Criminal justice client rehabs are available as a significantly better option than jail time or significant fines for many who have been convicted of any sort of drug or alcohol related crime. As an example, somebody who has been in prison for driving drunk of drugs or alcohol may qualify to get treatment services for his or her problem rather than serving time in prison. The judge may even order the individual receive rehab, either alone or as well as other sentencing. First time offenders in particular are often given the opportunity to select a criminal justice client rehab instead of other sentencing, and it is highly recommended they reap the benefits of it if it's a choice. The theory behind criminal justice client rehabs is it is way more efficient and effective to invest effort and time into rehab than punishment. Much research has been done to find out how effective this strategy is on recidivism rates, i.e. if the individual returns or not to criminal justice system following treatment. All indicators seem to be quite positive, and criminal justice clients who do take part in rehabilitation have a much better chance of remaining out of the system after treatment.