March 3, 2011

Characteristics of Probation and Parole Admissions Aged 18 or Older

In 2008, approximately 4.3 million adults were on probation and nearly 1 million adults were on parole in the United States.¹ Many of the criminal offenses committed by these probationers and parolees were related to substance abuse.¹ As a condition of their probation or parole, some offenders are required to participate in community-based substance abuse treatment programs. Data from the Treatment Episode Data Set (TEDS) for 2008 indicate that the criminal justice system is the single largest source of referral to substance abuse treatment. Further, probation/parole treatment admissions represent the largest proportion of these criminal justice system referrals. Understanding the characteristics of admissions referred by the probation/parole system to substance abuse treatment may help inform treatment providers and other public health professionals as they work with this population.

This report uses data from the TEDS for 2008 to examine the characteristics of substance abuse treatment admissions referred to treatment by the probation or parole system (hereafter referred to as "probation or parole admissions"). TEDS includes a Minimum Data Set collected by all States and a Supplemental Data Set collected by some States. "Detailed criminal justice referral" is a Supplemental Data Set item that classifies known criminal justice system referrals into the following subtypes: courts, probation/parole, DUI/DWI, other recognized legal entity, diversion program, prison, or other. Only data for the 32 States with a response rate of 75 percent or higher on this item were used in this analysis.² In those States, among admissions 18 or older for which detailed information on their criminal justice referral was available, 42.8 percent (203,700) were referred to treatment by the probation or parole system in 2008.

Demographics Characteristics

The majority of probation or parole admissions were male (76.6 percent), had never married (63.1 percent),³ were between the ages of 18 and 44 (81.3 percent), and were non-Hispanic White (52.3 percent). Nearly one third of these admissions were aged 18 to 25 years (29.7 percent), about one quarter were non-Hispanic Black (24.9 percent), and nearly one fifth were Hispanic (17.1 percent) (Table 1).

Socioeconomic Characteristics

Over one third of the probation and parole admissions had less than a high school education (39.6 percent). The majority of these admissions were unemployed (36.8 percent) or not in the labor force (26.2 percent), and although 39.7 percent reported wages or salary as their main source of income,⁴ nearly one third reported having no source of income (30.8 percent). Medicaid was the most common type of health insurance coverage reported by probation or parole admissions (10.5 percent); however, the majority of these admissions did not have health insurance coverage (73.9 percent) (Table 2).⁵

Substances of Abuse and Prior Treatment Admissions

The most common primary substances of abuse reported by probation or parole admissions were alcohol (30.6 percent) and marijuana (26.4 percent) (Figure 1); nearly 1 in 6 reported primary methamphetamine abuse (15.6 percent).

The majority of probation or parole admissions had been in treatment at least once before (57.5 percent); 18.4 percent reported three or more prior treatment episodes (Figure 2).

Additionally, more than one half of probation or parole admissions reported more than one substance of abuse at admission (59.2 percent). The most common substance combination was alcohol and marijuana (25.6 percent), followed by alcohol and cocaine (14.2 percent), cocaine and marijuana (11.5 percent), and marijuana and stimulants (8.9 percent) (Figure 3).

The primary substance of abuse reported by probation or parole admissions varied according to the number of prior treatment episodes they had experienced. Compared with probation or parole admissions with no prior treatment episodes, those with three or more prior treatment episodes were almost twice as likely to have reported primary cocaine abuse (19.4 vs. 11.0 percent), almost 4 times as likely to have reported primary heroin abuse (16.8 vs. 4.9 percent), and about half as likely to have reported primary marijuana abuse (17.5 vs. 30.0 percent).

Treatment Outcomes

Completing treatment and transferring to another level of care are linked to long-term positive outcomes for substance abuse treatment clients. In 2007, more than half of probation or parole referrals either completed treatment (39.7 percent) or transferred to another level of care (14.5 percent).⁶ Nearly one third (31.8 percent) dropped out of treatment, and 6.8 percent were terminated from treatment by a facility.

Discussion

As the data in this report demonstrated, the majority of probation/parole admissions had low levels of education, did not have a job, had no health insurance, and had been in substance abuse treatment more than once. These findings suggest that, in addition to their substance abuse problems, probationers and parolees face other barriers to re-entry into society, such as lack of health care, job skills, and education. Without health insurance, it may be difficult for this population to obtain the medical care needed to maintain their physical health. Further, their lack of job skills and education may prevent them from finding stable employment, which in turn may jeopardize their recovery and increase the probability of relapse and re-arrest.

The substance abuse treatment system is uniquely positioned to not only treat the substance abuse problems of probationers and parolees, but also to connect them with supportive services, such as job skills training and employment services. Helping probationers and parolees obtain these needed resources may increase the likelihood that they will sustain their recovery and become productive members of the community.

End Notes

¹ Glaze, T. P., & Bonczar, T. P. (December 2009). Probation and parole in the United States, 2008 (NCJ 228230). Washington, DC: Bureau of Justice Statistics. Retrieved from http://bjs.ojp.usdoj.gov/index.cfm?ty=pbdetail&=1764;
² Detailed criminal justice referral is a Supplemental Data Set item. The 32 States and jurisdictions in which it was reported for at least 75 percent of all admissions aged 12 or older in 2008—AL, AR, CA, CO, DE, FL, HI, IL, IN, KS, KY, LA, MA, MD, MO, MS, ND, NH, NJ, NV, NY, OH, OK, OR, PA, PR, RI, SD, TX, UT, WV, and WY—accounted for 76 percent of all such substance abuse treatment admissions in 2008.
³ Detailed criminal justice referral and marital status are Supplement Data Set items. The 29 States and jurisdictions in which both were reported for at least 75 percent of all admissions aged 12 or older in 2008—AL, AR, CO, DE, FL, HI, IL, IN, KS, KY, LA, MA, MD, MO, MS, ND, NH, NJ, NV, OK, OR, PA, PR, RI, SD, TX, UT, WV, and WY—accounted for 44 percent of all such substance abuse treatment admissions in 2008.
⁴ Detailed criminal justice referral and source of income support are Supplement Data Set items. The 26 States and jurisdictions in which both were reported for at least 75 percent of all admissions aged 12 or older in 2008—AR, CO, DE, FL, HI, IL, KS, KY, LA, MA, MO, MS, ND, NH, NV, NY, OH, OR, PA, PR, RI, SD, TX, UT, WV, and WY—accounted for 57 percent of all such substance abuse treatment admissions in 2008.
⁵ Detailed criminal justice referral and health insurance are Supplement Data Set items. The 27 States and jurisdictions in which both were reported for at least 75 percent of all admissions aged 12 or older in 2008—AL, AR, CO, DE, HI, IL, IN, KS, KY, LA, MA, MD, MO, MS, ND, NH, NJ, NV, OK, OR, PA, PR, SD, TX, UT, WV, and WY—accounted for 41 percent of all such substance abuse treatment admissions in 2008.
⁶ Reason for discharge, transfer, or discontinuance of treatment is a Discharge Data Set item. It was analyzed for the 29 States and jurisdictions in which detailed criminal justice referral, a Supplemental Data Set item, was reported for at least 75 percent of all admissions aged 12 or older in 2007—AR, CA, CO, DE, FL, HI, IL, IN, KS, KY, LA, MA, MD, MO, MS, ND, NH, NJ, NV, NY, OH, OK, OR, PR, RI, SD, TX, UT, and WY; these States and jurisdictions accounted for 76 percent of the total discharge records that could be linked to an admission or transfer record in 2007.

Suggested Citation

Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, Center for Behavioral Health Statistics and Quality. (March 3, 2011). The TEDS Report: Characteristics of Probation and Parole Admissions Aged 18 or Older. Rockville, MD.