Measuring collaboration and integration activities in criminal justice and substance abuse treatment agencies

• Published in: Drug and alcohol dependence Vol. 103; no. Supplement 1; pp. S54 - S64
• Main Authors: Fletcher, Bennett W, Lehman, Wayne E.K, Wexler, Harry K, Melnick, Gerald, Taxman, Faye S, Young, Douglas W
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Ireland Elsevier Ireland Ltd 01.08.2009
• Subjects: Adolescent; Adult; Criminal justice; Criminal Law - organization & administration; Cross-agency collaboration; Data Collection; Data Interpretation, Statistical; Drug abuse; Factor Analysis, Statistical; Government Agencies; Humans; Interagency collaboration; Interorganizational relationships; Offenders; Prisons - organization & administration; Psychiatry; Social services; Substance abuse; Substance abuse treatment; Substance-Related Disorders - rehabilitation; Surveys and Questionnaires; Systems integration; United States; United States; Substance abuse treatment; Cross-agency collaboration; Interorganizational relationships; Systems integration; Criminal justice
• ISSN: 0376-8716; 1879-0046
• DOI: 10.1016/j.drugalcdep.2009.01.001

Abstract Individuals with substance abuse problems who are involved in the criminal justice system frequently need community-based drug and alcohol abuse treatment and other services. To reduce the risk of relapse to illicit drugs and criminal recidivism, criminal justice agencies may need to establish collaborations with substance abuse treatment and other community-based service providers. Although there are many variations of interorganizational relationships, the nature of these interagency collaborations among justice agencies and treatment providers has received little systematic study. As a first step, we present an instrument to measure interagency collaboration and integration activities using items in the National Criminal Justice Treatment Practices Surveys conducted as part of the Criminal Justice Drug Abuse Treatment Studies (CJ-DATS). Collaboration and integration activities related to drug-involved offenders were examined between substance abuse treatment providers, correctional agencies, and the judiciary. The measurement scale reliably identified two levels of collaboration: less structured, informal networking and coordination and more structured and formalized levels of cooperation and collaboration. An illustration of the use of the systems integration tool is presented.