Nino MaddalenaCriminal Justice ManagerNational Treatment Agency

Overview

The problem Why should we be concerned about drug related crime?

The evidence How do we know that drug treatment can make a difference?

What’s been achieved?11 years on from the first 10 year strategy

Where do we go from here? What threats and opportunities does the future hold?

Why it’s everybody’s problem?

If you are a taxpayer you will pick up part of the annual £15.4bn bill for the crime and health costs generated by people buying and using Class A drugs such as heroin and crack

If you are a victim of crime there is a strong chance it will be drug-related. Estimates suggest that between a third and a half of all acquisitive crime (shoplifting, burglary, vehicle crime, robbery, etc) is drug-related. Around three-quarters of heroin and crack users say they commit crime to fund their habit

The community you live in can be badly affected in a number of ways, from the antisocial behaviour associated with drug dealing, the activities of those under the influence of drugs (including discarded needles), the violence associated with organised crime, and prostitution.

Treatment effectiveness

The National Treatment Outcome Research Study (NTORS) followed more than 1,000 problem drug users through treatment It recorded significant reductions in offending, with rates of acquisitive crime falling by half at the one-year point. These improvements were maintained at various follow-up points.

National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) suggests the health and crime cost of each injecting drug user is £480,000 over a lifetime.

For every £1 spent on drug treatment £9.50 was saved on economic, health and social costs associated with drug misuse

Evidence of effectiveness of CJ interventions

Arrest Referral Schemes 1 and the Drug Treatment and Testing Orders (DTTO)2 which showed that the average amount pent on drugs fell from £400 per week at the start of the intervention to £25 per week at the follow up stage

More than1 in 4 of those starting a new episode of treatment in England are referred by staff working in the criminal justice system.

1 http://www.kcl.ac.uk/depsta/law/research/icpr/publications/Doing%20Justice%20to%20Treatment.%20DPAS2.pdf

2 http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/pdfs/hors212.pdf

Stop press……

http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/pdfs06/r275.pdf

This study matches data from the Police National Computer (PNC) with the NTA’s National Drug Treatment Monitoring System (NDTMS) database on a sample of opiate and crack users who had recently offended but had not been jailed and had started treatment in the community. The number of offences committed almost halved following the start of treatment and the results were very much in line with the studies that had been based on self report information

Where we came from?

2001 – Arrest Referral

(monthly)

2000 assessments – England and Wales

460 (25%) engage in treatment

Drug Treatment and

Testing Order (DTTO)

2001/02 - 4,854 commencements

Limited target group

Proscriptive and inflexible – 20 hours

Accredited programme required

What’s been achieved in the community?

Drug Interventions Programme (DIP)

Criminal Justice Integrated Teams (CJITs)

Testing on arrest

Required assessments

Restrictions on bail

Rapid access to treatment

Drug Rehabilitation Requirements (DRRs)

Every week, over 1,000 drug-misusing offenders are engaged in treatment via DIP

HO research followed group of 7,727 DIP clients and found that half showed a 79% reduction in offending over a 6 month period

Overall volume of offending was 26% lower following DIP identification

Number of DRRs increased from 4,854 in 2001/02 to 16,607 in 2007/08 in 2007/08. Completion rates 28% in 2003 43% in 2007/08

A work in progress – more to be done

Implementing the DIP review

Continuity of care

System Change Pilots – more joined up, more efficient, more effective

Integrated Offender Management – addressing the reintegration agenda and delivering case management

http://www.nta.nhs.uk/publications/documents/nta_criminaljustice_0809.pdf