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Research Projects

An Evaluation of the Peoria Drug Court Program
Co-principal Investigators: Richard Schmitz and Pinky Wassenberg.

In July 1998, The Center for Legal Studies at the University of Illinois at Springfield was awarded a grant by Peoria County to conduct an evaluation of their Drug Court Program. The evaluation has three parts. First, the process evaluation will provide descriptions of the initiation context of the drug court as well as its initial design and structure. This section will examine the ways in which the drug court evolved as it was implemented. The second portion of the evaluation will provide an assessment of the impact of the drug court on participants and their families; the county court system; and treatment and service provider contracting with the drug court. Finally, there will be an overall assessment of the Peoria County Drug Court as viable post-disposition alternatives for the targeted group of offenders. That overall assessment will include recommendations for the drug court; an exploration of the lessons provided by the Peoria Drug Court for those interested in creating similar drug courts elsewhere; and a discussion of the implications of the evaluation for the existing scholarly literature on post-disposition alternatives for drug-involved offenders.