Evaluation of the Arrest Referral Pilot Schemes

Abstract

Arrest Referral (AR) is one of a range of recent policy initiatives intended to disrupt the link between substance misuse and offending by improving uptake of services among arrestees whose offending is linked to drug or alcohol use. The development of AR was given new impetus in Scotland by the announcement, in 2003, of Scottish Executive funding for a series of pilot projects. The 6 schemes funded were: Edinburgh & Midlothian (EMARS), Tayside, Renfrewshire, East Renfrewshire & Inverclyde, all extended from existing projects and three new schemes in Lanarkshire; Dumfries & Galloway and Glasgow. All were operated by voluntary sector agencies under contract to the Social Work Department, and were multi-site, except Glasgow. The schemes included a mix of police-based and court-based locations and of police-mediated and direct access to arrestees. The Scottish Centre for Social Research (ScotCen) and the Social Work Research Centre at Stirling University (SWRC) were commissioned to conduct a mixed method, process and outcome evaluation with three largest projects providing case-studies (EMARS, Glasgow and Tayside).