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Abstract

Drug Treatment and Testing Orders (DTTOs) were introduced as community sentences in October 2000 prior to the publication of the results of the three pilot DTTO programmes. This article critically examines the success of DTTOs to date, drawing on published research and practice experience, and argues that they were implemented with little strategic planning or national consensus. Consequently, as probation priorities concentrated on increasing numbers of orders to meet Home Office targets and newly formed multidisciplinary teams were left to implement and run orders, vast and worrying inconsistencies in terms of assessment, sentencing and practice have emerged both within and across areas in England and Wales.

Keywords

CJIP courts drug testing drug treatment DTTO enforcement probation performance targets

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Are DTTOs working? Issues of policy,implementation and practice

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