COUNTRY: UNITED STATES
REGION: AMERICAS
Implementer: Talbert House Inc.
Partners:
Program Overview: The Turning Point Multiple DUI (driving under the influence) Treatment Program was designed to treat and educate chronic drink drivers. It is a forty-bed, twenty-eight-day chemical dependency treatment program for men and women serving sentences for multiple DUI offenses.
Program Design: In order to participate,offenders must meet six admission criteria: (1) multiple DUI offenses, (2) a minimum sentence of forty-five days in jail, (3) a “minimum security” classification, (4) offender motivation to seek help, (5) offender willingness to sign the treatment agreement and participate in all programs, and (6) local residency. After serving jail sentences of at least thirty days, selected offenders are relocated to the program site. The in-patient component of the program consists of six services and activities: assessment and diagnosis, treatment planning, education, individual and group counseling, family treatment, and Alcoholics Anonymous/Narcotics Anonymous participation.
Evaluation: A ten-year follow-up outcome evaluation of the original “Turning Point” cohort (n = 531) and the original comparison group (n = 192) was conducted.
-Three outcome criteria were assessed using the ten-year follow-up period: (1) any new offense of any type, (2) any new alcohol-related offense, and (3) a new DUI charge.
Key findings: Previous evaluations of the Turning Point Program (Langworthy and Latessa 1993, 1996) concluded that, Turning Point clients were more likely to succeed than comparison group members in avoiding new offenses for up to a four-year follow-up period when demographic and experiential characteristics were controlled for.
-Previous analyses of the program revealed moderate to substantial treatment effects over one-year and four-year follow-up periods, although the treatment effect seemed to diminish in strength with the longer follow-up period.
- The ten-year follow-up affirmed these results, and actually increased confidence in the validity of the Turning Point Program’s treatment effect, showing that it is more stable and stronger than before.
Program Website: http://www.talberthouse.org/
References:
Pratt, T.C., Holsinger, A.M., & Latessa, E.J. (2000). Treating the chronic DUI offender “Turning Point” ten years later. Journal of Criminal Justice, 28(4), 271-281.
Applegate, B.K., Langworthy, R.H., & Latessa, E.J. (1997). Factors associated with success in treating chronic drunk drivers: the Turning Point program. Journal of Offender Rehabilitation, 24(3/4), 19-34.
Langworthy, R. & Latessa, E.J. (1993). Treatment of chronic drunk drivers: the Turning Point project. Journal of Criminal Justice, 21(3), 265-276.
Langworthy, R.H. & Latessa, E.J. (1996). Treatment of chronic drunk drivers: a four-year follow-up of the Turning Point project. Journal of Criminal Justice, 24(3), 273-281.
Target Audience: Drink driving offenders
Issues: Drinking and Driving
Setting: Remedial Drink Driving Programs
Approach: Multi-Component
