When asked whether they perceived any tension between treatment and supervision in treating clients mandated by criminal justice, for example, some providers noted that this had never been an issue.
One service provided two responses in order to indicate that the provision of feedback was related to the type of client; feedback was always provided for clients mandated by the judicial system, but feedback about other clients may or may not be provided.
But even if they lower their fees to obtain league-table credit, there is little evidence that clients award mandates based solely on price.
After the debacle of the 2000 election, when the Supreme Court propelled a candidate who had lost the popular vote into the White House, Mr. Rove foresaw, Republicans say, that he had no time to waste in expanding his client's narrow mandate.
A Criminal Justice Specialist at a large and well-respected Manhattan provider discussed how, in some cases, his organization had to defer to criminal justice and referring entities on when to end the treatment of a mandated client: "We cannot release a DTAP person, even if we feel they've completed, until DTAP says we can let them go…until TASC says.
In addition, client assessments should be mandated to guarantee that participants meet eligibility standards, and can benefit from programs.
Second, respondents systematically indicated that important aspects related to assessment and treatment of mandated clients continue to be dominated by criminal justice rather than clinical concerns, potentially limiting the reforms' potential to shift NY drug policy from a punishment model to a treatment model.
While not all providers expressed universal satisfaction with every aspect of these relationships, many discussed how they are now able to collaborate effectively with their criminal justice partners in treating mandated clients, a situation that was new to many if not to all providers.
While some elements of the relationship between these two systems have been in place for years, the volume of mandated clients and the significance of the programs' reliance on the criminal justice system for business represent a fundamental shift in the dominant conditions of treatment and alter the ethical framework for treatment itself.
Among the respondents who were familiar with the term were those involved with policy work or who spent significant amounts of time either in the courts or communicating with the courts; however, even they were typically unable to distinguish between Article 216 diversions and other mandated clients at the level of daily operations.
