ABSTRACT
Drug testing of offenders has grown to be an essential element in the evaluation and creation of public policy in criminal justice. Programs to address drug-involved offenders have been around for some time, including diversion, shock incarceration, drug courts, correction options, prison-based treatment, halfway houses, and other treatment/sanction-based approaches. The pretrial Diversionary Program of the Orleans Parish District Attorney’s office was first implemented in 1974 when District Attorney Harry Connick took office. The program was established as an alternative treatment option to prosecution for eligible nonviolent new offenders. The professional staff is comprised of social workers and counselors with educational and experiential backgrounds in both substance abuse and mental health. Multimodality technologies greatly enhance detection capabilities, strengthen the credibility of the results, and offer opportunities for more appropriate and individualized clinical interventions than reliance on a single method.
