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Friday, September 28, 2007
Ind. Courts - Vigo County Drug Court has saved taxpayers nearly $3 million over 10 years
Deb McKee Kelly reports today in the Terre Haute Tribune Star: in a story that begins:
TERRE HAUTE — The Vigo County Drug Court saved taxpayers nearly $3 million over 10 years from its inception in 1996 to June 2006, according to a new report commissioned by the Indiana Judicial Center.The evaluation, by NPC Research of Portland, Ore., studied Vigo, Marion, Monroe, Vanderburgh and St. Joseph counties’ drug courts, and was funded by a $250,000 grant from the Indiana Criminal Justice Institute.
The study was designed to show whether the drug courts reduce recidivism (re-arrest of offenders after completing the program), whether they save taxpayers money, whether they reduce substance abuse and whether they deliver services to the targeted population.
For every question explored in the study, the answers were positive, making the 11th anniversary of Vigo County’s drug court – “almost to the day,” according to Judge Barbara Brugnaux – a sweet one.
Brugnaux said the results of the study “blew me away.”
Among other findings, the Oregon research company found that the re-arrest rate for graduates of the Vigo County Drug Court is 7 percent, compared to a 39 percent re-arrest rate for nonparticipants.
For those participants in drug court who did not complete the program, the re-arrest rate is 20 percent.
The taxpayer savings were calculated for Vigo County by determining the cost per participant in drug court, which is $3,684, compared with the adjudication costs for nonparticipants, which is $7,935.
Posted by Marcia Oddi on September 28, 2007 08:42 AM
Posted to Indiana Courts