An Evaluation of California's Experiment With HOPE

Pepperdine University105 enrolled

Overview

The phase I evaluation is intended to assess whether or not frequent drug testing and immediate short-term incarceration for drug use and/or other violations and mandated drug treatment for multiple violations, reduces the recurrence of drug use and/or other violation behaviors by California parolees assigned to the study group.

The California HOPE pilot program is being implemented under the authority granted in Penal Code 5058.1. The phase I evaluation is intended to assess whether or not frequent drug testing and immediate short-term incarceration for drug use and/or other violations and mandated drug treatment for multiple violations, reduces the recurrence of drug use and/or other violation behaviors by California parolees assigned to the study group compared with parole-as-usual.

Study Type

INTERVENTIONAL

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Purpose

HEALTH_SERVICES_RESEARCH

Masking

NONE

Enrollment

105

Conditions

Drugs of Abuse

Interventions

HOPE supervisionBEHAVIORAL

HOPE entails a warning session (Orientation Hearing) where the rules of parole are laid out and parolees are told that any violation of stated parole conditions will be sanctioned with a brief jail term (typically a few days in jail). HOPE includes regular random drug testing.

Parole-as-usualBEHAVIORAL

Parolees are supervised under standard parole supervision practice in California.

Eligibility

Sex: MALEMin age: 18 Years

Medical Language ↔ Plain English

Inclusion Criteria: * Assigned to the Sacramento Metro IV Parole Unit. * Released from a term of return-to-custody for a violation for, or involving, the use of drugs. * Have a maximum controlling discharge date at least one year from the date of release from the return-to-custody term. Exclusion Criteria: * History of convictions for crimes that require registration under Penal Code Section 290.

Locations (1)

Sacramento Metro IV Parole Unit.

Sacramento, California, United States

Outcomes

Primary Outcomes

Days incarcerated

Total number of days incarcerated in jail or prison

Time frame: 24 months

Secondary Outcomes

% positive drug tests

Percentage of random and scheduled drug tests that test positive for illicit drugs

Time frame: 24 months

%Missed

Percentage of parole appointments that are missed.

Time frame: 24 months

Revocation rate

Percentage of parolees that are revoked from probation and returned to prison for either a technical violation or on a new charge.

Time frame: 24 months

New arrests

Number of new arrests.

Time frame: 24 months

Perceptions of risk of detection

Parolees perceived risk of detection for drug use

Time frame: 24 months

Data from ClinicalTrials.gov

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