Client attitudes toward virtual treatment court

Treatment Court Staffs’ Perceptions in Support of the Use of Virtual Services in Court Post-Pandemic

“…Dependence on virtual services may exacerbate consequences of ineligibility for communities of color, those of lower socioeconomic status, and those of older age (Roberts & Mehrotra, 2020). Recent scholarship evaluating the experience of 1,000 treatment court clients found over 90% of clients self-reported that they had the necessary equipment to participate in services virtually, had access to reliable internet, had a private space to participate in court virtually, and reported being comfortable using technology to participate virtually (Ray et al, 2022), and another recent study that surveyed 1,054 probation officers about COVID-era supervision practices reported widespread availability of smartphones and internet-connected computers among clients (Schwalbe & koetzle, 2021). Whether relying on estimates of barriers to technology for clients as perceived by treatment team members, or clients' self-reports, we recognize that some portion of clients will experience barriers to technology.…”

“…The study is descriptive in nature and describes correlations but not causal relationships. The survey was designed with a practitioner focus, asking questions of interest to treatment court practitioners and those who provide the courts with technical assistance, rather than a research-focused study replete with validated survey items; the same survey development procedures followed by the authors in the work by Ray et al (2022). We also collected age categorically when participants were surveyed, for example, below 25, 25 to 34 years, which is a limitation.…”

“…In 2020, as the COVID-19 pandemic persisted, the use of virtual services as an alternative to in-person interactions went from innovative to essential practically overnight (Ray et al, 2022). Prior to 2020, few courts employed online services, and of those engaging in online services, offerings were selective, slowly adopted, and often narrow in scope—for instance, video conferencing used exclusively for vulnerable witness testimony or persons in custody, and minor dispute resolution for select case types (Legg, 2021; Prescott, 2017; Rossner et al, 2021).…”

“…Although research regarding treatment court services during the pandemic is limited, recent scholarship found that surveys administered to clients uncovered support for the continuation of virtual services with minimal perceived loss in key court aspects, including procedural justice (Ray et al, 2022). Utilizing participatory-based design (Hagan, 2019), the present study seeks to understand the experiences of the treatment court team members and complements our earlier scholarship that examined the experiences of clients (Ray et al, 2022). We collected survey data from multiple treatment court models and court team member roles from across the United States.…”