Law Enforcement Advocate Program: An Interagency Collaboration to Enhance Community‐Police Relations and Improve Outcomes for Substance‐Using Offenders

• Author: Lilas Rajaee,Lt. Steven Addison,Julie Madden Rodriguez,Stuart Readio,Wendy Longwood
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1111/jfcj.12004
• Date: 01 March 2013
• Published date: 01 March 2013

Law Enforcement Advocate Program:

An Interagency Collaboration to Enhance

Community-Police Relations and Improve

Outcomes for Substance-Using Offenders

By Lilas Rajaee, Julie Madden Rodriguez, Lt. Steven Addison, Stuart Readio, and

Wendy Longwood

ABSTRACT

Justice system involvement is highly correlated with substance-use issues.

Untreated, substance-using offenders are likely to continue to use drugs, commit

crimes, and pose a public safety risk. Strategies to address substance use in the

criminal justice system often fall short in terms of integrating services and sustaining

engagement among high-risk adult and juvenile populations. Law enforcement can

help to bridge identified gaps by offering a community-based solution to the inter-

related challenges of substance use, crime, and recidivism for offenders. The Law

Enforcement Advocate Program has been effective in improving probationer compli-

ance and outcomes, facilitating problem solving and interagency coordination, and

improving community-police relations.

Lilas Rajaee, M.S., is Director of TASCand Treatment Court Programs for Denver Juvenile Probation

in Denver, Colorado.

Julie Madden Rodriguez, M.C.J., is the Liaison for the Denver Drug Endangered Children’s

Alliance and the Sustainability and Dissemination Manager for the Justice Initiative for Drug Endangered

Families at the Denver District Attorney’s Office. Correspondence: jmr@denverda.org

Lieutenant Steve Addison, M.C.J., is a member of the Denver Police Department and the supervisor

for the Denver Police Department LEA Program.

Stuart Readio, Jr., is the founder and chief executive officer of Health Resources Consortium in

Longmont, Colorado.

Wendy Longwood, M.B.A., is founder and president of Longwood Consulting, Inc., in Denver,

Colorado.

Authors’ Note: The LEA Program is funded through the following grants: Substance Abuse

and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA)—TI019913; TI020921; TI023289; TI023428;

TI023279; TI023686; SM059629; Office of Justice Programs (OJP)—2009-DC-BX-0093; 2010-DC-BX-

0127; 2010 DC-BX-002; 2010-JW-FX-K012; Administration on Children, Youth and Families (ACYF)—

90-CD-0184.

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Juvenile and Family Court Journal 64, no. 2 (Spring) 17

© 2013 National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges

INTRODUCTION

Throughout the United States, criminal and juvenile justice system involvement all

too often coincides with substance-abuse issues. Presenting the findings of collected data

on drug testing and self-reported drug use from arrested males across 10 sites nationally,

the 2011 Annual Report of the Arrestee Drug Abuse Monitoring Program II (ADAM II)

reported that 60% of arrestees tested positive for drug use (Office of National Drug

Control Policy, 2012). Among the most telling data from the ADAM II report were that

78% of ADAM II arrestees indicated that they had never sought treatment for substance-

use issues, and that over 80% had been arrested previously. A large body of evidence has

demonstrated similar linkages between substance use and delinquency among juveniles

(Ford, 2005; Sullivan & Hamilton, 2007).

When substance-use issues are left untreated, offenders are likely to continue

using drugs and engaging in criminal activities, thereby posing a public safety risk

with accompanying societal costs. Studies indicate that effective treatment can lead

to substantial reductions in drug use, criminal activity, and arrests (Center for

Substance Abuse Treatment, 1997). Numerous strategies to address substance use in

the criminal justice system context have been implemented, ranging from therapeutic

communities in correctional settings to drug courts, intensive case management,

re-entry programs, and treatment alternatives to incarceration (Chandler, Fletcher, &

Voklow, 2009; National Institute on Drug Abuse, 2011). Treatment approaches in the

criminal justice setting recognize the need for a multi-system response that integrates

criminal justice, treatment, and community systems (Chandler et al., 2009). According

to the 2006 Principles of Drug Abuse Treatment for Criminal Justice Populations,

elements that are critical to treatment efficacy with high-risk, justice-involved popu-

lations include sustained engagement, careful monitoring and supervision, continuity

of care in community, and integrated treatment approaches (Fletcher & Chandler,

2006).

Unfortunately, interagency solutions often fail to integrate and continue services

and to sustain engagement among high-risk populations in the face of extreme distrust

of law enforcement and criminal justice systems (Chandler et al., 2009; Rosenbaum,

2002). These shortcomings underscore the need for a coordinated interagency model

across systems to problem solve with the court, the service delivery system, and the

probationer to develop a coherent and complementary treatment plan. Improvement in

compliance and improved outcomes for probationers would be maximized, and the

system would be demystified. Integral to this process is the enhancement of community-

police relations. By leveraging community policing concepts, law enforcement can help

bridge agency gaps and offer community-based continuity and monitoring as part of the

solution to the intersecting challenges of probationers’ substance use, crime, and recidi-

vism (Office of Justice Programs, 2000). The Law Enforcement Advocate Program, an

interagency collaboration of the police, justice, welfare, and treatment systems in Denver,

Colorado, illustrates a promising practice, offering a model for addressing these interre-

lated community issues and attaining better outcomes for offenders while enhancing

public safety.

18 | JUVENILE AND FAMILY COURT JOURNAL / Spring 2013