Predictors of Completion of a Driving Under the Influence (DUI) Court for Repeat Offenders

Abstract

Driving under the influence (DUI) courts are a somewhat recent adaptation of the widely popular drug courts.1 As such there is a need for more research on these specialty courts that target DUI offenders. An important area of research is program completion and determining what factors may be related to participant dropout. The current study presents findings on a 3-year admissions cohort of participants in the Waukesha Alcohol Treatment Court (WATC) for third-time DUI offenders. This program has been in operation for over 6 years and is a court-based intervention program specifically designed by local stakeholders to address the serious DUI problem in Waukesha County, Wisconsin. Results indicate that variables related to pretrial and case processing, including having participated in substance abuse treatment prior to DUI court entry, were related to WATC completion status. Patterns emerged for the sociodemographic and substance use and health variables, although these relationships did not reach statistical significance. DUI court planners can utilize this information when applying The Ten Guiding Principles of DWI Courts to their courts such as identifying subsets of DUI offenders and refining program components to improve participant completion and subsequent successful outcomes.