A Detailed Cost Analysis in a Mature Drug Court Setting

Abstract

Assessing the costs of drug court in relation to benefits has become an important issue for policy makers. Past cost-benefit studies have often relied on proxy estimates, client self-reports and/or non-local data to provide their estimates. This is less than helpful to policy makers particularly at the local level who are trying to understand both their actual investment into drug court and the real local cost savings. This study is an intensive examination of investment costs and benefits resulting from the operation of a single court. Data were collected in a manner that allowed costs and benefit to be assessed both overall and agency-by-agency, and the value of less intensive approaches in providing similar estimates. The study used a Transactional Cost economic model that examines complex multiple agency contributions to costs. The results of this study demonstrate that drug courts can be a cost effective use of taxpayer resources.