Research That Matters (January 17 - 20, 2008)


Forum Room (Omni Shoreham)

Predictors of Recidivism in an Evaluation of a Family Treatment Court

Joanne M. Cannavo, PhD, Daemen College and Thomas H. Nochajski, PhD, State University of New York at Buffalo.

Purpose: The current study is part of an ongoing evaluation of a Family Treatment Court (FTC) in a northeastern, mid-sized metropolitan city. This study considered predictors of recidivism. FTCs are drug courts aimed at helping parents who have neglected their children to overcome their substance abuse addiction. The FTCs provide court monitoring for substance abuse treatment, along with other services identified as potentially benefiting the parent-participant. While there have been numerous evaluations of standard drug courts, there is minimal published literature on FTCs and therefore little knowledge in the field concerning various outcomes for FTCs. Methods: Access to the FTC database enabled extensive record review of parents who were ever referred to the FTC program (in the years 2003-2005). Drug court literature suggested that certain demographic characteristics, severity of substance use problems, parental factors including parent-child relationship, severity of mental health, and judicial monitoring might influence subsequent recidivism (a subsequent neglect or abuse petition). The sample included 32 (17%) FTC Graduates, 20 (11%) In-Program, 66 (36%) Failures, 53 (28%) Refusers, and 15 (8%) Ineligibles. There were no differences between the three groups in terms of gender (80% female), ethnicity (56% Caucasian, 34% African American, 10% Hispanic), age (mean=33), education (93% more than high school), or marital status (66% never married). Binary Logistic Regression was used to examine and determine utility of the independent measures as potential predictors of recidivism. All variables identified as significant indicators of recidivism were then analyzed to identify a more parsimonious model. Results: The final model of predictors for recidivism in an FTC of study included FTC status group, age, ethnicity, and parent-child relationship. Relative to the graduates, the failures were over 7 times more likely to get a subsequent petition (p=.074); while the ineligibles were over 15 times more likely to receive a subsequent petition (p=.052); for every unit increase in age, there was an 11% decrease in the likelihood of receiving a subsequent petition (p = .011); relative to the parents who routinely engaged in fewer than five activities with their children, those who engaged in five or more activities were 70% less likely to get a subsequent petition (p=.045). Finally, relative to Caucasians, Hispanics were almost 4 times more likely to receive a subsequent petition (p=.10). Implications: The results suggest that completing the FTC program had positive benefits for the participants, leading to reductions in subsequent recidivism, with the graduates showing the lowest rates. In addition, a maturing process may help reduce subsequent recidivism, as the older participants showed lower risk for subsequent petitions. Finally, the results suggest that better bonds between parents and children can help prevent subsequent recidivism. The parent-child-related findings produced here are important given that research has not yet assessed the effects of FTCs on the parent-child relationship. Future research should consider the impact of sobriety on the parent-child bond and evaluate how this bond may be affected during visitation. Results are very promising despite the small sample and lack of true comparison groups.