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Evaluation of Liverpool's criminal justice alcohol treatment pilot
Helen Baldwin, Researcher, Substance Misuse, Centre for Public Health, Liverpool John Moores University, Liverpool

Abstract
The Centre for Public Health at Liverpool John Moores University undertook an evaluation of Liverpool's Criminal Justice Alcohol Treatment Pilot, commissioned by Liverpool DAAT. The pilot encompassed the Alcohol Treatment Requirement (ATR), a court mandated requirement to attend alcohol treatment for a six-month period and the Alcohol Treatment Programme (ATP), a voluntary programme for offenders contacted through arrest referral or on non-ATR Probation supervision. The Lighthouse Project was responsible for the provision of alcohol treatment to offenders who accessed the scheme via these two referral pathways.

The pilot aimed to engage offenders who had committed an alcohol-related offence, and who were identified as alcohol dependent, in treatment specifically designed to tackle their alcohol misuse and in turn reduce the likelihood of them re-offending.

Measures of clients' drinking, offending, health and related behaviours were recorded at initial assessment, at three-month review and upon completion at six months. Comparison of measures between these stages revealed desirable outcomes for the client group, including a statistically significant reduction in AUDIT scores.

Improvements were largely attributable to the relationships built between clients and their alcohol treatment workers and in many cases, their Probation offender managers. One-to-one discussions were fundamental in promoting positive changes in clients' attitudes and behaviours. The consistency and dependability of workers were also important factors.

A stakeholder consultation gave insight into the processes and running of the scheme. Communication between Probation and Lighthouse staff was effective although role boundaries appeared to overlap. While clients were confident and optimistic about their ability to tackle their alcohol problems beyond the treatment period, a formal framework for aftercare needed to be established in order to ensure continued support was available to those who required it, to minimise risks of relapse and further conviction.

The short time period for the pilot limited numbers and therefore made conclusions around the potential success of the scheme on a wider scale difficult to draw. Assessment of re-conviction over a substantially larger period would be necessary in order to form any concrete conclusions on the schemes effectiveness in tackling offending.

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Biography
My primary role within the Drug Interventions Programme (DIP) team at the Centre for Public Health, Liverpool John Moores University (LJMU), is to design and undertake original research projects funded by the university in addition to cross-team evaluation projects.

I managed the data collection and follow-up elements of the named evaluation, which involved working with the alcohol treatment service provider and Merseyside Probation Service to arrange and conduct face-to-face interviews with clients.

I am also currently involved in an evaluation of the Home Office Alcohol Arrest Referral Pilot, which is an evaluation of the benefits of alcohol brief interventions being delivered to offenders by four Drug and Alcohol Action Teams (Liverpool, Cheshire, Manchester and Ealing).

Prior to my position at LJMU I worked as a Research Analyst for a private company on a range of public health-related projects including an alcohol harm reduction strategy, a smoking cessation social marketing campaign and evaluations of healthy living centres.