Criminal justice client rehabs can be considered like a significantly better option than prison time or heavy fines for those who have already been convicted of any sort of alcohol or drug related crime. By way of example, anyone who has been in prison for driving while impaired of alcohol or drugs may qualify to obtain rehab services because of their problem rather than serving time in prison. The judge might order that the individual receive treatment, either alone or in addition to other sentencing. First time offenders in particular will often be given the opportunity to choose a criminal justice client rehab instead of other sentencing, and it is highly recommended they reap the benefits of it if it's an alternative. The idea behind criminal justice client rehabs is that it is much more effective and efficient to invest effort and time into treatment than punishment. Much research has been carried out to find out how effective this process is on recidivism rates, i.e. if the criminal justice client returns or not to criminal justice system following rehabilitation. All indicators appear to be quite positive, and criminal justice clients who experience rehab have better chance of remaining out of the judicial system following treatment.