Treatment on bail makes little discernable difference
Effectiveness bank home page. Opens new windowResearch analysis

This entry is our account of a study selected by Drug and Alcohol Findings as particularly relevant to improving outcomes from drug or alcohol interventions in the UK. Links to other documents. Hover over for notes. Click to highlight passage referred to. Unfold extra text Unfold supplementary text

Copy title and link | Comment/query |

Treatment on bail makes little discernible difference

Imposing treatment earlier in the judicial process than prosecution and conviction may be one way to improve outcomes. In 2004 and 2005 three areas in England piloted a court order which made attending an assessment and if indicated participating in treatment a condition of non-custodial bail. For defendants suspected of an offence motivated by drug use (identified by a positive test after arrest), it offered rapid access to help if they needed it and the chance (they could turn it down) to avoid a spell in a remand prison.

The evaluation found that implementation had been remarkably smooth.1 Over 18 months 2229 defendants were deemed eligible for the order and for 59% it was actually imposed. Over on average the next eight weeks on bail, generally they were rapidly assessed and started treatment which most were not receiving before the order was imposed. About a third breached the conditions of their order, unexpectedly low and mainly due to disorganised lives which obstructed appointment-keeping.

Among defendants already in treatment, at 87% the 12-week retention rate was high. But when the order prompted treatment entry, barely more than half made it through to 12 weeks. Comparison bail samples indicated that making treatment a condition of bail had not improved retention. A small and possibly unrepresentative sample of defendants were enthusiastic about the rapid treatment access the bail condition had offered them.

The order did not mean fewer defendants were jailed while on remand. Instead an extra condition was imposed on defendants who would otherwise have been granted unconditional bail. Neither did rapid pre-trial treatment entry mean the sentence when it came was less likely to be custodial. No impact was apparent on offending while on bail but none was expected.

The conclusion was that a relatively small but possibly worthwhile number of defendants had entered treatment due to the bail order who would not otherwise have done so, but that impacts on retention, offending and imprisonment could not be demonstrated.

1 FEATURED STUDY Hucklesby A. et al. The evaluation of the restriction on bail pilot final report. Home Office, 2007.

Last revised 07 January 2008

Comment/query
Open Effectiveness Bank home page


Top 10 most closely related documents on this site. For more try a subject or free text search

STUDY 2013 Criminal justice responses to drug related crime in Scotland

STUDY 2008 Testing on arrest scatter gun nets some extra treatment entrants

STUDY 2009 Evaluation of the mandatory drug testing of arrestees pilot

STUDY 2018 The impact of compliance with a compulsory model of drug diversion on treatment engagement and reoffending

STUDY 2003 Arrest referral tackles drug-driven crime

STUDY 2008 Testing children pointless but arrest referral offers early intervention opportunities

REVIEW 1999 Barriers to implementing effective correctional drug treatment programs

STUDY 2009 The Drug Treatment Outcomes Research Study (DTORS): final outcomes report

STUDY 2014 Drugs: international comparators

STUDY 1999 Coerced arrest referral as early intervention