Assessing Diversity, Disparity, and Best Practices Anne Janku, Ph.D. Shannon Carey, Ph.D. NADCP Annual Conference Houston, TX May-June 2018

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1 Assessing Diversity, Disparity, and Best Practices Anne Janku, Ph.D. Shannon Carey, Ph.D. NADCP Annual Conference Houston, TX May-June 2018 NPC Research 5100 SW Macadam Ave., Ste. 575 Portland, OR

2 Overview Background - What do we know about disparities in criminal justice and in drug courts? Studies summarized findings from focus groups Results What do the data show and what are the stories behind the numbers? Who gets in? Who graduates? Practices related to disparities? 2

3 What do we know about disparities in criminal justice? Members of racial minority groups are more likely to be stopped by police for questioning, and more likely to be arrested, convicted, and receive harsher sentences. Black men are six times more likely to be incarcerated than white males, and two and a half times more likely than Hispanic males. (The Sentencing Project, 2008) 3

4 What about disparities associated with drug courts? Do the same disparity patterns exist for individuals with drug charges? Are drug courts in a position to address these disparities in the larger system as they strive to ensure equity in access, treatment, and outcomes? 4

5 Where is the potential for disparity at each step in the drug court process? Access to drug courts may vary for different racial groups via a program s eligibility or exclusion criteria. 5

6 SCREEN-OUT CRITERIA COULD DIFFERENTIALLY IMPACT CERTAIN GROUPS Weapons Violent offense (current or past) Prostitution Distribution charge Mental illness Homeless No drug charge Prior felony conviction No treatment motivation 6

7 Where is the potential for disparity at each step in the drug court process? Access to drug courts may vary for different racial groups via a program s eligibility or exclusion criteria. Assessment and treatment may impact disparities via the presence, or lack, of culturally specific and competent assessment tools and treatment services 7

8 Equivalent Treatment Recognize that equivalent does not mean treating people the same. Equivalent Equal in effect May differ in appearance but has the same value to the recipient Language- depression, the Blues, Heavy Spirit 8

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10 Where is the potential for disparity at each step in the drug court process? Behavior Modification techniques in a drug court program (e.g., court appearances and sanctions and rewards) may be impacted by implicit bias, cultural competence and sensitivity Outcomes of drug court programs different racial and ethnic groups may have varying graduation rates 10

11 What do we know about disparities in drug courts from existing studies? There are mixed results for the existence of racial disparities in the research on drug courts so far Some studies show no disparity between the general criminal justice/probation population and the drug court population (Mauer, 2009; Wright, 2006) Others show an under-representations of black individuals in drug court programs (Huddleston & Marlowe, 2008; Marlowe 2016) 11

12 What do we know about disparities in drug courts from existing studies? Some studies show a decrease in recidivism and a decrease in black individuals in prison due to drug court participation (Mauer, 2009) Others show black individuals graduate at a lower rate than whites in drug court programs in MO (28% vs 55%) (Dannerbeck-Janku, 2006) 12

13 Main conclusions from the mixed research so far: 1) African Americans are under-represented in adult drug courts 2) African American and Latino participants are less likely than white participants to successfully complete some drug courts 3) This disparity in graduation rate is not necessarily due to race but to other factors that are correlated with race 13

14 Residential Segregation The more resource-poor the neighborhood, the less likely an individual is to graduate (Howard 2016). Neighborhood segregation may create differences in: employment opportunities, community resources, transportation access, treatment availability and other factors that impact drug court participant success. 1950s, Los Angeles, CA 14

15 NPC s 2018 Study Reviewed data from 142 treatment courts with a focus on three key questions: 1. Are there disparities in who gets in to treatment courts? 2. Are there disparities in who graduates from treatment courts? 3. Are there practices related to decreased disparity? 15

16 Data Sources NPC has performed (or is performing) process and outcome evaluations in over 200 programs in the U.S. For this study, we were able to combine individual level participant data on 142 of them 16

17 Total Sample 142 treatment courts Type Participant sample sizes: 105 Adult drug courts (74%) 30 DWI courts (21%) 15 programs had less than 20 (which effectively eliminated them from most analyses) 7 other courts 6 Reentry, 1 hybrid (5%) remainder ranged from 20 to 2,045 CA, CO, FL, IN, MD, MI, MN, MO, OR, Guam 49% West 42% Midwest 8% South 1 in NE and 1 US territory 17

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19 Data Sources Program specific data (e.g., demographics) came primarily from treatment court databases, or was hand gathered from paper files Criminal history data came from county and statewide CJ databases in each state. 19

20 Data Elements Treatment court data Graduation Status Demographics Race/ethnicity Gender Age Education Drug of Choice Prior number of arrests (two years prior to entry) Best Practice results (from process evaluations) County probation data Demographics (Percent only) Race/Ethnicity Gender 20

21 Total sample 21,008 total participants Race/Ethnicity White (64%) Black (22%) Hispanic (10%) Other (4%) Gender Male (67%) Female (33%) 51% employed (part or full) 59% High School education 21

22 Results 22

23 Results 1. Are there disparities in who gets in to treatment courts? 2. Are there disparities in who graduates from treatment courts? 3. Are there practices related to decreased disparity? 23

24 Disparity Index entry into treatment courts Step 1 % Black Drug Court Participants % Male Drug Court Participants % Black County Probation = Population % Male County Probation = Population Disparity in Drug Court Entry Disparity in Drug Court Entry Step 2 Weighted Average Across All Drug Courts 24

25 Disparity Index entry into treatment courts 0 Negative Scores indicate Black participants are underrepresented in Treatment Courts Negative Scores indicate male participants are underrepresented in Treatment Courts Zero indicates no difference between county probation population and Treatment Court participants Positive Scores indicate Black participants are overrepresented in Treatment Courts Positive Scores indicate male participants are overrepresented in Treatment Courts 25

26 Representation by race and gender 26

27 Representation by type of program 27

28 Representation by region 28

29 1. Are there disparities in who gets in to treatment courts? 2. Are there disparities in who graduates from treatment courts? 3. Are there practices related to decreased disparity? 29

30 Disparities in graduation rates for African Americans went both ways 30

31 Disparities in graduation rates for Hispanics went both ways 31

32 Graduation rates varied by region 32

33 What factors predict graduation? Participants who are White (compared to Black) Older Have at least a high school education Employed And have Fewer Prior Arrests have greater predicted odds of graduating 33

34 Drugs may not be the problem Not just focus on drug treatment because that is not an addict s whole downfall. Drugs is not the problem. Addicts have more than one problem. All you focus on is drug problem, then you aren t going to get down to the serious problems. Education might be a much bigger problem than drugs. Job problem might also be bigger. I don t want to play the race card but being African American it really does make a big difference, especially when you are a felon. Equivalent treatment 34

35 White, educated, and employed participants at 30 years of age have a predicted graduation rate of 79% Black, educated, and employed participants at 30 years of age have a predicted graduation rate of 69% 35

36 White, uneducated, and unemployed participants at 30 years of age have a predicted graduation rate of 55% Black, uneducated, and unemployed participants at 30 years of age have a predicted graduation rate of 42% 36

37 What type of services? Employment rates for urban black men have decreased from 73.4% in 1970 to 44.7% in 2010 vs. from 85% to 77% for white men. 50% of black and Hispanic men have been arrested by age 35. Employment status at drug court entry is a significant predictor of exit status. Providing an equivalent experience may entail offering additional resources for employment supports. 37

38 What type of services? Focus on life skills and job training, affirming a positive identity Evidence points to a need for habilitation (the ability to function independently) especially for poor urban men, 50% of whom are black or Hispanic. (Institute on Research on Poverty 2016) 2/3 are fathers with children raised in female headed households. 38

39 Are there drug court practices/services related to decreased disparity? Possibly Yes These are areas for future research Like the best practices in general, all we can say is that the best programs are doing these practices so you might want to emulate what those courts are doing 39

40 Courts that offered family/domestic relations counseling 5 times less disparity* COURT DOES NOT OFFER FAMILY/DOMESTIC RELATIONS COUNSELING N=16 20% COURT OFFERS FAMILY/DOMESTIC RELATIONS COUNSELING N=110 4% 0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% *Analysis includes black and white participants only 40

41 Practices related to LESS DISPARITY Court practice (Disparity size Yes vs No) Courts where a defense attorney attends staffings showed half the disparity (5% vs 10%) Probation attends staffing (5% vs 12%) Coordinator attends staffing (5% vs 17%) Defense attorney attends court sessions (4% vs 12%) Treatment attends court sessions (6% vs 12%) 41

42 Being color blind is not helpful We treat everyone the same in our drug court program. Research indicates that practicing an ideology of color blindness is ineffective, provokes interracial tension, and promotes inequality. (Neville, et al. 2013). What to do instead? Discourage color blind attitudes among staff. Engage in hard discussions about how race may matter in your program. Include community partners and participants in these discussions. 42

43 Drug Court is not the same as the rest of the justice system. In criminal court, you have judge and jury making a lot of decisions off things they receive in a short period of time, sometimes one day. They don t know you or your situation, don t know details. You are judged in a short period of time. Major difference here- counselors, POs, people you work with, meet weekly and report out on you. By that point they know situation, what s going in in your life. By that time you are being judged by people who actually know you, your character, so it s a huge benefit. You are treated more fairly. 43

44 Practices related to LESS DISPARITY Court practice (Disparity size Yes vs No) Active program caseload is less than 125 (2% vs 7%) Residential treatment available (6% vs 19%) Court requires greater than 90 days abstinent/clean (4% vs 14%) A new arrest for drugs does NOT result in termination (0.4% vs 9%) Court evaluates program data and modifies practices based on results (5% vs 11%) 44

45 Practices related to MORE DISPARITY Court practice (Disparity size Yes vs No) Requiring participants to have a job or be in school (10% vs 1%) Having guidelines on the frequency of individual treatment sessions (9% vs 3%) * Reminder: Interpret all these with caution * These findings for worse disparities may have to do with not having individualized case plans with culturally appropriate treatment or other services 45

46 Equivalent Treatment Some factors to consider African Americans are less likely to seek treatment for mental health problems than similarly situated whites but experience more physical health problems over the life course. (Okeke, 2013) African Americans are treated differently in health care settings. They are less likely to have their pain acknowledged and treated than are similarly situated Caucasians. False stereotypes may be factors driving this trend. (Meghani, Byun, & Gallagher, 2012). 46

47 More factors related to Equivalent Treatment Minorities report lower levels of satisfaction with treatment (Wells et al. 2001). They underutilize treatment because of potential stigma (Menke & Flynn 2008), distrust of providers (Freimuth, Quinn, & Thomas 2001) and lack of financial resources (Hines-Martin, et al. 2003). 47

48 More factors related to Equivalent Treatment Lower levels of education and income in the community may impact participants selfefficacy and their perceptions of the benefits of staying in treatment (Saloner & Cook 2013). To engage minority participants in treatment, providers need to have staff who understand the participants and are knowledgeable about their daily lives (Guerro, et al ) 48

49 Potential themes to lower disparity 49

50 Possible Action Steps Equivalent Access Compare data on admission and exit status by race, gender, age groups at state and local level Track reasons for non-admission Examine exclusionary criteria Implement a marketing plan for your program to publicize its existence and to frame the messages at orientation Form a community partnership 50

51 Performance Indicator Understand reasons for non-admittance Reason for Non-Admittance Black Females Black Males White Females White Males Defendant Opt-Out 12/33% 78 /20% 123/37% 134/27% Medical Mental Health Admit to Other Treat Pgm Dismissed Judicial Override PA Decision 18/ 50% 262/ 68% 81/ 24% 145/29% Not Eligible 5/ 14% 39/ 10% 91/ 27% 138/28% TOTAL

52 SELF-EFFICACY How can you address low self-efficacy in treatment court? Give them responsibilities to feel part of something, such as providing feedback on how to improve community service experiences. Have the counselor pick someone to run the class or keep track of the sign-in sheet. Create opportunities that take participants outside their comfort zone such as having them speaking to youth groups. 52

53 COLLECTIVE EFFICACY Sense of support is needed. It takes a village but there s no more village. Individualized nature of treatment court may run counter to participant cultural orientation. Patricia Erickson, Costa Rica 53

54 Possible Action Steps Equivalent Retention Be aware of your participants neighborhoods, the opportunities and challenges associated with those neighborhoods Apply smart phone technology to keep participants engaged Offer a culturally tailored intervention to individuals who identify with street culture 54

55 Enhancing your program Put guys in a position to learn a trade while in the program. Go from earning $10k every 2 weeks to $6/hr. When they make meager amounts its not worthwhile. Connect participants to a career via links to community colleges and vocational education programs as well as unions. You have classes, NA meetings, but in all those things nothing gave me tools to become better. Many had no way to get a job, haircut, clothes. Need life skills classes: Balancing a checking account, budgeting, job interviews, resume building

56 Possible Action Steps- Team Training Have staff discussions around topics like: equivalent does not mean treating everyone the same, being color-blind is not effective, how does neighborhood matter Create a comprehensive training approach that includes Implicit bias training Cultural congruence training Data sharing Practicing skills such as how to have difficult dialogues about race and discrimination 56

57 Questions or Comments? 57

58 Contact Information Anne Janku, Ph.D. Shannon M. Carey, Ph.D. 58

59 Thank you for attending!