Court News Ohio
Court News Ohio
Court News Ohio

Research Backs Drug Court Effectiveness

Image of Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Drug Court Judge David Matia

Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Drug Court Judge David Matia.

Image of Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Drug Court Judge David Matia

Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Drug Court Judge David Matia.

The Cuyahoga County Court of Common Pleas now has research to back up claims that its drug court works.

An independent analysis by the Mandel School of Applied Social Sciences at Case Western Reserve University looked at the court’s 249 drug court participants from 2009 to 2013.

Key findings from the study included:

  • Fifty-six percent completed the program successfully.
  • Only 8.4 percent were re-arrested after 12 months, compared to 27 percent in a similar group that did not receive drug court programming.
  • Less than 4.5 percent were re-arrested for felony crimes, compared to 14 percent of the non-drug court programming group.

“These numbers demonstrate that Drug Court is a great deal for the taxpayers,” Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Drug Court Judge David Matia said. “Our program works extremely well in breaking the cycle of recidivism. Not everyone graduates from Drug Court, but they are all given the building blocks for long-term sobriety. Drug Court permanently closes the revolving door between prison and society.”

Drug courts, such as the one in Cuyahoga County, are specialized dockets through which court and treatment personnel work collaboratively to assist defendants with treatment, instead of prison, for issues such as drugs, alcohol, and mental health. The success of specialized dockets is measured by reduced recidivism, improved treatment, and cost savings.