Racial differences in drug court referral, admission, and graduation rates: findings from two states and eight counties

Abstract

Drug courts are often the last chance for criminal justice-involved persons with substance use disorders to avoid incarceration. Given this stark reality, participation in drug court should not be influenced by race. This study tracks cohorts of drug court referrals to compare referral, admission, and graduation rates by race in two states and eight counties in diverse regions of the United States. We compared admission and graduation rates by race in each state or county using tests of the difference between independent proportions, displayed graphically with longitudinal state-level data. Black persons had lower referral and admission rates in nearly all jurisdictions for which requisite data were available, and lower graduation rates in six of the ten jurisdictions. In statewide analyses for which adequate longitudinal data were available, racial differences in admission and graduation rates persisted for up to a decade. Practice and policy recommendations are offered to improve measurement of cultural disparities in drug courts and the broader justice system and implement remedial strategies.

Keywords:

• Cultural equity
• drug court
• racial equity
• substance use disorder

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Authors’ contributions

Points of view and conclusions in this article are those of the authors and do not represent the positions or policies of ONDCP, the EOP, NADCP, NCSC, or other organizations with which they are affiliated. The data that support the findings from this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request. All authors on this manuscript contributed substantially to the research and authorship of the paper, and have seen and approved the final version of the submitted manuscript.

Notes

1 “Retrospective” data (i.e., data on referrals whose date of exit from drug court processing occurred before the pilot test was implemented) was requested from the pilot sites because collection of the alternative, “prospective” data (i.e., data on referrals whose date of referral occurred after the pilot test was implemented) would have inordinately delayed (by at least two years) the provision of this much-needed tool to the drug court field.

2 Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) - Data Analysis Tools - Arrest Data Analysis Tool

3 The Justice Research and Statistics Association (JRSA) website provides links to each state’s SAC: Justice Research and Statistics Association.

Additional information

Funding

This research was supported by Grant G2099ONDCP02A from the Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) of the Executive Office of the President (EOP).

Notes on contributors

Fred L. Cheesman

Fred L. Cheesman II, Ph.D. is a retired Principal Court Research Consultant with the National Center for State Courts. His principal research focused on equitably improving treatment court effectiveness and efficiency and juvenile justice.

Douglas B. Marlowe

Douglas B. Marlowe, J.D., Ph.D., is a senior scientific consultant for the National Association of Drug Court Professionals. His research focuses on best practices in treatment courts and other rehabilitation programs in the justice system.

Kathryn J. Genthon

Kathryn J. Genthon, M.S., is a Senior Court Research Associate at the National Center for State Courts, Williamsburg, VA and a Ph.D. candidate in the L. Douglas Wilder School of Government and Public Affairs at Virginia Commonwealth University. Her research focuses on racial justice, rural justice, and equitable access to criminal legal system diversion programs.