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Does drug treatment for juveniles increase recidivism?

Back in January I reported on the bizarre finding that Texas Youth Commission inmates who went through drug treatment had higher recidivism rates than addicted youth who didn't receive those services, according to a legislatively mandated report (pdf). As mentioned then, the agency's "chemical dependency treatment was a flat-out failure, actually increasing recidivism compared to youth assessed as having chemical dependency who received no treatment." The problem had been going on for years. In 2007, the Dallas News ran a story declaring, "The Texas Youth Commission's drug treatment program produces graduates who are more likely to re-offend after release than addicted inmates who did not participate." TYC has recently changed the treatment curriculum and it's too soon to analyze results from the new program, but these startling data left me scratching my head...continue to full post

Full post as published by Grits for Breakfast on July 30, 2010 (boomark / email).