Criminal justice client rehabs are available being a considerably better option than time in jail or heavy fines for many who have been convicted of any sort of drug or alcohol related crime. As an example, a person who has been found guilty of driving while impaired of alcohol or drugs may qualify to receive rehabilitation services for their problem as an alternative to serving time in prison. The judge could even order the individual receive rehabilitation, either alone or along with other consequences. First time offenders specifically 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 make the most of it if it's an alternative. The theory behind criminal justice client rehabs is it is much more effective and efficient to invest effort and time into rehabilitation than punishment. Much research has been carried out to discover how effective this process is on recidivism rates, i.e. if the individual returns or not to criminal justice system following rehab. All indicators appear to be quite positive, and criminal justice clients that do experience rehabilitation have a better potential for remaining out of the judicial system after rehabilitation.