Program Profile: Ottawa County (Mich.) Sobriety Court Program

This is a court program in western Michigan designed to divert people convicted of driving under the influence (DUI) from jail, eliminate substance use, and reduce recidivism. The program is rated Promising. At the 2-year follow up, program participants were less likely to be rearrested and had longer time to first-rearrest, compared with control group participants. These differences were statistically significant. However, there were no significant differences between groups for alcohol or drug

A Promising rating implies that implementing the program may result in the intended outcome(s).

A Promising rating implies that implementing the program may result in the intended outcome(s).

Program Goals

The Ottawa County Sobriety Court Program is a driving under the influence (DUI) court located in Ottawa County in western Michigan. The court program has three main goals: diverting people from jail, eliminating substance use, and reducing the recidivism of those that live within the court’s jurisdiction.

Target Population/Eligibility

The program targets people with their second DUI charge or criminal charges that involve substance abuse. To be eligible for the program, they must meet the following criteria:

• They must have a new charge in Ottawa County or a violation of probation for offenses that are drug or alcohol related for which there is an underlying substance abuse issue.
• They must have an alcohol and/or drug addiction or shown an obvious pattern of substance abuse.
• They must be a resident of Ottawa County. People are ineligible if they have a record of a prior serious violent offense or felony weapons violations, a serious mental illness, or charges pending in another jurisdiction.

Potential program participants may be referred by a number of agencies, including the police, defense counsel, or prosecutor’s office. Once a potential participant is identified, the Sobriety Court case manager administers an initial screening. If a person is found to be eligible for the program and shows a desire to participate, he or she enters a postplea agreement and begins treatment.

Program Components

The Sobriety Court Program has four phases. Participants must spend a minimum of 17.5 months in the program but cannot take longer than 24 months. Phase 1 lasts a minimum of 15 weeks. Participants are required to attend biweekly court sessions, as well as individual and group therapy according to their individualized treatment plan. Participants are also required to attend Alcoholics Anonymous/Narcotics Anonymous (AA/NA) meetings five to seven times a week, and obtain a sponsor within the first 60 days of entering the program. Weekly drug testing and daily alcohol testing occurs in conjunction with random home visits from the police or probation officers. Participants are also required to seek and maintain employment during this phase or attend the program “Michigan Works!” for job assistance. If participants cannot find a job after 4 weeks, they must complete a minimum of 20 hours of community service per week until they are employed. In order to advance to the next phase, payments for fines, costs, and treatments must be made. Participants must also have 90 continuous days of sobriety.

During Phase 2, which also lasts a minimum of 15 weeks, participants still attend biweekly court sessions and must meet with their case managers at least twice a week. They must also attend four to seven AA/NA meetings each week and maintain a relationship with their sponsor. Drug and alcohol testing as well as home visits are random, and participants must maintain employment and keep to the payment schedule. Participants advance to Phase 3 only after having a minimum of 90 days of continuous sobriety.

Phase 3 of the program lasts a minimum of 20 weeks. Program participants attend court sessions and meetings with their case managers at least once a month. They also must attend AA/NA meetings at least three times a week, as well as family counseling, a life skills course, and an English as a second language course (or begin a General Educational Development [or GED] process). Drug and alcohol testing still occurs randomly, while employment and payments must still be maintained. Participants must maintain 90 days of continuous sobriety before progressing to the final phase.

During Phase 4, which is also a minimum of 20 weeks, participants continue to attend monthly court sessions and case managers meetings, in addition to at least three AA/NA meetings each week. Any previous trainings or counseling must be completed, and participants must attend a bimonthly “Give-and-Take” group session. Drug and alcohol testing is still administered randomly, and employment must still be maintained. Participants must also complete a narrative describing their lifestyle change during their time in the program.

The Sobriety Court Program uses a system of rewards and sanctions for compliant and noncompliant behavior. Rewards can include positive recognition from the judge, including applause and praise, reduced court fines, or a more flexible payment plan. When participants advance to a new phase of the program, they receive certificates and gift cards along with the possibility of reduced requirements. Sanctions can include increased supervision, electronic monitoring, increased substance use testing, community service, jail alternative work service, loss of driving privileges, delayed movement to the next phase or return to an old phase, extended time in the program, or a jail sentence (from 48 hours to 30 days).

Participants that successfully complete the program are released from their probation term. Probation terms are generally 24-month sentences, but participants can be released early if they complete all the phases in less time. Participants that are terminated from the program for noncompliance receive a jail sentence of up to 365 days.

Key Personnel

The Sobriety Court team includes two judges, probation officers, field supervision officers, assistant prosecuting attorney, the defense attorney, the program coordinator, and the treatment providers.

Study

Carey, Fuller, and Kissick (2008) completed a multisite outcome evaluation of three driving under the influence (DUI) courts in the state of Michigan, including the Ottawa County Sobriety Court Program. The study looked at outcome results for a minimum of 1 year following program completion or termination.

In Ottawa County, the treatment group (n=143) included participants enrolled in the Sobriety Court Program from April 2004 to March 2007. The comparison group (n=66) included people who have been convicted of DUI for a second time, selected from the year prior to program implementation, who would have been eligible to participate in the program. The court program participants were 79 percent male and 60.1 percent white, with an average age of 30.5 years. The comparison group members were 83.3 percent male and 54.5 percent white, with an average age of 32.2 years. There were no significant differences between the groups on demographic variables, except for the number of dependents. Court program participants were more likely to have fewer dependents.

Recidivism data, including rearrests and jail time, was collected from the Michigan Judicial Data Warehouse (JDW). The JDW contains data from circuit courts, district courts, traffic case data, and the Probate Court System in the State of Michigan. To analyze the statistical differences between the treatment and comparison group outcomes, the study employed chi-square tests for categorical variables and one-way analysis of variance (or ANOVA) for continuous variables. Also, a stepwise approach to a Cox Regression was used to evaluate the contribution of other factors that could affect the outcome results (including sex, ethnicity, marital status, age, education, number of dependents, total previous misdemeanors and felonies, jail days preprogram and preprobation, number of sanctions, and time in treatment). Survival analysis examined the time to rearrest after participants entered the program or after comparison persons entered the probation process. No subgroup analysis was conducted.

These sources were used in the development of the program profile: