A study of New York’s drug courts finds that the prison alternative is successful in reducing recidivism over an extended period of time,

The “New York State Adult Drug Court Evaluation: Policies Participants and Impacts” study found that six drug courts in the state had reduced post-arrest and post-program recidivism for at least a three-year period.

In addition, the study showed that recidivism rates either declined or remained stable for drug-court graduates during the one-year post-program period.

The study further found that the drug courts exceeded the national standard for their one-year retention rate.

The drug courts evaluated in the study are located in the Bronx, Brooklyn, Queens, Suffolk, Syracuse, and Rochester.