Pubdate: Sun, 21 Jan 2007 Source: Salt Lake Tribune (UT) Copyright: 2007 The Salt Lake Tribune Contact: http://www.sltrib.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/383 Author: Elizabeth Neff Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?159 (Drug Courts) DO DRUG COURTS WORK? MORE STUDY IS NEEDED In 1997, Marty Ann Young was the optimistic first graduate of Utah's pilot drug court. "I want to cry every time I think about how I was," the 36-year-old told The Salt Lake Tribune, describing a cocaine addiction that led her to drop out of nursing school, give up custody of her four children and serve stints in jail. Today, Young is being sought on two warrants for drug-related charges. Her story illustrates what judges do and do not know. There are no long-term studies on whether, or which, drug-court graduates stay off drugs and out of trouble. The most recent study of short-term recidivism was done by the University of Utah's College of Social Work. Graduates from Salt Lake County's drug court in 2005 were tracked for a year and compared with defendants not in drug court. Among the findings: * 19.7 percent of graduates had a new arrest, compared with 29.8 percent of the comparison group. * Of participants who failed drug court, 46.5 percent had a new arrest. Professor Russel Van Vleet, the study's director, said it indicates drug court is working, but adds: "Recidivism isn't particularly useful unless it's been over a period of time. If you can track people for at least three years, you can make a good statement." Officials are developing guidelines describing which drug Advertisementcourt practices work best. "We need to be able to say what we have learned from these 10 or 11 years of drug courts," said Rick Schwermer, Utah's point person on drug courts. - --- MAP posted-by: Beth Wehrman