Breaking the Cycle of Drugs and Crime: Findings From the Birmingham BTC Demonstration

Research Summary: We compared 137 felony defendants arrested before the implementation of Breaking the Cycle, a pretrial intervention with felony defendants that included drug testing, supervision, and drug treatment as needed, to 245 BTC participants. We found Significant lower rates of arrest and self‐reported drug use and crime among BTC participants during the next year. Policy Implications: Systematic intervention aimed at all drug‐involved felony defendants, not just selected defendants, is effective, but may encounter substantial challenges in achieving collaboration across criminal justice agencies, services providers, and levels/branches of government.