From the Administrator: Drug Courts Yield Benefits
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| Charles G. Curie
SAMHSA Administrator
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Breaking the cycle of addiction leading to crime, followed
by incarceration, then release, relapse, and recidivism
is a priority that requires our attention. The goals
of improving public health and public safety are inextricably
intertwined, so that improvement in one enhances progress
in the other.
When prevention, early intervention, treatment, and
recovery support services are targeted to adult and juvenile
offenders, the benefits are threefold.
First, if we prevent addiction, drug-related crime will
decrease. Second, if we intervene early and get the appropriate
treatment services in place, recidivism rates drop. Third,
when SAMHSA increases recovery support services, reentry
success rates climb and public safety is increased.
This issue of SAMHSA News highlights treatment
drug courts, a model of intervention that has successfully
overcome many of the systemic challenges that have traditionally
impeded a unified approach by the treatment and criminal
justice systems.
Treatment drug courts, started in the late 1980s, have
changed the adversarial nature of the prosecuting attorney,
the defense attorney, and the judge in traditional court
proceedings to a team approach. All parties are united
in finding a way to meet public safety needs while addressing
the treatment and recovery needs of the substance-using
individual.
Also, treatment drug courts shift the focus of care
from episodes of acute symptoms toward the management
of long-term recovery, and engage the individual as a
partner in his or her own recovery and rehabilitation.
Successful recovery not only includes decreased drug
use or decreased involvement with the criminal justice
system, but also reflects incremental changes in other
areas. SAMHSA's recently launched National Outcome Measures
initiative asks treatment programs to evaluate effectiveness
by also measuring increased employment or school enrollment,
enhanced family stability or stability in living situation,
improved retention, and better self-management ability.
The criminal justice system offers numerous opportunities
for intervention for people with substance and mental
health disorders. To the greatest extent possible, all
points of the criminal justice system should have access
to the information, staff, and techniques to assess the
type and intensity of services needed and identify the
appropriate level of intervention that will align with
criminal justice requirements.
By combining efforts through partnership and collaboration,
the treatment system and the criminal justice system
can increase exponentially the chance for both individual
recovery and community well-being. 
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