Evaluation of the Australian Capital Territory Drug Diversion Programs.Pdf
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Evaluation of the Australian Capital Territory Drug Diversion Programs Caitlin Hughes1, Marian Shanahan1, Alison Ritter1, David McDonald2, and Florence Gray-Weale1 1 Drug Policy Modelling Program, National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre, The University of New South Wales 2 Social Research and Evaluation Pty Ltd Feb 2013 Acknowledgements A project of this nature required a considerable commitment from a large number of people, over a very small space of time. It would not have been possible without all of the ACT stakeholders who gave their time so generously. Particular thanks are due to the ACT Health Directorate for providing the opportunity to examine the ACT drug diversion system and all the roundtable participants: 24 different individuals across 3 roundtables in all (see Appendix A for details). The commitment to give so much time and to engage fully in the process was truly appreciated, and is a reflection of the commitment in the ACT towards improving responses to alcohol and drug-related offenders. Thanks also to all those who provided data and/or more detailed descriptions of processes, particularly: ACT Government Health Directorate, Alcohol and Other Drug Policy Unit ACT Government Health Directorate, Alcohol and Drug Services ACT Policing, Alcohol and Drug Diversion Coordinators ACT Policing, Performance, Evaluation and Review team Finally, we would also like to acknowledge the assistance of Carrie Fowlie, Executive Officer, Alcohol Tobacco and Other Drug Association ACT (ATODA), for advice and critical reflections throughout this project. It should be noted that all conclusions and recommendations are attributable to DPMP and Social Research and Evaluation, not to ATODA, and that any mistakes are those of the research team. ACT DRUG DIVERSION EVALUTION 2 TABLE OF CONTENTS List of figures.................................................................................................... 5 List of tables ..................................................................................................... 6 Executive summary ........................................................................................... 7 1. Introduction ................................................................................................. 15 1.1 Drug and alcohol use in the ACT ........................................................... 17 1.2 Criminal justice responses in the ACT .................................................... 19 1.3 Legislative and policy context in the ACT ............................................... 20 1.3.1 Legislation ............................................................................... 20 1.3.2 ACT Alcohol, Tobacco and Other Drug Strategy 2010-2014............ 21 1.3.3 Emerging policy directions: Diversion and early intervention for young people ................................................................................... 22 1.3.4 Attorney General’s review of drug trafficking thresholds ................ 24 1.3.5 Reforms to infringement schemes and other criminal justice arenas25 2. Methods ...................................................................................................... 26 2.1 Component 1: Conceptual map of current system ................................... 26 2.2 Component 2: Resources - costing the resource implications of the ACT drug diversion system ...................................................................................... 26 2.3 Component 3: Evaluation Roadmap....................................................... 27 2.4 Component 4: Future system: opportunities for system improvement ....... 27 3. Results ........................................................................................................ 28 3.1 Conceptualising the ACT AOD diversion system ...................................... 28 3.1.1 AOD diversion goals ................................................................. 28 3.1.2 The ACT AOD diversion programs: history, objectives, eligibility criteria and governing directives ......................................................... 29 3.1.3 Conceptual maps of the ACT drug diversion system ...................... 36 3.2 Data on program referrals and throughput in 2010/11 ............................. 39 3.2.1 Program referrals ..................................................................... 39 3.2.2 Throughput of diverted offenders ............................................... 44 3.2.3 CADAS knowns and unknowns ................................................... 47 3.2.4 Trends from 2001/02 to 2010/11 ............................................... 49 3.2.5 Program reach ......................................................................... 51 3.2.6 Impact on diverted clients ......................................................... 53 3.3 Resource flows ................................................................................... 55 3.3.1 General sources of funding ........................................................ 56 3.3.2 Resource costs by program ....................................................... 57 3.3.3 Summary of resource flows ....................................................... 62 3.4 An Evaluation Roadmap ....................................................................... 64 3.4.1 Purpose .................................................................................. 64 3.4.2 Evaluability assessment ............................................................ 64 3.4.3 Outline of the Evaluation Roadmap at the system level ................. 65 ACT DRUG DIVERSION EVALUTION 3 4. Perceived strengths and challenges with the ACT drug diversion system .............. 78 4.1 Strengths........................................................................................... 78 4.2 Challenges ......................................................................................... 80 5. Ways forward and recommendations............................................................... 89 5.1 System level recommendations ............................................................ 89 5.2 Program level recommendations ........................................................... 91 References ...................................................................................................... 95 Appendix A: Roundtable participants ................................................................ 101 Appendix B: Timeline of key diversion related events in the ACT .......................... 103 Appendix C: Procedures for ACT AOD Diversion Programs ................................... 105 Appendix D: Outline of a proposed evaluation of the Youth Drug and Alcohol Court (YDAC) ......................................................................................................... 111 Appendix E: Some key monitoring and evaluation indicators for SCON, PED, EIPP and CADAS .......................................................................................................... 117 Appendix F: Evidence on school drug education ................................................. 120 Appendix G: Comparison of SCON scheme with other cannabis expiation schemes . 123 Appendix H: Lessons from other court diversion programs .................................. 125 ACT DRUG DIVERSION EVALUTION 4 LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1: Trends in daily drinking status in the ACT and Australia amongst people aged 14 years and over, 2001-2010 ................................................................... 17 Figure 2: Trends in recent use of any illicit substance in ACT and Australia amongst people aged 14 and over, 1998 – 2010 ............................................................... 18 Figure 3: Conceptual map of ACT AOD police diversion ......................................... 37 Figure 4: Conceptual map of ACT AOD court diversion .......................................... 38 Figure 7: EIPP referrals by month, Jan-Dec 2011 ................................................. 39 Figure 8: Quantity of cannabis seized on offenders diverted to PED and SCON for cannabis possession in 2010/11, by program ....................................................... 41 Figure 9: Age of PED and CADAS referrals, 2010/11 ............................................. 42 Figure 10: Response of AOD offenders issued with SCONs in 2010/11, by mode ...... 44 Figure 11: Percentage referrals/assessments/treatment completions for AOD offenders referred through EIPP, PED and CADAS, 2010/11 ................................................. 45 Figure 12: Distribution of treatment provision* for PED and CADAS, 2010/11 .......... 47 Figure 13: Trends in the total number of referrals to the ACT drug diversion system, 2001/02 to 2010/11 ......................................................................................... 49 Figure 14: Trends in the number of referrals to the ACT drug diversion system, by program, 2001/02-2010/11 ............................................................................... 49 Figure 15: Potential reach of court drug diversion to eligible AOD-related offenders, comparing reach of the ACT CADAS in 2008/09, 2009/10 and 2010/11, and the NSW MERIT program in 2009 .................................................................................... 53 Figure 16: Major events to which EIPP diversion officers have attended versus number of young people referred from the event during 2011 and 2012 ............................. 82 Figure 17: Number of referrals to CADAS, compared to changes in Magistrates (2001/02