepted and/or retained in drug court if the
mental health evaluation indicates they are amenable to the drug court model,
including imposition of a reasonable range of sanctions and incentives.
2.0 Identification
and Assessment
2.1 Prospective
drug court participants should be identified through a structured screening process
designed to determine if they meet the drug court target population eligibility
criteria.
2.2 Screening
procedures should include using consistent, written criteria and
nationally standardized and
validated instruments, such as the TCU Drug Dependency
Screen (TCUDS), prior to acceptance into drug court.
2.3 Prospective drug court participants
shall be screened for criminogenic risk
and needs using the Level of Services Inventory – Revised (LSI-R) prior to acceptance into drug court. [IC 19.5604]
2.4 Because
a high percentage of drug dependent offenders also have a diagnosable mental
illness, it is recommended that each drug court develop procedures to identify participants with a mental illness,
to
refer them to an available mental health provider for
evaluation and
treatment,
and to seek regular input from that provider regarding these participants. Screening for mental
illness should use consistent state criteria prior to acceptance into drug
court.
2.5 The treatment plan for substance abuse
or dependence will be based on a clinical assessment, performed by a
qualified professional, including a structured,
bio-psycho-social assessment and a determination of the
appropriate level of care,
using current ASAM criteria. (American Society of Addiction Medicine)
2.6
Participants should be initially assessed and periodically
reviewed by both
court and treatment personnel to ensure that individuals
are suitably
matched to appropriate treatment and interventions.
3.0 Treatment
and Treatment Providers
3.1 Treatment paid for by state funds will be
provided in programs approved by the Idaho Department of Health and
Welfare under promulgated Rules and Minimum Standards Governing Alcohol /
Drug Abuse Prevention and Treatment Programs, which have been revised to address the needs of drug court
participants. Treatment funded by other
than state funds will be provided in programs approved by the Executive
Committee of the Statewide Drug Court Coordinating Committee.
3.2 Treatment is primarily intended for chemically dependent individuals assessed as
being of medium to high criminogenic risk.
Low-risk individuals should be treated in a specialized, substantially
separate track designed for participants with low composite criminogenic risk.
3.3 Treatment should be provided to address
identified, individualized criminogenic needs.
3.4
Treatment should include the
following:
(1)
A cognitive behavioral
model, including interventions designed to address criminal thinking patterns.
(2) Techniques to accommodate and address participant stages of change.
Members of the drug court team should work
together to engage participants and
motivate participation. The consistent
use of techniques such as motivational interviewing and motivational
enhancement therapy should be employed to reduce client defensiveness, foster
engagement, and improve retention.
(3)
Family treatment to
address patterns of family interaction that increase the risk of re-offending,
to develop family understanding of substance use disorders and recovery, and to
create an improved family support system.
(4)
Referral of family
members to appropriate community resources to address other identified service
needs.
(5) Incorporation of
parenting and child custody issues and the needs of children in the
participant’s family into the treatment plan and addressing them through the effective
use of community resources.
(6) Monitoring of
abstinence through random, observed urinalysis or other approved drug testing
methodology that occurs no less often than twice weekly or ten times per month
in the “Orientation and Engagement” and “Intensive Treatment” Phases and no
less often than once per month during the remainder of drug court
participation.
(7) Regular
clinical/treatment staffings to review treatment goals, progress, and other
clinical issues.
(8) The prompt and systematic reporting to the drug court treatment
team of the participant’s behavior,
compliance with, and progress in treatment; the participant’s
achievements; the participant’s compliance with the drug court program
requirements; and any of the participant’s behavior that does not reflect a recovery
lifestyle.
(9)
Progressive phases that include the goals described below:
(a)
The goals of the Orientation and Engagement Phase are to establish the
participant’s abstinence; to have him or her understand and accept that he or
she has an alcohol/drug dependence problem; demonstrate initial willingness to
participate in treatment activities; become compliant with the conditions of
participation in drug court; establish an initial therapeutic relationship; and
commit to a plan for active treatment.
(b)
The goals of the Intensive
Treatment Phase are to have the
participant
demonstrate continued efforts at achieving abstinence; develop an understanding of substance abuse
and offender recovery tools, including relapse prevention; develop an
understanding and ability to employ the tools of cognitive restructuring of
criminal/risk thinking; develop the use of a recovery support system; and
assume or resume socially accepted life roles, including education or work and
responsible family relations.
(c)
The goals of the
Transition/Community Engagement Phase are to have the participant demonstrate
continued abstinence; demonstrate competence in using recovery and cognitive
restructuring skills, in progressively more challenging situations; develop
further cognitive skills such as anger management, negotiation, problem solving
and decision making, financial and time management; connect with other
community treatment or rehabilitative services matched to identified
criminogenic needs; demonstrate continued use of a community recovery support
system; and demonstrate continued effective performance of socially-accepted
life roles.
(d)
The goals of the Maintenance/Aftercare Phase
are to have the
participant demonstrate
internalized recovery skills with reduced program support; demonstrate ability
to identify relapse issues, and intervene; and contribute to and support the
development of others in earlier phases of the drug court program.
(10) The Orientation and Engagement and the
Intensive Treatment Phases together should not be completed in less than 90
days and should provide at least 100 hours of planned therapeutic
activity. The Orientation and
Engagement, Intensive Treatment, and Transition/Community
Engagement Phases together should typically be completed in 9 to 12
months. The Maintenance/Aftercare Phase
should be available to participants for a minimum of 6 months.
(a)
Organizing the treatment goals into four phases herein is not
intended to prevent a drug court from
organizing these
treatment goals into fewer or more
phases in its particular
program.
(b)
Nothing herein is intended to recommend that a drug court
organize its program so that a
participant must complete all of
the goals in one of these four phases before beginning
treatment to achieve goals in the next
phase. For example, a
participant could begin treatment to attain goals in the
Maintenance/Aftercare Phase before completing all of the
goals in the
Transition/Community Engagement Phase.
Rather, the intent is
to recommend that a drug court organize
its
treatment into progressive phases with clearly-identified
goals and that movement
through its phases of treatment
should be based on progress and
demonstrated competencies
in attaining those goals and not
merely upon the participant’s
time in a phase.
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Treatment intensity/phase assignment should be based on
treatment need, including application
of the American
Society of Addiction Medicine (ASAM)
Patient Placement
and Continuing Stay Criteria, and
should not be adjusted as a
means of imposing a sanction for
non-compliance, unless
such non-compliance indicates a need
for more intensive
treatment.
(d)
Treatment services should be responsive to ethnicity, gender,
age, and other characteristics of the
participant.
(e)
Medications should be utilized in conjunction with treatment
services if there is approved need.
(f) Nothing herein is intended to recommend
that the treatment
provider perform all of the treatment
activities listed in
subsection (a). For example, in a particular drug court, the
Department of Correction may provide cognitive
restructuring
treatment and the local sheriff may
provide urinalyses.
(g) The
treatment provider shall have written guidelines
describing how it will provide any of
the treatment activities
that are its responsibility, and the
drug court shall have
written guidelines describing how the
remaining treatment
activities will be implemented.
4.0 CASE MANAGEMENT AND SUPERVISION
4.1
Each participant should appear in court
for a status hearing at least
once per month,
and more frequently during the Orientation and
Engagement Phase or if the participant is not in
compliance with
drug court requirements.
Research shows that high-risk
drug court participants have better outcomes if they appear in court every two
weeks.
The frequency of court
appearances can decrease as the participant progresses through the phases of
treatment, but it should not be less than once per month
4.2 Prior
to each of his or her court appearances, each participant’s treatment progress
and program compliance should be discussed at a staffing by the drug court
team. During that staffing, the drug
court team should also discuss rewards or sanctions for the participant and
phase movement or graduation.
4.3
Drug
court team members are those personnel who regularly meet
during drug court
staffings to consider participant acceptance into
drug court, to monitor
progress, and to discuss sanctions and
phase movement or
graduation. The drug court should specify
who will be members of
the drug court team.
4.4
The
drug court team includes, at a minimum, the Judge,
prosecutor, defense
attorney, probation/community supervision
officer, treatment
provider, and coordinator. It may also
include
other members such as
mental health providers, health providers,
drug testing personnel,
vocational services personnel, and law
enforcement.
4.5 All drug court team
members should be specifically identified in
the “consent(s) for disclosure of confidential
information”, signed by the participant.
4.6
The judge
will serve as the leader of the drug court team, and
should
maintain an active role in the drug court processes,
including
drug court staffing, conducting regular status hearings,
imposing
behavioral rewards, incentives and sanctions, and
seeking
development of consensus-based problem solving and
planning.
4.7
The drug court team should meet quarterly
in a forum dedicated to
addressing program issues such as
cross-training, policy changes,
program development, quality
assurance, communication, and
problem solving.
4.8 Community
supervision should play a significant role in the drug court program. Home visits conducted by
appropriately-trained personnel are a key element in community
supervision. Each drug court should
work with the Department of Correction or an appropriate agency to arrange for
home visits and other community supervision.
4.9 Each drug court should have a
written drug testing policy and protocol describing how the testing will be
administered, standards for observation to ensure reliable specimen collection,
laboratory to be used, procedures for confirmation, and process for reporting
and acting on results.
4.10 Drug testing should be available on
weekends.
4.11 The drug court should give each participant
a handbook setting forth the expectations and requirements of participation and
the general nature of the rewards for compliance and sanctions for
noncompliance.
4.12 Research has shown that for
sanctions to be effective, they must be, in order of importance: (a) certain,
(b) swift, (c) perceived as fair, and (d) appropriate in magnitude. While sanctions for noncompliance should
generally be consistent, they may need to be individualized as necessary to
increase effectiveness for particular participants. When a sanction is individualized, the reason for doing so should
be communicated to the participant to lessen the chance that he or she, or his
or her peers, will perceive the sanction as unfair.
Research has shown that successive
sanctions imposed on a participant should be graduated to increase their
effectiveness.
Any increase in treatment intensity
should be in addition to a sanction imposed for noncompliance. It is important that the judge convey to the
participant that the sanction for noncompliance is separate from the change in
treatment intensity. Changes in
treatment intensity should be based upon clinical need and not imposed as a
sanction for noncompliance.
4.13 Positive responses, incentives, or rewards to acknowledge
desired
participant
behavior are emphasized over negative sanctions or
punishment.
Research shows that four positive reinforcements to
each punishment is most effective.
4.14 All members of the drug court team should maintain
frequent,
ongoing communication of accurate and timely
information
about participants to ensure responses to
compliance
and noncompliance are certain, swift and
coordinated.
4.15 The drug court should have a written
policy and procedure for adhering to appropriate and legal confidentiality
requirements and should provide all team members with an orientation regarding
the confidentiality requirements of 42 USC
290dd-2,
42 CFR Part 2.
A model Consent for
Disclosure is attached as Appendix A.
4.16 Participants must sign an
appropriate consent for disclosure
upon application for entry into drug court.
4.17 Care should be taken to prevent the
unauthorized disclosure