Substance Abuse Treatment and Reentry Program (STAR)

The District Court in the Central District of California, under the guidance and direction of Chief  U.S. District Judge Audrey B. Collins and U.S. District Judge Otis D. Wright, II, established the Substance Abuse Treatment and Reentry (STAR) program in January 2010. STAR is a post‐conviction reentry program for high risk substance abuse offenders which provides integrated drug and alcohol treatment services with justice system case processing.  STAR is a partnership between the Court, U.S. Probation Office, Federal Public Defender, U.S. Attorney’s Office, and community based vendors using a  non‐adversarial approach.  Evidence based programs similar to STAR in the federal and state judicial systems have shown to reduce recidivism, build community partnerships, and increase the probability of success on supervision and beyond.

The STAR program is voluntary and requires each participant to be involved in the program for at least one year.  All participants drug test frequently and must attend three self‐help meetings and treatment weekly.  Initially, participants attend Court hearings weekly, but these decrease as they progress through the program.  A critical component of the STAR program is a system of rewards balanced with a range of intermediate sanctions and correctional interventions. Successful graduates earn up to a one year reduction of their supervised released.