Criminal justice client rehabs are available as a far better option than prison time or heavy fines for those who have already been convicted of any sort of alcohol or drug related crime. For example, a person who has been in prison for driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs may qualify to receive treatment services for problem as an alternative to serving time in jail. The judge might order that the individual receive rehab, either alone or in addition to other consequences. First time offenders in particular in many cases are given the opportunity to select a criminal justice client rehab as an alternative to other sentencing, and it is highly recommended that they reap the benefits of it if it's an alternative. The idea behind criminal justice client rehabs is that it is way more effective and efficient to invest effort and time into treatment than punishment. Much research has been done to observe how effective this approach is on recidivism rates, i.e. if the individual returns or not to criminal justice system following rehab. The signs and indicators appear to be quite positive, and criminal justice clients who do take part in treatment have a much better chance of remaining out of the system after rehab.