Examining Factors Associated With Program Completion Among Women Participants in a Statewide Drug Court Program

Abstract

The study purpose was to examine factors affecting women in completing drug court. Participants were 212 women drug court participants selected via stratified random sampling (by county) from the larger Kentucky Drug Court participant population. Various secondary data sources were used (e.g., participant assessment, Management Information System), and multivariate logistic regression examining 17 independent variables showed 4 variables were significantly associated with program completion for women: employment at program assessment, intravenous opiate use, number of times hospitalized for psychological or emotional problems, and conviction of a misdemeanor-eligible violent crime before drug court. Study findings can be used by social workers and other practitioners to better understand women’s drug court participation and to identify ways to tailor program services for women’s unique needs.

KEYWORDS:

• criminal justice system
• drug court
• program completion
• substance use
• women

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

The authors thank the Administrative Office of the Courts and the drug court team members who participated in this research or helped by facilitating data collection. Lisa M. Shannon would also like to thank Shira Birdwhistell, Greg Blackshear, Shay Collins, Shannon Cooley, Shelia Hulbig, Afton Jackson Jones, Jennifer Newell, and Kellie Watts.

Additional information

Funding

Financial support for this research was provided by a U.S. Department of Justice Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA) grant (Principal Investigator: Lisa M. Shannon; Award Number: 2011-DC-BX-0137). The views expressed within this publication are attributed to the authors and do not necessarily reflect the opinion of the funding agency.