As described by the authors, a recovery-oriented system of care for drug-abusing criminal offenders is one that provides for continuity of treatment, using evidence-based interventions at every stage as clients progress through the justice system. Treatment Alternatives for Safe Communities of Illinois has partnered with criminal justice and treatment programs to establish a basic recovery-oriented system, with programs that span pre-adjudication, probation or incarceration, and parole.

No abstract

This article describes the work of the Illinois Disproportionate Justice Impact Study Commission, a nonpartisan, multidisciplinary group of policy makers, government leaders, and justice professionals that focused on understanding and alleviating the disproportionate incarceration of African Americans and Latinos in Illinois for drug law violations. The study data were obtained from arrest records statewide and court cases in Cook County (Chicago), which were both drawn from calendar year 2005. Results showed that racial disproportionality in arrests for drug crimes is found in urban, suburban, and rural counties of the state and is more pronounced among arrestees with arrest records than among first-time arrestees. Analyses of Cook County court data showed that controlling for other variables, including criminal history, African Americans were approximately 2.2 times more likely than Whites, and Latinos were approximately 1.6 times more likely than Whites, to be prosecuted for drug offenses. Unequal outcomes in court processing compound the disparities at arrest, perpetuating a vicious cycle. The article concludes with the Commission's proposed remedies for racial disproportionality.

Correctional policy in the United States has alternately emphasized rehabilitation and punishment (Irwin, 2007). The current "tough on crime" era has led to steadily increasing numbers of imprisoned Americans and unsustainable costs (Garland, 2001;Lacey, 2010). Overcrowded prisons and bloated correctional budgets have drained money from educational and social programs, reaching unprecedented levels in the 1980s and becoming completely untenable in times of diminished resources. In response, many advocacy groups have called for correctional reform, including the Human Rights Watch, the Sentencing Project, the Justice Project, the Vera Institute of Justice, the Council of State Governments, the Pew Center for the States, and the Northpointe Institute for Public Management. The voices of these reformers have decried the overuse of incarceration and its costliness, compared with other sentencing alternatives that generally yield greater dividends with respect to community safety and offender rehabilitation. Within the federal government, the most reasoned and resonant voice for prison reform belongs to Senator James Webb (D-Virginia), who has encouraged a bipartisan approach to criminal justice changes through his proposed National Criminal Justice Commission (NCJC).

Objective:To quantify knowledge among the general Spanish population of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).Material and method:We developed a telephone-administered questionnaire to ask about ADHD (acronym and full name) on a spontaneous and suggested basis. Questions were asked relating to myths, symptoms, treatment, implications and healthcare professionals involved in the disease.The study sample was 770 adults (sample precision at national level 3.5) with no personal, familial or professional relationship to ADHD.Results:Only 4% of the subjects spontaneously answered the question about what ADHD means, while 85.3% identified the disease after we suggested what “ADHD” meant. Only 50% admitted that the disease represents a probably genetic brain disorder. A total of 39.6% believed that there was no treatment or healthcare intervention for ADHD. the intervention most often cited as being adequate was psychological treatment (48%), followed by multimodal therapy (44%). Only 12% mentioned medication. Thus, psychological intervention was regarded as the most effective option, followed by psychoeducational measures. Most of the subjects identified the psychologist as the professional indicated to treat ADHD, followed by the pediatrician, psychiatrist and neuropediatrician. Reasonable knowledge was observed in reference to affirmations / myths in ADHD (78.3–95.3%).Conclusions:There are areas for improvement among the general population regarding knowledge of ADHD, its implications and treatment.