Individuals who graduate from veterans, mental health, drug, and sobriety courts are much less likely to re-offend, according to a recently released report by the Michigan Supreme Court.  These “specialty courts” divert non-violent offenders into “problem-solving” programs that address their individualized treatment needs, providing the participants with an opportunity to turn their lives around without the use of costly incarceration.

Some of report highlights include:

• Drug court graduates (of any type) were 56% less likely to be convicted of a new offense 2 years after program admission;

• Mental health court participants were 63% less likely to reoffend after 2 years, with an overwhelming of amount of program graduates (98%) experiencing improvement to their mental health;

• 97% of youth participating in juvenile drug courts improved their education level, suggesting that they progressed to the next grade;

• 52% of juvenile drug court graduates saw an improvement to their employment status.

Michigan has over 160 specialty courts that are available to 97% of the state’s residents.  Read the Michigan Supreme Court’s report by clicking here.

Posted by MCCD on Thursday, May 14th, 2015 @ 1:29PM
Categories: In the News, Michigan Council on Crime and Delinquency, Specialty Courts