Examining Time to Rearrest by Drug Treatment Experience of Drug Court Eligible Offenders

Abstract

This study explores the relationship between drug treatment experience and time until rearrest among a sample of drug court eligible offenders. The subjects for this work were randomized into an evaluation of the Baltimore City Drug Treatment Court. Of the 235 subjects who participated in this evaluation, 128 received some form of drug treatment during the three year follow-up period. Treated subject's time until rearrest was compared to the 107 subjects who did not receive drug treatment. Treatment experience was measured two different ways: first modality received and number of treatment episodes experienced. Kaplan-Meier survival estimates showed that the treated groups had longer survival times than the non-treated group. Cox regression analyses were then conducted to determine what explained this finding. Results showed that days of treatment and days of supervision were all significant predictors of time until rearrest, while first treatment modality and number of treatment experiences did not predict this outcome. Implications of these findings for policy makers and researchers are discussed.