Reducing High Risk Behavior in Treatment Court

Four hundred consenting treatment drug court participants will be randomly assigned to either an HIV intervention group (n = 200) or an attention control group. All clients will attend their regularly scheduled status hearings which are scheduled approximately every six weeks. Clients in the HIV intervention group will receive a brief computerized, self-administered HIV risk reduction intervention following each of their first three status hearings. Clients in the attention control condition will view a series of educational life-skill videos of matched length following each of their first three status hearings. The primary outcome will be engagement in high risk behaviors as measured by the Risk Assessment Battery (RAB). Secondary HIV-related outcomes will include: (1) rate of HIV testing, (2) condom procurement, and (3) self-reported condom use. Tertiary outcomes related to treatment court compliance will include: (1) drug court graduation, (2) urinalysis-confirmed drug abstinence, (3) case management attendance, and (4) satisfaction with case management. In addition, we will conduct preliminary cost and cost-effectiveness analyses on the delivery of the brief computerized HIV intervention. Assessments will be conducted at baseline and 9- and 15-months post admission.

Inclusion criteria

• be at least 18 years of age;
• be charged with a non-violent felony offense
• have no more than two prior non-violent convictions or diversionary opportunities
• be willing to participate in the treatment court program for at least 12 months
• be in need of treatment for substance abuse or dependence as assessed by case management.

Exclusion criteria

• Elderly subjects and those with medical problems will be included in the research as long as they do not have any physical or psychiatric condition that would impede their ability to give competent consent to research participation or to understand the research instruments.
• Those individuals who are intoxicated, cognitively impaired, or psychiatrically unstable when approached will not be included; however, such individuals may subsequently be included if the disqualifying condition subsides.
• Spanish speaking only individuals.
• Client remanded to jail or residential treatment facilities at the time of Treatment Court enrollment.