Criminal justice client rehabs are available being a far better option than jail time or heavy fines for those who have already been convicted of any kind of alcohol or drug related crime. As an example, a person who has been in prison for driving drunk of alcohol or drugs may qualify to obtain rehabilitation services because of their problem instead of serving time in jail. The judge might even order the individual receive rehab, either alone or in addition to other sentencing. First-time offenders specifically are often given the opportunity choose a criminal justice client rehab instead of other sentencing, and it is well-advised that they take advantage of it when it is an alternative. The idea behind criminal justice client rehabs is that it is much more effective and efficient to invest time and effort into treatment than punishment. Much research has been carried out to observe how effective this process is on recidivism rates, i.e. if the criminal justice client returns or not to criminal justice system following rehab. All indicators seem quite positive, and criminal justice clients who take part in treatment have a much better probability of remaining out of the system following rehabilitation.