RT Article
T1 Examining the Effects of Juvenile Drug Treatment Courts: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis
JF Criminal justice and behavior
VO 51
IS 1
SP 148
OP 170
A1 Tanner-Smith, Emily E.
A1 Mojekwu, Frank
A1 Frankel, Lauren
A2 Mojekwu, Frank
A2 Frankel, Lauren
LA English
YR 2024
UL https://krimdok.uni-tuebingen.de/Record/1871896568
AB We meta-analytically examined program graduation rates among juvenile drug treatment court (JDTC) participants, the effects of JDTCs on recidivism and substance use outcomes, and the variability in these effects. We systematically searched for controlled evaluations examining the effects of U.S.-based JDTCs relative to traditional juvenile adjudication and used mixed-effects meta-regressions with robust variance estimates. We identified 55 eligible samples (providing data from 12,310 participants); the overall certainty of evidence was low or very low. The average graduation rate among JDTC participants was 54.74% (95% confidence interval [CI] [0.50, 0.59]). JDTCs had modest beneficial effects on general recidivism assessed during court supervision (odds ratio [OR] = 1.38, 95% CI [1.03, 1.84]) but these effects did not persist after program completion. Correlational analyses suggest JDTCs may be effective when program enrollment and service provision are better tailored to youth’s treatment needs. However, due partly to implementation failures, JDTCs may have minimal to no effects on postprogram recidivism.
K1 Therapeutic Jurisprudence
K1 Substance Use
K1 Recidivism
K1 Meta-analysis
K1 Juvenile Justice
K1 Drug Courts
DO 10.1177/00938548231208208