For more than a decade, the Illinois Department of Transportation’s Division of Traffic Safety, the University of Illinois-Springfield’s Center for Legal, Policy and Administrative Studies, the Administrative Office of the Illinois Courts and Chestnut Health Systems research and training division (Lighthouse Institute) have been involved in training the criminal justice personnel who prosecute, sentence and supervise DUI offenders. As that training has progressed, we have explored questions about the role of addiction treatment in the rehabilitation of substance-involved offenders and how the criminal justice system can best link individuals to treatment, support treatment participation, reduce post-treatment criminal recidivism and enhance long-term recovery outcomes. The purpose of this primer is to offer tentative answers to these questions for the prosecutors, judges, probation officers and Secretary of State Hearing Officers who stand as a protective shield between substance-involved offenders and the citizens of Illinois.
Funding for this initiative was made possible by grant no. 1H79TI083022 from SAMHSA. The views expressed in written conference materials or publications and by speakers and moderators do not necessarily reflect the official policies of the Department of Health and Human Services; nor does mention of trade names, commercial practices, or organizations imply endorsement by the U.S. Government.
