Criminal justice client rehabs can be considered as being a significantly better option than prison time or significant fines for individuals who have already been convicted of any type of alcohol or drug related crime. For example, anyone who has been in prison for dui of alcohol or drugs may be eligible for rehab services for problem as opposed to serving time in prison. The judge might even order the individual receive rehab, either alone or in addition to other sentencing. First-time offenders specifically in many cases are given the ability to select a criminal justice client rehab as an alternative to other sentencing, and it is highly recommended that they take advantage of it if it's an option. The idea behind criminal justice client rehabs is it is much more effective and efficient to invest time and effort into rehabilitation than punishment. Much research has been done to discover how effective this process is on recidivism rates, i.e. if the individual returns or not to criminal justice system following rehabilitation. The signs and indicators seem to be quite positive, and criminal justice clients who take part in treatment have a much better potential for remaining out of the judicial system following rehab.