Maricopa County Juvenile Drug Courts

Intervention; Ages 13–17

Risk Factors

Individual

Antisocial/delinquent beliefs

General delinquency involvement

High alcohol/drug use

Life stressors

Makes excuses for delinquent behavior (neutralization)

Poor refusal skills

Family

Broken home/changes in caretaker

Family history of problem behavior/criminal involvement

Low attachment to child/adolescent

Poor parental supervision (control, monitoring, and child management)

School

Poor school attitude/performance; academic failure

Community

Availability and use of drugs in the neighborhood

Neighborhood youth in trouble

Peer

Association with antisocial/aggressive/delinquent peers; high peer delinquency

Peer alcohol/drug use

Description

Based on a comprehensive review, the National Institute of Justice (2006) concluded that drug court evaluations have not produced definitive information on juveniles. The Maricopa County Juvenile Drug Courts are an exception—at least for girls. These drug courts were established in 1997 to cope with the growing number of juvenile drug offenders. The specialized courts combine case management, court hearings (with the same group of court officials—judge, prosecutor, public defender, and probation officer), and mandatory drug testing to provide youths with substance abuse intervention strategies and treatments.

A locally constructed questionnaire, the Substance Abuse Subtle Screening Inventory Instrument is used to select eligible youth into the program from adjudicated delinquents. Juveniles with prior adjudications for sex or violent offenses who are identified as suicidal or psychotic or whose cognitive level of functioning is below the fifth grade are ineligible for drug court participation. The program is structured in three phases:

• Phase I—8–12 weeks, during which juveniles and their parents must attend individual and family group classes and juveniles meet weekly with probation officers and are subject to random drug testing. Participants who meet objectives and score negative on 12 consecutive drug tests proceed to Phase II.
• Phase II—Juveniles must complete between 8 to 12 weeks of treatment involving bimonthly meetings with probation officers and urinalyses twice a week.
• Phase III—9 months to 1 year of transitional/aftercare. This consists of monthly court hearings and random drug tests each week.

Although the evaluation of the full sample (Rodriguez and Webb, 2004) found that drug court youth were less likely than a comparison group that received regular probation to commit delinquent acts, it did not reduce drug use, and it also found that longer periods of time in the program predicted greater drug use recidivism. However, girls were less likely than boys to commit delinquent acts and use marijuana while in treatment. The evaluators urge caution in interpreting the results because of significant sample attrition.

Endorsements

OJJDP Girls Study Group: Effective/promising program (for girls)

References

National Institute of Justice. (2006). Drug Courts: The Second Decade. Washington, DC: National Institute of Justice, U.S. Department of Justice.

Rodriguez, N., and Webb, V. (2004). “Multiple Measures of Juvenile Drug Court Effectiveness.” Crime and Delinquency, 50:292–314.

Zahn, M. A.; Day, J. C.; Mihalic, S. F.; and Tichavsky, L. (2009). “Determining What Works for Girls in the Juvenile Justice System: A Summary of Evaluation Evidence.” Crime and Delinquency, 55(2):266–293.