The Michigan Supreme Court has released a report that provides detailed caseload statistics and recidivism rates for participants in drug, sobriety and mental health courts, among others.
“The cost of incarcerating an offender is $50 to $100 per day,” said Chief Justice Robert P. Young, Jr. “So for every person our problem-solving courts keep out of jail, we not only help someone become a productive member of the community, we also reduce crime and save the taxpayers money,”
Problem-solving courts are courts designed to address the underlying problem that has resulted in an offender entering the criminal justice system. The problems range from drug and alcohol abuse to mental illness and include the unique challenges faced by military veterans.
Trial judges throughout Michigan are leading these courts and divert offenders into special programs designed to provide the treatment and supervision needed to solve the problem.
Measuring performance of trial courts in order to help them improve outcomes is a top priority of Michigan’s judiciary.
Among other findings, the report shows:
• Two years after admission to any type of drug court, graduates had less than half the recidivism rate for an alcohol or drug offense of comparison group members.
• After two years, sobriety court participants had recidivism rates for an alcohol or drug offense that were more than three times lower than their comparison counterparts.
• Among mental health court participants, recidivism was reduced by more than 300 percent within two years. Moreover, according to the report, virtually all participants improved their mental health
and quality of life and more than one-third got a better job.
Regarding drug courts, the report showed that between Oct. 1, 2011 and Sept. 30, 2013, drug courts handled 8,626 cases.
Of active cases, about half were in a sobriety court program and one quarter were in an adult circuit court drug program with the balance either in a district court, juvenile, or family dependency program.
The report showed that adult participants used a wide variety of drugs, including heroin and methamphetamine, while nine out of ten juvenile participants identified marijuana as their drug of choice.
During that same period, the report showed there were 926 participants in mental health courts in Michigan. Of those, about half entered with a misdemeanor charge and half with a felony charge. Of particular note was the finding that more than two-thirds of participants entering with a felony charge also had a co-occurring substance use disorder.
In Michigan, there were eight operational veterans treatment courts in 2013.
They promote sobriety, recovery and stability through a coordinated response, involving collaboration with drug and mental health courts, the Department of Veterans Affairs, volunteer mentors, and organizations that support veterans and their families.
Trial Court Services staff at the State Court Administrative Office support problem-solving courts by establishing operational standards and guidelines and through training, evaluation, monitoring and other assistance.
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