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California Department of Alcohol and Drug Programs Releases Annual Report on Prop. 36

Business Wire, Oct 14, 2008

SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- The California Department of Alcohol and Drug Programs (ADP) today released an annual report completed for the Department by the University of California Los Angeles Integrated Substance Abuse Programs on Prop. 36, the Substance Abuse and Crime Prevention Act. The report, for the first time, identifies several new promising practices in the areas of employment assistance and process improvement for treatment providers.

"Improving outcomes and accountability continues to be a major focus," said Renee Zito, director of the Department of Alcohol and Drug Programs. "New and promising practices recommended in the UCLA evaluation could have a positive impact on Proposition 36 outcomes."

In the report, researchers recommend greater use of employment assistance, narcotic treatment programs, residential treatment and sanctions.

The UCLA report also found the homeless mentally ill spent fewer days in treatment and were more likely to be rearrested than other groups in Prop. 36. UCLA researchers recommend better integration of services between mental health and alcohol and drug programs.

The report also found trends consistent with previous year evaluations, including:

* Trends in re-arrest rates - the typical Prop. 36 offender contributes little to arrest and court costs. The report highlights that a small group of offenders with five or more convictions are responsible for a large share of the criminal justice costs and are more likely to re-offend. The 2008 report shows that among this group only 14 percent completed treatment.

* Prop. 36 participants - researchers have consistently found that half of Prop. 36 clients are entering treatment for the first time, half of Prop. 36 clients also used their primary drug for more than 10 years and most users are addicted to methamphetamine.

* Completion rates - Prop. 36 participants have a 32% completion rate, which is on par with other drug diversion programs and similar to previous year's reports.

A full copy of the UCLA report can be found at http://www.adp.ca.gov/SACPA/P36_Reports.shtml.>