TIP 23:  Treatment Drug Courts: Integrating Substance Abuse Treatment With Legal Case Processing: Treatment Improvement Protocol (TIP) Series 23

Disclaimer

This publication is part of the Substance Abuse Prevention and Treatment Block Grant technical assistance program. All material appearing in this volume except quoted passages from copyrighted sources is in the public domain and may be reproduced or copied without permission from the Center for Substance Abuse Treatment (CSAT) or the authors. Citation of the source is appreciated.

This publication was written under contract numbers ADM 270-91-0007 and 95-0013. Sandra Clunies, M.S., served as the CSAT Government project officer. Nicholas L. Demos, J.D. was the Government content adviser. Writers were Deborah Shuman, Randi Henderson, Mary Shilton, James R. Sevick, Carolyn Davis, Jennie Heard, and Virginia Vitzthum.

The opinions expressed herein are the views of the Consensus Panel members and do not reflect the official position of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS). No official support or endorsement of CSAT or DHHS for these opinions or for particular instruments or software that may be described in this document is intended or should be inferred. The guidelines in this document should not be considered substitutes for individualized patient care and treatment decisions.

What Is a TIP?

CSAT Treatment Improvement Protocols (TIPs) are prepared by the Quality Assurance and Evaluation Branch to assemble state-of-the-art protocols and guidelines for the treatment of substance abuse from acknowledged clinical, research, and administrative experts and distribute them among the Nation's substance abuse treatment resources.

The dissemination of a TIP is the last step in a process that begins with CSAT surveying a wide-ranging group of substance abuse experts, including clinicians, researchers, and program managers, as well as professionals in such related fields as social services or criminal justice. From their suggestions of areas in the field that lack consensus or guidance, a topic is selected.

CSAT then appoints staff from pertinent Federal agencies and national organizations to a Federal resource panel that studies treatment and program management in the area selected. Recommendations from this Federal panel are transmitted to the members of a second group, made up of non-Federal experts who are intimately familiar with the topic. Members of this Consensus Panel represent substance abuse treatment programs, hospitals, community health centers, counseling programs, criminal justice and child welfare agencies, and private practitioners. This panel meets in Washington for 5 days to discuss the Federal panel's recommendations, review and analyze the literature, and outline protocols for best practices. The panel chair is charged with ensuring that the resulting protocol reflects true group consensus.

The next step is a review of the proposed guidelines and protocol by a large and diverse group of expert field reviewers. Once their recommendations and responses have been reviewed, the chair approves the document for publication. The result is a TIP reflecting the actual state of the art of substance abuse treatment in public and private programs recognized for their provision of high quality and innovative substance abuse treatment.

The primary objective of this TIP, titled Treatment Drug Courts: Integrating Substance Abuse Treatment With Legal Case Processing, is to help policymakers and practitioners plan, implement, monitor, and evaluate programs that effectively integrate treatment in the pretrial processing of criminal cases. TIP 12 in this series, Combining Substance Abuse Treatment With Intermediate Sanctions for Adults in the Criminal Justice System, focuses on treatment options for offenders after they have been found guilty by a judge or jury.

A focus on treatment intervention during the pretrial process has important implications for the nature of the interrelationship between the justice system and treatment providers. Defendants who have been arrested but not yet convicted are legally presumed innocent; they cannot be compelled to participate in a treatment program.

The focus on pretrial intervention also has implications for decisions about the categories of individuals who will be targeted for intervention; for the nature and timing of screening and assessment activities; for the consequences that can be imposed for treatment "failure" or noncompliance with conditions; and for a host of other program design and implementation issues.

This TIP was developed to encourage agencies creating and participating in these programs to share information about their successes -- and failures -- so that substance abuse treatment will be effectively integrated into pretrial case processing.

This TIP represents another step by CSAT toward its goal of bringing national leadership to bear in the effort to improve substance abuse treatment.

Other TIPs may be ordered by contacting The National Clearinghouse for Alcohol and Drug Information (NCADI), (800) 729-6686 or (301) 468-2600; TDD (for hearing impaired), (800) 487-4889.