Published on:
29
September 2005
COURTS across the Forth Valley now have two Drug Treatment programmes to choose from when deciding how to break the cycle of drug related offending.
New radical Drug Treatment and Testing Orders (DTTOs) are now available to Sheriff Courts in Alloa, Stirling and Falkirk.
The new DTTOs are being rolled out across Scotland following a positive review from University of Stirling on pilot projects in Glasgow and Fife.
DTTOs will complement the existing 'Fast Track' drug treatment programme provided by the Forth Valley Criminal Justice Grouping through the Forth Valley Criminal Justice Drug Treatment Service for offenders with drug problems.
Given the development of the DTTO programme, and the ongoing support for the Fast Track programme from the Scottish Executive, the Forth Valley Criminal Justice Drug Treatment Service, will continue to provide badly needed treatment options for the Courts.
The key aims of these programmes are to reduce the drug use of offenders and reduce the likelihood of reoffending to fund their drug habit.
Offenders being placed on DTTOs will be those people who are otherwise likely to be facing a prison sentence, who are "dependent on or have a propensity to misuse drugs and the dependency or propensity requires and may be susceptible to treatment."
Some of the key features of DTTOs include regular drug testing both at assessment and throughout the order. Offenders will also be subject to a more intensive approach than the Fast Track programme, attending Court on a monthly basis to allow the court to review the offender's progress.
The monthly reviews give the option to either encourage the progress being made, or to warn against any lack of progress. The reviews will also provide the court with a progress report from DTTO staff and the DTTO social worker will attend each review.
The Scottish Executive has agreed to continue funding the Fast Track programme, which is held in high regard by the local Courts, criminal justice social work services, NHS treatment services and other partner agencies.
Both these drug treatment programmes will be delivered locally through the Forth Valley Criminal Justice Drug Treatment Service to provide treatment for over 100 offenders at any one time.
Up until now, when an offender has been placed on the Fast Track programme, they have attended the programme as a condition of a Probation Order. This working between the Fast Track staff and the criminal justice social work staff has helped to keep offenders in drug treatment, a difficult task, as many offenders struggle in sustaining drug treatment.
There are currently more then 80 offenders on the Fast Track programme. Since the programme was introduced to Forth Valley Courts 5 years ago, over 260 offenders have been made subject to a Probation Order with the condition to attend the Fast Track programme.
Offenders who are referred to this service are those who have failed to engage in both criminal justice social work services and also drug treatment in the past, and have a long history of drug related offending behaviour. On average a typical Fast Track client has had 23 previous convictions and has also had 6 previous custodial sentences.
Research undertaken by the University of Stirling, which focused on the reconviction rates and frequency of offending of those placed on the DTTO pilot schemes in Glasgow and Fife showed that of those who completed their orders, almost half (48%) had no further convictions within two years.
Given that these offenders have had extensive prior criminal histories these results do appear to indicate that DTTOs have an impact in lowering offending behaviour of this group of offenders.
Note to Editor:
The Forth Valley Criminal Justice Grouping consists of the Criminal Justice Social Work Services of Clackmannanshire, Stirling and Falkirk Councils.
The Forth Valley Criminal Justice Drug Treatment Service is a service which the group provides in conjunction with Forth Valley NHS